Sailing away...

Sailing on my own ship heading west and knowing I will be return I have done some reflection upon the past few months. Overall, life in the East has proven to be quite hospitable, despite the notion we have of some Easterners out West . I quickly adapted to the pace of the outdoor school, even the mountainless views. Yet, I can't help but make note of how easily some things become 'normal.'

+ When I first touched down I thought the vegetation looked like it had walked out of Dr. Seuss. Now, it is the friendly backdrop of my morning sunrise runs and the  Japanese kudzu we point out to kids while leaving campus.
+ Initially I was blown away by the fact that I could look over the bluff and see the Chesapeake Bay. Months later it is the place where I understand the integrated ecosystem and spend many dinners or classes walking the shoreline.

+We have a view over the bay facing West that produces some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. Originally I wanted to sit out there for every glow of evening color, upon leaving I was selective about what sunsets I would chase down or find worthy wait out. The same goes for sunrises, if I didn't see potential in the morning I often wouldn't bother for my morning run.

+  Upon seeing the weekly schedule I originally was extremely intimidated about the courses on my plate. By the end of the season I was thrilled for nearly everything, but would merely peek at the schedule to see which of my awesome coworkers I got to work with.
+ Even if I want to squirm around GIANT spiders I can't. Those and stink bugs are an integrated part of life at EHOS.
+  Working extended days with the same weekly salary has become a part of life, and you just learn to prize the one class break you get a week and weekends have never been better.
+ As coworkers we live, eat, and play together... I get lonely if I don't see at least five of my coworkers every day.
+ When first arriving some things seemed like EHOS staff was speaking code. Now ding, NISWa, SLOP, Marshmallows, OD, EA, Mrs. Honey's Pizza have all become a part of daily vocabulary...and continuously entertaining on a daily basis.
+ I thought fall on Wilson in Bozeman was something to see. I had no idea how many autumn shades we were missing in our short Montana fall. Walking in a swamp in the fall is easily one of the most beautiful things I have experienced.
+  Humidity is not my friend.
+ I am very much still a child... JUMP for JOY!

+  Cities still are clearly not where I belong. I was able to visit D.C., New York, Richmond and Baltimore  To see the architecture and the pace of people is fascinating-not to forget their supreme international food selection. Cities are a lovely place to visit, but I find that my inner peace is in smaller communities where I am not always a face in a crowd and I can spend extended time in the fresh air.
+ I love that my job is getting paid for things that I thoroughly enjoy with people that understand what makes me tick. Now we just need a better and healthier selection of food.
+ I love running. I find it the best way to really understand where you are. Exploring by foot is way better than exploring by car, plus the extreme joy of running through excess amounts of color or hilly half-marathon tours can't be overlooked.

+ I will always be a proud Montanan.

Short, sweet and to the point. I am excited to be home and get a breather, but I know I will be more than ready to return to the Eastern shore this coming Spring.

Eastern Shore and Echo Hill Outdoor

Who would have thought a few years ago, as a History-Political Science/Business/Spanish major that I would A) teach English- a class I never took in college or B) teach at an outdoor school with an extreme science focus- classes I avoided at all costs in college. It is funny where life can take us, and how pleasant of a surprise it is. I think one of the best things I did for myself was not having a plan or an objective going into or coming out of college. Sure I had my fair share of ideas about what to do with my life, but ultimately I have been able to follow my heart and find some pretty nifty ideas. 

With that said, let me elaborate a little more about what I am doing these days. I am currently employed at Echo Hill Outdoor School, located right on the Chesapeake Bay with a swamp (what was a previously a pond before a marsh before the swamp) that Capitan John Smith mentioned specifically in his diaries exploring the “New World.”  Yup, right smack dab in Maryland, on the East coast where I never thought I’d be for more than a week.  My loyalty to the Eastern Shore (of Maryland that is) is already starting to blossom because of the amazing people, opportunity, lush vegetation, and breathtaking sunsets. That is just the cherry to top off the sundae, because what I have been hired to do is pretty special. Echo Hill is what I deem as a “field trip school,” where schools come for a 1-5 days to experience the great outdoors, expand their knowledge, learn about individual and group development, and just have fun! Our schedule keeps the kids (and inadvertently ourselves) super busy throughout the week, but with a lot of variety so that there is never a dull moment.

Since I have been out here I have done a number of new and really exciting things for a girl from Montana. Life on the Chesapeake is full of water adventure, fresh crab, and a number of new creatures I had never gotten the chance to touch before. The school itself has opened up a lot of these new doors for me. Training week started out with a hands on introduction to a core of our course. These include adventure classes focused on pushing yourself as well as your team to get through mentally and physically difficult task /puzzles, bay studies on the Chesapeake looking at the life found below the surface, scanoe class through our swamp, as well as sailing and crabbing on some of the school boats around the watershed. That is just a few of the many really cool things we have the ability to introduce the kids to here at Echo Hill. I have found myself learning just as much, if not more than most of the kids out here since this area is so foreign to anything I have studied or encountered in the past. The learning experience alone is worth the time, my coworkers and the kids we shortly come in contact with really seal the deal and really make it worthwhile to get out of bed after repetitive long days.

Let me run you through I typical EHOS day. The day starts with the ringing of a bell at 7:30 to wake you and the tent side kids for breakfast. Breakfast starts at 8:00 and starts with thanking, sharing, and a moment of silence. We then enter the dining area, known as the Whip, where we serve food family style with an Echo Hill staff member dishing up food for each person with the point of not wasting too much food. After breakfast a few members of staff wrap up breakfast with a SLOP skit (Stuff Left On Plate) and a song. We start our first class at 9:00 and run it until 12:00, when we repeat the meal process before an hour of rest time. The second class for the day starts at 2:00 and goes until 5:00, only to be interrupted for an hour of extra time which most of the kids spend on the beach. We then serve dinner, sometimes on the beach or sometimes in the woods, giving the kids a somewhat unique experience to dine outside over a campfire. The last activity starts at 7:30 and goes until 9:00. This is different than class and can be a night hike, night hayride and games, or a class based on Dr. Seuss ‘s The Lorax. Leaving little time for boredom, but lots of time for unique and entertaining experiences through the large variety of classes we offer. What is best about this is we are rarely alone leaving a lot of time to not only new material and experiential methods, but really develop the family atmosphere that has quickly adopted all of us just arriving this fall.

I am excited to see how this all develops. I am quickly feeling at home and now ready to explore the East Coast being within driving distance of a lot of the big cities, historical sites, and friendsI only used to be able to imagine visiting.

Fijate que... CAVAL!!.

The Guatemala adventure.... a few of my friends from different parts of my past all united with me to explore the natural beauty throughout Guatemala and a bit of Belize.

A.B my friend from Peru, Britney my friend from college, and Sophie my friend from childhood all pulled in the week of my last day of classes. As I was tying up a few loose ends the girls got explore the awesome market Antigua has to offer, joined me for a short chicken bus experience, had an appropriate greeting to the Guatemala rain season, and saw their fair share of restaurants and bars across the small city.

Monday morning we headed out for Semuc Champey which is a natural bridge that somewhat resembles a fresh water paradise. We bunked up at a popular backpackers hostel called Zephyr Lodge, they set up a tent for the four of us which looked out on an amazing view. The first day in the Semuc Area we floated down the latter part of the river that passes through the land made bridge. It quite an eventful float, we all hopped on our tubes ready to enjoy some sunshine only for a big storm cloud to cover any hope of bronzing. During the float we got doused in rain and I was completely amazed at how warm it remained, the Australians floating with us didn't agree though... they definitely left the water with blue lips.What was the best part of the trip was our new friend Adam loosing his camera. I know this sounds bad, but just hear me out. Adam had been traveling for eight months and set his waterproof camera on his lap while we were hanging out in a current free part of the river. He tried to dive and get it but couldn't get to the bottom so he offered a free bar tab to anyone who could find it. On the first dive an Australian successfully came up with the camera shouting "FREE BAR TAB!" I have never heard such unified excitement before, all of us travelers were extremely stoked.... we all know how hard it would be to loose so many significant pictures. What luck and skill! After the river we all returned to the hostel warmed up and siesta-ed the afternoon away. We spent the eve,ning in a local bar in town dancing and entertaining all the locals. The bar tender was thrilled to be getting so much business from the tourists, it seemed that typically those who visited Semuk stayed within the confines of their hostels. I love that we were able to give back a little to the local community too.

 Day two of Semuk was my favorite day of the trip. It fell on the 4th of July and was the most appropriate way to celebrate. Traditionally on the 4th I like to head out to our lake cabin and partake is some good ol' fashion bridge jumping, cliff jumping, and rope swinging. This year, celebrating in Guatemala, wasn't that much different from my typical Montana experience. In the morning we all loaded into the back of a pickup truck and made the 10 K journey in the open air of the truck bed. When we got to Semuk they pulled out an epic rope swing chair that we all got to jump off of, followed by an extremely high bridge that was quite a thrill. After that we continued onto a candle tour of the caves. This was quite a unique experience. The caves have fresh water flowing through them so it is a tour that involved swimming while maintaining a flame, climbing and going down a small waterfall, jumping from a small rock into a pool, and maintaining sanity from lack of sunlight. I was more than ready to see some natural light when we made our way out of the cave. From the cave tour we headed out the the actual beauty of Semuk, in the park. We hiked up about 15 minutes to a mirador that overlooks the many pools that are created by the land bridge, it is quite a sight to be seen. Once you see it the guide informs you that you are headed there next. Exciting no!? I have discovered that I am a fresh water fanatic and exploring the number of pools, no matter how hard the slippery rocks were to navigate, was an ideal way to top off our day of independence

After Semuk we hopped another bus, with nearly the entirety of our hostel to Flores for some ruin exploration in Tikal. As I have said before, the Incans really outdid that Mayans, yet with that said the grenadier of Tikal was still astonishing. We opted out of the guided tour of Tikal and toured ourselves around with our own personal teacher A.B. Tikal is full of a number of temples that are spread over a large jungle. The highlight of these temples was Temple IV where they actually filmed part of Star Wars. We hiked to the tip and the view was pretty fantastic. What made it even cooler was the audible conversations of the howler monkeys. As we were sitting on the top of the tower listening to the growls of the monkeys it was hard not to feel like you are sitting in Jurrasic Park. We kept the exploring of Tikal to a half day and got a very full tour with our American, Aussie, and South African commentaries about everything. We later returned to Flores where my the rest of my travel crew met their doom. Sophie was unable to see Tikal because she was hit by what we call the "Guate Gut" not far behind her in this experience were both A.B. and Britney. We think we can blame the hostel food for this. I was the only one who made it out without symptoms of sickness, and I was the only one who chose to eat street food (normally a riskier meal) instead of eat the hostel food. Poor girls, traveling at less than 100% is never fun.  Yet it didn't stop us...

The next day we left bright and early for the island of Caye Caulker in Belize. First off, it was really strange switching from traveling in Guatemala to Belize. Belize is significantly more expensive and they speak English. That is a switch after being accustomed to making our way around daily in Spanish. Yet, Belize in and of itself was extremely enjoyable.  Although we had to suffer through a bit of a tropical storm at the get go, the weather shaped up and made it ideal for us to get some sun time as well as a snorkeling trip. When the sun showed itself A.B. and I set up her hammock over that ocean water and vegged out listening to music in the Caribbean sunlight. Later that day we brought a package of Mac and Cheese that I demanded A.B. bring from home to a local (more or less) pizza joint. They were kind enough to cook up the Mac and Cheese to make my pizza of choice: Mac and Cheese. Nothing like a modified menu. The next day we set out to explore some ocean life, the weather was not a cooperative as the day prior, but the rain did hold out making the water perfect too see the world that exists under the sea. I must preface this with the fact that I felt like was living part of a number of Disney movies over the duration of the trip. "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming" from Finding Nemo was running through my head every time I was admiring the the coral reef. For my first snorkeling adventure I would call it a success- we swam along the second biggest reef in the world and saw manatees, sting rays, sharks, turtles, and an assortment of beautiful fish. This experience definatly  instilled a desire in me to get my dive certification, but that is all for another adventure.

From Belize, on a last minute decision, we headed for Rio Dulce near the Carribean cost of Guatemala. This turned out to a great end to the trip, to slow things down and have some time to catch up on everything we had been neglecting while we were go-go-going. We arrived in Rio after staying another night in the small inland island of Flores. Upon arriving we jumped on a boat and headed to our hostel located in the swamp area right off of Rio Dulce-this time I felt like I was living in the Princess and the Frog. What was great about our hostel was the amazing selection of Mexican food AND kayaks that we could take out to see the Castillo de San Felipe. This castle was constructed by the indiginous people to ward off the Pirates that made their way inland from the carribean coast. Needless to say we immediately took up this adventure, despite the fact that my Kayak was a bit broken we made our trip to the castle. It was pretty fun to expolore and fabricate events that may have taken place there... again can you see why I was stuck in a Disney movie? On our return journey my broken Kayak got the best of me and capsized about 100 meters from our hostel, I'm pretty sure we dumped out 400 gallons of water when we managed to flip it over. The next day we went to explore the natural beauity of the Rio Dulce area. For me this was just perfect, because it wasn't something we had to book a tour through and get everything done in a certain amount of time. We took a boat into town and hopped on a collectivo to Finca Paradiso. This site is a natural hot spring waterfall, apparently the only one in the world, it was quite beautiful and the perfect temperature to spend the morning swimming. From here we flagged down another collective to head a bit further up the road to a natural canyon to which the name alludes me. We payed a man with a boat to take us up the canyon and see the nearly untouched attraction. As I stated earlier, I am defiantly a fresh water fan and loved jumping out of the river to swim and explore on my own accord. From here we all headed back to the hostel to relax and indulge in their collection of bootleg DVDs.

The next morning we headed back to square one: Antigua. We have been here the past few days and are staying busy enjoying the food at all my favorite places to eat. It has been good to see everyone and say my last goodbyes....or until next times. I am sad to leave this place I can add to my list of homes, but I am ready to get back to some of the luxuries the United States has to offer...mostly not paying for agua pura at restaurants.

Aca pongo mi salute a Antigua, and cheers to the next trip. I keep finding myself leaving a little piece of my heart behind when I leave a place. Antigua will be no exception. Words can't fully describe the comfort of walking around this place. I feel like I have become a part of their community and I appreciate every general smile that comes my way. I big shout out goes to...
*Jose who walked me the last two blocks of my walk to school because he said I had a unique energy about me * The man working outside the gym near my house at 5 AM when I would run by,  who would notice and comment on the days I decided to wait until midday to run * The blind man sitting on the sidewalk playing his harmonica who returns every night to his three story house *The man selling sandwiches and hot rice drinks at the break of dawn every morning *The man who runs across the park to give a flyer to a gringo because he gets paid for every one that ends up in usful hands *The bar tenders who pull out your beer of choice before you actually order it *Coralia's big smile greeting me everymorning in class and every night when I returned to work * Those who tolerated me practicing my Spanish *Last, but not least, all of my alumnos that made me a part of thier lives and families.

Hasta la proxima vez!

Favorite teaching moments...

Over the past four months I have been keeping a running blog of my favorite moments/memories teaching.... I wish I could have put them all.... but as this chapter comes to a close I must share some of the hightlights of teaching ESL in Guatemala. 

• Apparently the awkward turtle hasn't crossed cultural borders- When an awkward moment came up as I was monitoring one of my basico classes I immediately went to the awkward turtle for help. The word awkward even more so the turtle flopping around seemed to confuse them. As the rest of the class was working, I showed my students who had finished the full scale of awkwardness. I turned to the awkward snail that I learned this past summer in Indianapolis, which is hilarious when they have no salt on hand to kill my snail like hand crawling up their arm.
• Countable and uncountable nouns- confusing enough as it is for us English speakers, try getting native Spanish speakers to understand this. After my lesson of countable and uncountable nouns I was fairly certain that I was going to have a table full of lettuce welcoming me into the class the next day because of the five minute debate that resulted over its countability. I still stand by that it is uncountable, hopefully they will see the light before their quiz.
• Can- After teaching can and can't I discovered one of my students could cook. So every time a can statement came up I would ask who in the class can cook, and continued to ask her when she was making dinner. Needless to say, after their first quiz she spoiled the class with some pretty amazing chicken sandwiches. On top of that my morning class has a chef who welcomed us back after her Semana Santa break with ice cream and brownies.
• When telling my class that I'm a little bit crazy.... they always assure me that they are very much aware of that.
• I constantly have trouble with switching peoples names. It isn't that they look alike or that I don't know their name. It's that if they start with the same letter I can get confused. I had a five minute giggle breakdown one class when I mixed up three different pairs of names in the matter of two minutes.
• Chocolate cookies- There is a bakery here in Antigua that is to die for. One Friday my student brought me cookies from there and told me that she knew I loved chocolate and that it would help since I am always hungry. I love them so much!
• As many of my friends, family, and educators know.... I am horrible at spelling. There is nothing better than going to the non-native English speaker for some spelling advice. 
• I have never seen some of my students laugh so hard as when I have to do some full out charades for vocab, or race them around the room to make sure they get the point of the lesson and vocabulary. 
• I was helping a class with a Korean student and all the sudden he started speaking to me in Spanish. I was clearly confused on the switch of language and he made it clear as to why... "Well, if I speak Korean you aren't going to understand." Touche, touche.
• "You're a lady practice."- I took one of my classes to a coffee shop so they could practice ordering and when we were eating my student said. "You're a lady practice." I thought she was commenting on my manners and almost took offense, until she replayed the sentence in her head and corrected herself to say "You're a practical lady." It was quite comical how much the false cognate changed the meaning of her statement. 
• Compliments during their writing time, no matter how cheesy never fail to make my day.
• Byron's light bulb- I have a class with a light bulb. When one student understands something it is as if the light goes off in his head, so we always communicate comprehension with light bulb.
• Spanish rule- Since I am not aloud to use Spanish in the classroom it is as if we have a timer until the last minute of class where they can ask me everything they want about my life, weekend, or even some translations. The time for this is always :01 and we all check our clock to see if it is a-okay.
• "I love my teacher!"- I have one class that really doesn't like to speak in English. So whenever I hunch over them looking as angry as I can possibly manage they always shout blurt out "I love my teacher!" They really mastered the art of brown nosing.
• Lovely moments-After subbing a class for a week I was one of the rambunctious jovenes blurts out "KODEE!" I asked him what and he responded in a very disappointed voice. "This is our last day that we get to play with you." It made me feel very special, and loved.
• Asian fun-There is, surprisingly enough, a few Koreans in my classes, one of which is very competent. I like to give him a hard time because he has a pretty fun personality. When I was eliciting sentences with vocab he came up with the following sentence with the verb to overcome: I overcame my class with Kodee. It was priceless and very fitting for how much I joke with him.
• Other sentences that have been the definition of golden- 
• Kodee is hyperactive.... always.
• Kodee is a good teacher.
• "Smiling all the time.... you? Yes!"
• Take some rest-I have basically been in and out of sickness since I've been here, nothing makes me feel better than my students more or less correct advice (a topic we cover in class) posted on my Facebook wall.
• Leaving.... after telling my class I am leaving one of my Basico students goes "You're killing me, I'm going to cry." It made me feel special, because this sentence is totally grammatically correct AND well... it was far too kind.
• Louder!!- I acquired a few Korean students in my stay here. Yes, Koreans moved to Guatemala to learn English. Little did they know English isn't the first language. Anyways, I have a new one in a fairly basic class. There is one girl in there than is extremely quiet and I always have to work really hard to hear her. One day I was motioning that she needed to get louder and the Korean broke out, seemingly oblivious to others around him, shouting "Loud, loud, LOUDER!!!" It was so incredibly entertaining I can't describe it to real value.
• Nicknames- One of my class lessons was about the origin of your name and nicknames. To finish up the class I had them create animal nicknames for themselves and classmates. After passing some paper around I got my favorite nickname thus far. "Kodee is a Kangaroo because she always jump jump. We love her!" I feel like they hit it on the head. It was also fun to give them names like stallion, mother hen, or flamingo that were all fitting to their personalities as well as looks. The next week my mother hen brought me a snack and said "For my child." 
• Meow!- With my Korean private student we were talking about the tingle/numb feeling when your leg falls asleep. He says "Meow." Completely lost as to why I asked him. In Korea this feeling is called mouse so they use a cat to scare it away. Oh how interesting culture is!
• Cushion- While eliciting the meaning of cushion I pointed out that Kodee means Cushion in some ancient language. One of my more basic Korean students blurts out..."Cushion? Comfortable?" while pointing to my stomach because he was trying to understand why I would be cushion... Ha! somewhat embarrassing, but we all got a kick out of it.

There are sooooooooo many more, I'm sure my roommates are sick of me coming home telling them all the fantastic things that happen in a day at Maximo Nivel. I can easily say that leaving my students will be the hardest part about leaving Guatemala. I have grown to love each of them for their own quirks and I am very protective of the future of their English education among other things. I owe each and everyone of them a huge thanks for helping me get to know myself a little bit more the past few months. 

Yet, with that said I am excited for the next adventure to come my way. I feel like I have somehow been dealt a stacked deck this year, I can't wait to see what it brings me next!

One year later...

One year ago today I graduated from Jamestown College... I can't quite wrap my mind around that. In the past year I have grown more than I thought was humanly possible.

Since graduation I have traveled 14,000 miles around the United States representing and organization I believe in to the very core. I have had-I am still having, a journey of faith that was unforeseen. I have enjoyed some of the best chai tea and beer ever. I have eaten-and enjoyed red meat. I have stepped outside my comfort zone. I have remolded the way my mind thinks about the language we speak. I have met too many people to name that have made a significant impact in my life. I have traveled and worked in a foreign country...alone. I have knocked the two top things off my bucket list. I have become more comfortable with myself. I have discovered some of my biggest weaknesses, and hope to improve them. I have found my strengths. Last, but not least, I have been overwhelmingly happy and content!

If all this happened in one year, I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me.

The Heat of Copan

There is nothing better to refresh yourself than a little vacation away from what you know. It is great because you find comfort in solitude, but even more comfort when you go home to a place you can call home. Needless to say, this past month flew by! With teaching extra classes so a coworker could get home, cramming in  a lot of subject matter in a small period of time, Spanish classes, and getting ready to move into a new place I was ready for a breather.

I decided a trip to Honduras was very much in the cards. After working with MyFight this summer I wanted to get a feel of the country. Even if where I ended up going is only 10 km past the border, I could see a clear difference. Beyond that, I was testing a boarder run theory. Honduras is part of the C-4 with Guatemala, which is basically an organization that makes it really difficult for those of us spending more than 3 months in a country to do so legally. If you travel between El Salvador, Guatemala, Hondruas, and Nicaragua you don't get your passport restamped for a fresh new 90 days. Yet, what most people don't know is that agreement was terminated long ago and there some areas that will renew your passport. The crossing at Copan Ruinas is one of those so I headed out to test my luck.

I jumped on the shuttle I booked through one of my students at 4 am headed out to Honduras. The shuttle itself was PACKED full, but that is all a part of the Latin American experience. We headed out for a 5 to 6 hour ride, and as it turns out I was very blessed to have that shuttle driver. When crossing the boarders I asked him why I didn't get a stamp to exit. He quickly tuned into the fact that I was looking for more time in Guatemala and took my passport and told the people that I was not just going to Copan Ruinas so I needed a 90 visa instead of the short visa they give you to see the ruins. With his help I slid through easily and now have a new 90 days to play around with. Thank goodness because I was not ready to deal with all the govermental stipulations in the city.


As we pulled into Copan Ruinas I could feel and see a whole new culture in comparison to that I left behind in Antigua. The men were walking through the town with the classic cowboy hats and work shoes ready to work in the fields, while the women were still sparatically dressed in their traditional clothes. I felt like it was more of a community, and it turns out I was right. I was greeted off the bus by my new friend Kristin that I had met during Semana Santa in Antigua. She walked me up to their humble abode so appropriately named "the castle." I was  immediately embraced by a big hug from her roommate Jason, who I had met with her in Antigua. They made me feel right at home and did everything they could to make my visit the best it could be.

I spent the first day having coffee with Jason, and walking to the river with Kristin. The little town of Copan is beautiful and was quite relaxing to explore despite the intense heat. During my stay in Copan, I easily consumed more ice cream than I had eaten in the past four months. I am determined to figure out how they did it in Copan, because it was utterly fantastic.The three days of ice cream there will be forever burned in my memory until I can master the art myself.

Beyond the food, the huge attraction to Copan is the actual ruins that can be found just a fifteen minute walk just outside the city. The second day of my trip we headed out there in the early morning heat. I don't know what I was really expecting, but I can tell you that it satisfied my quench for some history, while also helping me to establish they opinion that the Incans are way cooler than the Mayans. The ruins themselves were pretty magnificent with the neat theories about why certain animal and plant statues were placed throughout the ruins. The part that was most interesting to me was the "soccer field." The Mayans had their own soccer, in which you couldn't use your hands or feet. This was a game set up to worship the sun and always ended in a honorary self sacrifice of the winning teams captain. Yet, despite all the history within the ruins the Mayans did little to impress me in comparison to the and Sacred Valley that I trekked through in Peru.

 

The best, and most satisfying part about my trip to Honduras was a nature walk just outside the ruins. I ventured off to this alone when the others were busy with work. The walk itself was beautiful and peaceful. Being surrounded by this beauty wasn't all that made it great, the best part was that it reminded me of the trails I run in at home. It was that sense of home that I had been missing so far in my travels, and there it was right outside famous Mayan ruins. Que lindo! The inner peace from a walk like that is priceless, even if I did take a wrong turn and got a little off the beaten path.

Kristin and Jason are volunteers for a non-profit called Urban Promise Honduras.They work with local children as an afterschool/camp that is focused on not only education, but education through God. It was inspiring to see them in action. It was evident that they were a huge part of the community and were making an impact by being there alone. This was amazing to see, revitalizing as well. Often I don't feel like a part of the community in Antigua. There is a divide between all the ex-pats that live here and they locals. Seeing that this is divide was not always evident was uplifting. Upon returning to Antigua, I was able to find this connection in my own classroom and with my students. My community is here, just not as evident as that of a town with 1/8 as many people. I was thrilled to see my students and I am excited to see what the next month can bring us.

That being said it is great to be back. I washed away the Honduras dirt and sweat accumulated over my short stay, but not the memories.  I am now moved into my new place with a hammock set up just my room for my free time in the days.... viva la viva!

Keeping it Guate

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.”
Martin Buber

So far in this beautiful country I have found myself restless and ready to go, see it all. In the past three weeks I have gotten the chance to do that, poco por poco. In the process I am learning and teaching myself a lot about who I am and who I want to be.

First, I should start off with a little background about what has been happening throughout Antigua in my past few weeks here. I seemed to have arrived in Antigua at just the right time to embrace and fully experience the festivities of Semana Santa. Some say this is a blessing, some advice you to get out... and fast. I say that a mix of both is quite appropriate. Semana Santa is more than just a tourist stop. It is an event that is so rich in culture, most of us gringos walking around taking pictures of the colorful alfombras can hardly fathom the history and religious relevance behind this event.

A quick 101 about Semana Santa: during the season of lent the town of Antigua decorates itself with a vibrant shade of purple. On the weekends and during passover they have processions throughout the town. This is more than your everyday parade. The people of various churches in Antigua get decked out in what I would call purple shawls, but I’m not sure how accurate that term is. They meander down the streets with massive floats perched on their shoulders, escorted by hundreds of backups to fill in when the weight of the float becomes overbearing. The floats are symbolic of the passion, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. Over the 40 days the cross bore by Christ displayed on top of the floats changes to represent another aspect of Christ’s self-sacrifice. Before the floats make their way down the streets the people and churches of the city decorate the cobblestone streets with alfombras. These are beautiful flower and sawdust carpets that draw the eye by their vibrant colors and holy designs.

What we don’t see as regular travelers is the heart and soul about every part of this event. What seems like a miserable responsibility of carrying the float is something that is actually something people of the respective churches work and pay to be able to do. After seeing how miserable a woman looked at the head of a float, and knowing she wanted to be there showed me how significant this event really is. People come from far and wide to see these beautiful processions. To some it is a tourist event, to others it is something that strikes deep into their spirituality and that in itself is quite moving to see.

Along with the bearing of the float, the work and planning put into the alfombras is nearly unmatchable. Days before the processions the markets are full of flowers and people are busy cutting out designs for the detailed carpets. They work under the hot sun to make them perfectly pleasing to the eye. Only to be trampled over by those leading the procession minutes after finishing them. I was lucky enough to be invited to make a mini-gringo carpet, a task in and of itself more difficult than perceived. The ending result of six gringos covering a seven foot diameter was despicable in comparison to the massive alfombra carefully planned and executed by the three Guatemalans right behind us. Yet, it gave us a little light into their culture. These colorful decorations and tedious tasks are things that matter. These are things that show their dedication to Christ and his resurrection, but also show the compassion of their lives. The people of Guatemala love the party that goes along with it, but you can tell that their hearts are in it for an entirely different reason. This is what I find a blessing of my time here in Antigua.

Yet, the curse is that this spiritual event brings in a lot of people making Antigua a very overwhelming place to be. Normally a nice afternoon you can stroll down the street without a care in the world. During Semana Santa you constantly finding yourself excusing yourself as you feel like a fish swimming up stream. This can be fun for a while, but also provides a perfect excuse to get a nice taste of Holy Week and then breaking out to get a taste of what the rest of Guatemala has to offer. So this is what I did...

One of the big things upon getting to Antigua on the gringo trail is to hike one of the many surrounding volcanoes. The easiest and most accessible of these is the Vocan de Pacaya. It is just a short trip outside of town with a nice incline to get a feel of volcanic ash, we were lucky enough to get started in a fog and have it burn off by the time we reached the end of the hike. The stinky part about this particular hike is that in the past few years the trek itself has changed. Pacaya is still an active vocano and has erupted within the past ten years. Because of this the trek has changed a bit, rather than summiting the volcano you are taken up to the base of the volcano to see its creator from afar and roast some marshmallows on bits of the hot ash. Marshmallows for me was by far the best part of the adventure, I sure do love my marshmallows. It was still a very rewarding experience and just instilled the drive to get out and hike more of the volcanoes in my time here.

The following weekend I was lucky enough to have a day off of work after my classes finished their first month with some quiz days. I had just moved into the new apartment and I recruited my only roommate at the time to head to the beached in El Salvador with me. I have never made a better decision in my life. Since I was a kid I have always wanted to go surfing, in Montana and North Dakota this is kind of out of the question. But in El Salvador I not only got to enjoy delicious fruit smoothies and delicious Pupusas-so tasty- but I also got to test my skills on the waves.

The first morning there I met some amazing people from Portland, Maine who were on a surfing vacation. We ended up spending the day chatting, reading, playing cards, and going to a nearby town to watch a less-than-eventful surfing competition. The next day they took me out on the waves. Now mind you this is no easy feat. The day prior nobody was out on the waves because they were a bit too strong. This opportunity increased my learning curve a bit. Needless to say, I intantly fell in love with the sport of surfing. Even just riding the wave like a lazy man was loads of fun. After a bit of practice I was able to stand up and ride the wave to shore, which is quite a thrill and definatley tops snowboarding in my book. Now it seems I just need to move to Portland so I can do this everyday to perfect the art, and hopefully figure out how to paddle too. We shall see what cards I'm dealt next to see if that one works out.

It was extremely hard to return to Antigua after an overly satisfying weekend. Yet I did, and powered through three days of work knowing I was headed to the famous Lake Aticlan. This couldn't have been a better place to escape the crazy crowds of Semana Santa. We successfully did a-lot-o-bit-o-nothing, and I loved every minute of it. We stayed in a little town of Santa Cruz which really doesn't have much going on. The biggest event of our short stay was a hike up the hill leading into town to get a good calf burn and an even better view of the two volcanoes that sit on the opposite shore. Of course, I met some very intriguing people in my hostel and it turned out to be a very intellectual, refreshing, and enlightening weekend. I keep finding my Spanish randomly improving with little excursions like this, despite the fact most of the people in my immediate surroundings are speaking English. This is reasuring, but still shows me a I have a long way to go on my second language...

If anything, I have learned most from Guatemala is that I do have the ability to do nothing. I am getting better and better at living a tranquilo and less chaotic lifestyle and allowing myself to decompress. With that I am more comfortable and satisfied with me time, rather than always feeling the need to do something and see people. This has been something that I think I've needed for a while, so it is good to see that side of life, while getting out and learning about the world a little bit more.

Lo Que Pasa

Lo que pasa... how the start nearly every sentence down here in Guatemala. I found it quite fitting for a little life update...
My oh my...how time flies! I have been in Guatemala for officially three weeks, and I have yet to have words to fully describe the beautiful colonial town of Antigua. Antigua is a quaint little city where the people are always kind, the cobblestone streets are always inviting for a nice stroll, and the volcanoes in the background are always tempting me to cancel class at sunset just to see the beautiful view.

Upon arrival here I started touring and training for the job right away. This didn't give me much time for adjustment, but I was totally prepared for that part of this adventure. After two days of getting everything set up through Maximo I was standing in my very own classroom. Well... kinda. We all share rooms, but all my classes are in the same room. Which keeps thing pretty simple. Moral of the story, I was already teaching!

After my adventures around Peru following my TEFL course I could hardly remember all the techniques of eliciting, CCQing, STT... blah, blah, blah. Yet, I quickly adjusted. The first week was pretty frustrating for me. I have five classes and four of those are basico nuevos, meaning they don't speak a lick of English. This is super hard when you are only allowed to speak English to them during class time. Eeeeeeek! You can see the frustration in their eyes when I tell them something, they ask me in Spanish and I reply in English that they need to use English. My students-formally known as clients, are adjusting well and I think we are all having a good time. I feel like I've done a good job of creating a classroom chemistry, and have been able to let my personality out in all of my classes. Mind you, I think a lot of my students think I'm crazy since the best part of this job is charading around to get them to understand vocabulary. Plus, it is completely evident that my biggest weakness is spelling, making everything seem a bit more questionable. Yet anyone who has played board games with me can understand why I get excited to go to most of my classes daily- its like Cranium 101 some days...even gnilleps.

As for life in Antigua, its very mellow. Which is a really good taste of reality for my normal high speed pace. I spend my hours in between classes, wandering to the market to by the equivalent of 25 cent avocados or 13 cent mangoes, reading my books, or just laying in the hammocks. It has been nice and relaxing, yet as always I am ready for more adventure. Luckily, I have found somewhere to live and I get to move in very soon. Not that I don't appreciate the overwhelming kindness of my coworkers, but I am ready to unpack, sleep in a bed, and have a place to call home. The new set up will be ideal too. I will be living with 7 other people, the majority of which work for a really neat social organization focused on education in a poor village near Antigua. Just up my alley right?!?! So far getting to know some of them, I feel like it will be a great fit and a good way to get out and see a variety of things.

As of now, I have just stayed within the confines of Antigua, but I plan on getting out this weekend. There are a lot of quick and weekend hikes around. Not to mention some of my students work in the tourist industry and are willing to get me some sweet deals! Beyond that with the Easter holiday quickly approaching we get an extended break to get out and mentally collect. It is a lovely set up for some travel adventures in and around Guate.

Old Mountain, Big Adventure

Finally! Knocked a big one of my bucket list... Machu Picchu! We sure did it with a bang too... Eric, Randi, and I decided to do the Inka Jungle Trek which is a four day three day trip to the old mountain itself. Coming back it is really hard to summarize the range of physical and mental emotions we experienced. I guess I will start with day one:

The trek was kicked off by a windy bus ride (AB you would not have enjoyed this at all), where the bus dropped us off at the top of a mountain to ride our bikes down. This was such a freeing feeling, after I got over the fact that my wheel was making funny noises and might fly off at any moment. Riding down was never dull, full of pin turns and extremely muddy construction zones. When we got down you could literally measure our smiles with a ruler, we were all quite amused by the adventure. After we made it down safely we headed to get some grub, and rest up a bit for the next day. My dad would have been so proud of me on this trip. I pretty much turned into a carnivore and devoured two meals with a marinated steak. Easy the most red meat I have eaten in the past year. This served me well for day two.

The second day we woke up with the sun and stuffed our tummies before taking off for a 10 hour hike. It is hard to put a caption on the beauty and adventure of everything we saw. This day was easily the most satisfying part of the trip. We trekked up a part of the Incan trail that the messengers used to use to communicated between pueblos. These trails are no more than 2 meters wide and are located hundreds of meters over the canyon created by the Urubamba river. For good reason too, as we could peek over the edge to watch the river rush by at un-Godly speeds. It is pretty amazing thinking about the thought that went into everything we saw, hiked, and summited. One of the guys on our trek told me I was just like an Incan since I opted to do the hike in my Chacos. Seeing what they were capable of, I took that as quite the compliment. Day one continued to wear on and we finally reached some flat ground to give our calves a bit of a rest, but the adventure far from stopped there.... Mom you can skip the end of this paragraph if you wish not to have a heart attack.... Because it is rainy season the terrain is always a bit more difficult to maneuver. Like I said the river was really high, and quite crazy. But the rain also triggers a lot of rock slides. About an hour outside of our destination for the day we confronted one of these. Originally the plan was to descend again and go by the river to climb up to Santa Theresa to stay for the night. However, this did not workout. So we continued on, the rock slide had been a day or two ahead of us but they were still cleaning up the damage. So when we reached it our guides directed us to keep our eyes up on the hill and if we heard or saw anything to face our backs to the mountain and use our backpacks to protect our heads from flying rocks. So far so good..... we then met with a construction crew a couple hundred meters ahead. Here there was a lot of loose rock and they were working to secure the area in between some showers. So we waited a bit and then were directed to run through the rubble in pairs. When we were running through (mind you in my Chacos) I looked up and saw a good size rock flying behind Randi. Have no fear we all made it through. Eric had to get pulled against a ledge to avoid a few falling rocks, but the whole group made it completely safe. This is where I caption this story with: ¨That would never fly in America.¨ It really topped of the trip and gave us all the endorphin high to finish off the trek.

The next day was another day full of walking. This time there was very little up hill and we really got to see the power of the river as we walked by it with random splashes due to the force of the water. Not only that the afternoon was full of rain. By the time we reached Aguas Calientes, just outside of MP, we were more than ready for some dry clothes, a good meal, and a nice rest before waking up at 3:50 AM to hike up the Machu Picchu.

The early morning greeting us again with more rain. Loads of rain. We got up early and hiked up a mountain full of stairs to make it to MP before its 6 AM opening. By the time we all reached the entrance we were all soaked with a mix of rain and sweat. Lovely we all were for our tour. We spent the early morning learning about the relatively unknown Quechwa culture that populated MP in its prime, lucky the storm broke mid morning allowing us to dry off and for the fog to burn off for a few picture ops. We then set off to hike Huayna Picchu, the young mountain that overlooks the whole range we hiked in. Naturally, when we began our hike we were greeting by yet a another storm. The hike again was full of stairs, steep stairs, that made us feel like we were hiking the famous Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings. When we summited we hit the heart of the storm and got soaked through. We were able to get a break in between storms to get a small peek of MP from above. It was quite entertaining seeing all us tourists whip out their cameras when we spotted the bit of green and amazing constructions below. After that small window we decided to start our dissent since the stairs were unbelievably steep and we didn´t want to get stuck in the heart of a storm going down rocks that were constructed at the angle of a latter. Our dissent was rather timely, it started bucketing rain when we reached MP again so we decided we had got the chance to enjoy the majesty of MP and food was calling us.

We headed into town to enjoy a five star meal. I have never seen prettier nor tasted better food. It was a great place to warm up fire side and enjoy some time with our new German friend. We left Aguas Calientes on my first train ride ever, and headed back to Cusco while playing some word puzzles. It turns out I may be challenged by English word games, to do that with a second language is mentally exhausting. Props.

Randi and I were able to find late night hostal and get a solid night sleep. We were lucky enough to wake up to some Carnival celebrations in the streets. It turns out the Peruvinas do it right. Carival is full of dancing, foam, and water fights. It was a nice morning treat after four days of exhaustion and really brightened what looks like a typical febrero loco rainy day.

Life after TEFL

Wowza! One month later and I am TEFL certified!

Life after TEFL is great! We finished up our practical teaching last Friday and since then have been able to enjoy the bits of Cusco that weren´t as easy to access when we were in the classroom. Friday itself turned into a long day for everyone. My practical teaching was from 7am-8am so I was the first one done with my teaching out of all my class. I then spent the day outside the classrooms to congratulate everyone on the completion of the stress of teaching. Unfortunately, this wasn´t the end for any of us. We had one last paper to finish before we were free of the chains of TEFL. By the evening we were able to get everyone out of the building to enjoy sometime and dancing together. Saturday morning followed with a mini hike and some good grub for me. I really enjoyed the feeling of seeing some Incan ruins knowing that I actually had nothing else to be doing at that moment. Ahhhhh :)

It is easy to say that the weekend as a whole was a bit of a fiasco... we definitely let loose. Let´s just say that I wish every graduation ceremony was accompanied by ¨We are the Champions¨while they call your name to deliver your certificate. My class of seventeen people each had a unique dance/celebration to greet our teacher for our certificate, which were quickly taken back for safe keeping before we hit up the discos of Cusco.

Overall, this TEFL course has been an amazing experience. I never thought it was possible to learn so much in a month. I not only learned the tedious techniques of ESL teaching, but I discovered a lot about myself. Most important of these discoveries is the fact that I really enjoy teaching and passing on bits of the American lingo to non-native speakers. We´ve been calling this the teacher high, and I am excited to see where it takes me after teaching for 6 hours a day. Yup, for those who missed the update I already found a job! The Maximo Nivel in Guatemala (I took my class at the Peru site), just started in February. Their client base has grown exponentially and they were looking for some new teachers. Lucky me they caught wind I was on my way there and asked for my resume. Thanks to great recommendations from TEFL trainer and an awesome job title from my MyFight job I was offered this past Monday. I get there in two weeks and start training immediately for my contract to start the beginning March. I am really excited to be a part of a new program and see it grow! Strangely, I am also very excited for the schedule we have. Being the morning person that I am, having classes from 7-9 and then from 3-8 just may be the perfect fit. It will give me a chance to enjoy the beauty of Antigua otherwise known as ¨The City of the Never Ending Spring¨ and work on my Spanish through discounted classes. If you can´t tell through the text of this blog I am beaming right now! So ready to start this adventure!

Until then my dear friend Randi is here visiting. So far we have been busy introducing her to my world in Cusco, mostly exploring my favorite part of town, San Blas. In the morning e are off to Macchu Pichu and then making our way to the coast next week for some good ol´ relaxation before jumping into the world of teaching English.

Titicaca

Peru keeps AMAZING me with its people. They aren´t nearly as blessed as us in terms of material wealth, but you can tell they have an abundance of wealth within each other and within faith. I see a bit of this within Cusco, but more so on the outskirts of the bigger cities. It is quite refreshing seeing home simple life really can be.

This past weekend we ventured out to the famous Lake Titicaca. Going into it I really didn´t have many expectations, but it is easy to say that it, by far, surpassed anything I could have anticipated. We booked a tour out of Cusco, because with the limited weekends and the nature of tourism on the lake itself we didn´t see that chance of finding a better deal. Besides the fact that we were told facts about the islands by our tour guide, after we had learned the same thing from our host families it was a great decision made.


We started out the tour headed to the Islas de Uras. These islands blew my mind! The people who lived on a family were an extended family and primarily supported each other, not only that but they continuously build the islands and the houses on the islands themselves. The mechanics and planning involved in this are far beyond my level of comprehension to describe. The people were just amazing and friendly!! The kids on the island were by far the best part. You could tell that they loved to see new faces and to play. Lucky them, we are all just as intrigued and tossed a ball around and hung out with all of them until we got to take the ¨mercedes benz¨ handmade-grass-woven boat across the lake to another floating island.

After our short visit we set off for our lake home on Isla Amantani . At this beautiful island we were set up to stay with local families that live up the hill on the island. A.B. and I stayed together and had one of the richest experiences yet. We joined the father of the family for all the meals and enjoyed broken Spanish conversation (none of our first languages) over their typical dishes. This is a place I could probably subsist forever. The food we ate never contained meat, but was very protein rich with Qinoa, Egg, or Cheese. On top of that, meals are always followed by a mint tea called Muña. The tea was so tasty it was enough to warm your heart and soul on any day. We spent the afternoon on the island playing soccer, hiking, and watching dance (really what could make me happier). The evening was spent in traditional clothing learning their traditional dances, it was far too much fun to spin in the traditional skirts. It was truly inspiring to see how simple these people lives could be and just how happy they were having it that way. This small fact will always provide me with a bit of condolence every time I get frustrated that I only have a backpack full of clothes to wear for the next few months.

Perhaps the next best thing to the people of Lake Titicaca was the lake itself. Thanks to our crazy friend Grahm we got to jump of the tour boat into the lake. It was such a refreshing feeling. Cold! But great and totally what we needed after a rainy morning. The Lake water tastes ohhhh sooooooo refreshing as well... thanks to my handy dandy steri-pen! All in all... Titicaca was all but caca, and accordingly we celebrated with our traditional mango.

The trip came just at the right time. This past week of TEFL has been a lot of work. They warned us that the class was back end loaded, and we found out why. I felt like I was in front of the computer three hours a day after class EVERYDAY. Really it isn´t that bad, we all know my focus level is low when it comes to doing homework consecutively... the amount of time doing the homework was a lot less than it should have been. Luckily in my procrastination I got to book my ticket to Guatemala. YUP... here we go Central America!! I feel like after Randi´s visit I will have gotten what I wanted out of Peru, and made some fantastic friends along they way. I may or may not have found my doppelganger. But I am ready for something new, Guatemala seems very fitting in a number of ways. There is a Maximo Nivel there too (the same organization I am taking my classes through). Thus, I will have a network to fall back on, plus I found out after I booked my flight that there are openings at the newly established MN-Guatemala English program. Fingers crossed!!!

Until then we are going into our practical teaching week. We each have a class of our own for a week and then we will be certified teachers! Can you say college on crack?? As I am writing this I am saying nound, adjective, adverb, superlative, blah blah blah... so something must have set in over the past three weeks.

The Sacred Valley

¨Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent in the ideas of living." - Mariam Beard

I have never seen a quote more fitting for travel, and adventures I have come upon so far....

After the first week of classes I felt a bit flustered. It turns out that TEFL is a totally new way of thinking for me. When teaching a new language you have to fight all instincts that most teachers innately have. No explaining, just eliciting responses from the students by a number of mind bending exercises. Because of that the first week has been a lot of observation and absorbing of the practices we are expected to walk away with. I know it is possible, but it is evident that it will take a lot of work to master the art of ESL teaching. Luckily the students are supportive and for the most part eager to learn. They appreciate us making fools of ourselves for their sake. In order to fully absorb all the new facts, some of my classmates and I decided it was crucial to get out of the city, and fully enjoy where we are.


Before we headed out of the Cusco I was fortunate enough to meet up with the Pressl family. My mother teaches their son and she has been telling me about them for ages. We were lucky enough to be in Cusco at the same time to enjoy dinner together. They are a beautiful family with a great sense of adventure. They are living abroad for a year splitting that between Ecuador and Argentina. It was by far the best dinner I have had yet with fantastic food and even better conversation. It is always nice to find a piece of home in random corners of the world.


As for the rest of the adventures, initially some of my classmates and I just started on the outskirts of Cusco. We headed to the giant white Jesus statue (Cristo Blanco) resembling the one in Rio.It is the only big sight around Cusco city center that I was interested in seeing. So we found a way to hike up, weaving through the outer banks of Cusco, up a lot of stairs. When we got there it we were serenaded by the happiest Cuscaño I have ever seen. I started out chatting with him and practicing the Quechwa we learned in class that week and then he took out his baby guitar and proceeded to break out in song about the pretty North American ladies. It was great and his joy was contagious. Overlooking the city of Cusco was pretty neat. It was interesting trying to figure out where we live and seeing how condensed the population really is.

The next morning another group from our class headed to the Sacred Valley to explore the Inca ruins. What we found was amazing beauty and the experience of a life time! Our first stop was Pisaq which leads to and Incan Temple. We took the way up that was designated to avid hikers, we didn´t really know what we were getting into. It seems that hiking through Incan ruins requires a lot of stairs. So much that A.B. blurt out before bed that whenever she closed her eyes all she could see was stairs (mind you still is still saying that 4 days later.) Needless to say the stairs made the journey much more difficult than expected, but totally worth every step! The further we climbed the better the view got. It was completely breath taking in every meaning of the word. We topped of the exhilarating hike with  "Ceremonial Mango," the most refreshing treat to a completely fulfilling adventure.

As for the Incan ruins, I have established that the Incan Empire must have been crazy. The number of rocks and how perfectly they place them to construct these amazing places is almost unfathomable. The beauty in every construction just needs to be seen in order to fully take it in.

After Pisaq we hopped a bus to stay in Urubama for the night. After the big day what we had, we ended up crashing early to continue our sight seeing. We left early to head to the Muray and Chinchera. Two more Incan ruins that, again, were amazing to see. The best part about these two places was the landscape surrounding them I have yet to see such lush grass and friendly mountains as I did in these areas. Not the mention all of the locals working the day away, and seemingly enjoying every minute of it. I really felt at peace in the Sacred Valley. Yes, people were trying to get business out of us, but it wasn´t the hustle and bussle of Cusco. It was a great break from reality and an even better adventure... with more to come!

The people I have met  here are amazing. Those of us in the program have really clicked, and it is great that somewhere so far from home is already starting to feel like another home. Hopefully learning all the English grammar won´t put me completely over the edge and scare all my new friends away. Well.... it is easy to see that we are all going down on the insanity level together, so we will beat that path as one.