Worlds Biggest Pizza Road Trip

I have landed back on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the road trip here was fabulous on so many levels. My family, being the caring and loving people they are, didn't want me to make that drive alone. Although I have done it a few times under varying circumstances (once without AC or cruise control in the dead heat of summer), I was very thankful to have my friend from EHOS, Alex, to be my roadside entertainment and navigator.

Alex had never been to Montana and we had about 36 hours to give her the best quick tour ever, while finishing up some presentations and of course packing. Alex got in at noon so we went to get some good New York bagels located on the wrong side of the country, walked up and down Main, enjoyed a margarita, send her to a brewery with my friend Brad during my presentation, reconvened with a group of 12 of my friends packed around a booth at my favorite pizza spot in Bozeman (MacRiv) for a perfect send off and start to a PIZZA road trip. We topped off the night enjoying server industry night at a hoity-toity bar downtown (Plonk). If that wasn't an action packed day we squeezed in a few more things the next morning. After getting my car loaded and running a few errands we drove up Bridger Canyon show her my favorite mountain range, then pulled off to hike up to the M overlooking Bozeman. We then continued on to meet my friend Micheal for a warm/hot/cold dip in the Boiling River of Yellowstone National Park. After a frenzy of a last few days at home this was the perfect way to start off a road trip. We got a chance to enjoy the scenic beauty (and abnormal surplus of buffalo) in the park  and get our muscles good and relaxed for long hours in the car.

We got a head start on the first leg of our trip and headed to Billings for the night. It worked out quite well because we got to get dinner with my good friend Randi and my favorite sandwich shop (Staggering Ox). This place is always my favorite to show off, because they bake the break in a coffee canister and hollow it out to fill it with all sorts of goodies. The entertainment of figuring out how to eat it is enough entertainment for any one the slightest bit sleep deprived. Alex and I then continued to my sisters house where I got to give my nieces and nephew a big hug goodbye. Both of us hit a wall at this point and once the kids went to bed we took over my sisters couch for a siesta until my friend Jenn got off work. Needless to say we went to Jenn's and headed straight to bed. Jenn was my first road trip co-polit when I first joined on with MyFight so she totally understood our fatigue and our need to hit the road bright and early.

Now, as I continue to write this blog, I must explain that this trip was so new and exciting yet FULL of flashbacks of my summer(s) with MyFight. It is also going to be quite a read. Poor Alex had to hear all about it, but it was really exciting to step back to where I was a few years ago and see how much I had grown from that experience and since that experience. Additionally, it was totally worth the extra money spent on gas vs. a plane ticket because I got to see a big chunk of the people I love and care about most in this world (I did have a mid breakdown in Chicago about gas pricing-Alex dealt with me and we got through it). Lucky for Alex (at least I think so), she really got a full tour of my life and the beautiful people that are intertwined in it.

To continue: Alex and I started our trip at Harper and Madison in Billings. This place is special to me for a few reasons. When Caleb and I left for the first leg of our road trip over the summer of 2011 H&M had heard about our trip and treated us to delicious coffee and scrumptious treats. This time around as I was leaving for, yet again, a loooong drive we started there and who was working? The one and only Caleb. Caleb was gracious enough to treat us to a coffee and desserts to send us off on our drive. We then headed towards the North Dakota. It never ceased to amaze me how much the scenery changes right outside of Billings, you literally leave the city headed east and see a whole lot of nothing.... or a whole lot of miles. Thus, the theme of our trip A) Pizza and B) Worlds biggest (Those of you just reading this via the email version may want to go to my blog to see pictures). Granted there is Theodor National Park, but besides that on the drive the best parts are the Worlds Biggest Cow (Salem Sue), a ginormous eye shaped thing kicking of the enchanted highway, and of course the Worlds Biggest Buffalo in Jamestown.  Although Alex was able to point out some natural beauty that I have become so accustomed to in the drive, I still find those the best part of the flatlands. Thus, we stopped and got some quality photos at all of these and arrived to Jamestown in time to tour campus (what takes all of 5 minutes) and get me set up for another presentation to lour collegiate students into teaching English abroad. This turned out to be super rewarding, because I had contacted a few of my professors the room so they helped to insure it was full! My last events were at universities over 10x the population and I presented to a significantly smaller group of students.

What was best about this event was the of presenting to the two professors who have had the greatest impact on my education, passions, need to follow my heart and pursuit my dreams. Dr. Johnson was shocked I was public speaking in general and Connie was probably shocked that I wasn't making random thematic conclusions from my experiences. It was nice to get the reversed perspective of a student to professor and it was quite a compliment to have them attend and participate in my rants.

Entonces Jamestown is where we really began the pizza aspect of our tour. MacRiv is great, but most of the other pizzas we ate along the way were pretty unique. IDK in Jamestown knows me quite well for ordering the Mac & Cheese pizza- I know it sound bad, but you really can't go wrong with a pizza crust topped with a bit of BBQ sauce, bacon, and cheese noodles! Some of my lovely people (Thanks Bob, Bitty and Bryan) joined us for dinner and then followed up with dessert at Applebee's for dessert to visit my normal pizza partner in crime Lauryn. Bitty and Bryan hosted us for that night and after getting a window chip repaired in some man's home garage, we stopped by the new Meeting Grounds to see my boss Kristi and get a good caffeinated start to the day.

Next destination: Twin Cities for another round of pizza, but not before a stop at the Worlds Largest "Booming" Prairie Chicken and the Worlds Largest Viking. We headed straight for Punch Pizza which is a certified Neoplotin Pizza joint. My good friend, Jackie, who has lived in Italy a few times says that a glad of wine and a pizza there is like taking a step into Italy. I had nothing of realistic value to compare that to, but I can say that it was a very unique, delicate, and tasty pizza that I could easily enjoy more than once in a lifetime. Someday I hope to get to enjoy the real deal, but until then enjoying this pizza with Alex, Angie, Kyle, Kendra, and Steve (friends from college) will definitely fill my quota. Alex and I left right after dinner after catching up with both her friends and mine to a Bed and Breakfast in Wabasha, MN (Yes, Grumpy Old Men was based on this town).

This world really is all about who you know. A new friend Michael owns the lovely Turning Waters Bed and Breakfast right on the Mississippi River (http://www.turningwatersbandb.com). He was kind enough to welcome us in to enjoy a few cozy nights of sleep and the best breakfast I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. What was best about this step of the journey was kayaking the winter worn Missisippi. Michael also owns a kayaking company so we broke out the boats and spent an afternoon on the water. This was the ultimate experience-not a lot of people would choose to kayak in March, but in doing so we got to see sooooo many bald eagles that we lost count in the first 100 yards. Wabasha is famous this time of year for eagle viewing and we got a front row view of their soaring and water hunting. Lucky us- on top of that we spent the evening getting the best small town fish sandwich (me-while wearing my purple wet suit) and crossing the river for some authentic cheese curds-fulfilling Alex's one request for the trip.

Michael sent us off the next morning with cinnamon and sugar bacon (TO DIE FOR) for our trip to the Windy City. Before arriving the Chicago we stopped to visit the World Biggest Bicyclist (Ben) in Wisconsin. I only wish I had a bike as cool as his!

As you can guess, our main objective was the classic Chicago deep dish pizza and of course the (we decided) Worlds Biggest Reflective Bean. Alex and I pulled into the Mexican neighborhood of Chicago where my adviser for the TEFL Institute so graciously housed us and headed into an evening tour of the city. Alex being the good citizen that she is went to pick up an envelope (trash) only to find it marked with a big dollar sign with $30 dollars in it. This street money ended up treated us to some much needed greens and a deep dish pizza. After walking to find the bean, navigating the navy pier in the chilly breeze of Lake Michigan, and getting stuck on public transportation under construction we were more than ready for a massive pizza and a good night sleep. As many of you probably, deep dish is a creation of its own-basically inside-out fatty pizza. After having experienced this glorious cheesy creation once before I was smarter to consume less and a bit slower so Alex wouldn't have to roll me down the street.

The next morning spent the morning back in the city to get a good cup of coffee with our coworker Zu who happened to be in the neighborhood and enjoyed some good authentic chile rellenos before heading to Indianapolis.

En route to Indianapolis we couldn't find any worlds biggest, so instead we stopped by a big interactive park with a few other photo opportunities. We found a big playground that we got to climb around on and let out our inner kids. We then wrapped up the pizza aspect of our tour and grabbed a garlic greasy totally average American pizza- a good finale to what was an American road trip. Having done this leg of the trip numerous times, we had what I can almost call a second home to stay at with my friends Sara and Joel-whom I met at our first festival in 2011. They have a nice home in a confusing neighborhood of Indianapolis and proved to be just what we needed, drinking tea and watching an evidently consuming Zombie show.

From here we made our longest leg to Annapolis- as for the theme of our tour the roads in between Indi and Annapolis didn't give us many worlds biggest. We did find the Worlds Biggest Candle and ended up spending too much time in the store that accompanies it. And after stopping in Columbus, Ohio to see the Worlds Biggest Graduation Cap we were disappointed to find that they had taken it down to repair-so we made do with an abnormally large preying mantis found on their university campus. We set out from there stoked about the Worlds Biggest Beer Bottle ahead of us- after our last disappointment Alex decided to look up the details. We found that it had disspeared long ago, the only photograph show was in black and white, so who knows where it is now and really what kind of beer was it?!?!  Thus, we pulled into Annaplolis with an incomplete worlds biggest tour of the last few states, but that just leaves us a chance to go visit Philly for a famous cheese steak and and few of the worlds biggest to round off the tour. Always ready for more adventuring!

This drive was quite the experience, I am so thankful for all the people who lent us a hand, bed, coffee, or company along the way. I am thankful for the memories Alex and I get to annoy our coworkers with for the next month or so, but most of all I am thankful that something like this is event possible and I had an awesome co-pilot to join me along the way. Although in the desolate area of the mid-west I did question my intent of going back to Maryland I was ecstatic to be greeted by the hills of the Western Shore and the ready to bloom vegetation on the Eastern Shore. Leaving my Montana mountains is much easier when you are greeted by a whole new world of nature ready to bloom. Plus, it is such a great feeling going back to something you know and people ready to give you a big hug! New is nice, but renewal is almost better! Signing off at the Eastern Shore for what looks to be a beautiful spring!

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!