Staging

I got my staging email from the Peace Corps today... I'll be spending my last two days in the States in Washington DC! Staging is at the Holiday Inn in Georgetown on March 8th and 9th, and our flight leaves out of Dulles on the 9th at 5:40pm. From there its 8 hours to Dakar for the start of a very challenging and rewarding two years!

Snowboarding and Car Sliding!

Yesterday Erin and I drove to Wintergreen for some snowboarding and conditions couldn't have been more perfect....for snowboarding, not for driving. We got there around noon just as the snow began, and it got progressively heavier throughout the day. By the time we got back to my car at 8 we had to clear off about 7 inches. That much snowfall combined with the fact that the places was absolutely deserted made for the best day on the slopes I've ever had. Unfortunately it also turned what should have been a 2.5 hour drive home into a five and a half hour epic complete with brake malfunction, 15mph maximum speeds and murderous tractor trailer drivers hell bent on running us off the road. I'm exhausted today, but it was totally worth it. In fact, we plan on going back next Tuesday as well!

The car at noon...

...and at 8pm

Type Three Fun

It is generally accepted within the adventure community that there are three types of fun:

Type 1 fun...something that sounds like fun when you're planning it, is fun while you're doing it, and provides some good conversation at the bar at the end of the day.

Type 2 fun...sounds like its going to be fun, but during the actual activity something goes wrong and it becomes decidedly not fun. This fun generally results in an story worth telling at least a dozen times.

Type 3 fun...is only for the truly insane and probably shouldn't be considered fun at all. It doesn't sound like its going to be fun, and its absolutely miserable while you're doing it, but it makes the best stories and is by far the most fun to talk about.

Today I had an epic dose of type three fun.

For some reason, I decided at the beginning of this month that participating in the Polar Bear Plunge by jumping into the Chesapeake Bay in the middle of winter would be a good idea. I knew I was potentially setting myself up for some major type three fun, but I figured it might be useful to have a really cold moment to look back on when I'm sweating to death in Senegal. Of course this type of insanity cannot be suffered alone, so I convinced Erin that raising money for the Special Olympics was worth getting a bit chilly.

Little did I know the weather was going to dip into the teens and a nasty snowstorm was going to descend upon the DC Metro area on the exact day we were planning on submerging ourselves in the Chesapeake Bay. By the time we arrived at Sandy Point State Park we were engulfed in a full blown blizzard and the reality of our stupidity began to sink in. We arrived several hours early to beat the registration lines which gave us plenty of time to contemplate the pain we were about to endure. Terrified, we stood in the party tent next to the heater and watched what were possibly the last minutes of our lives tick away.

When one o'clock rolled around we knew it was now or never so we stripped off our sweats, donned our bathrobes and made a mad dash through the snow in the direction of the beach. Luckily the water was a comparitively "warm" 40 degrees so the actual plunge wasn't nearly as bad as the anticipation. Our feet suffered the most...instantly turning to lifeless bricks, which made it nearly impossible to walk. We hobbled to the changing/warming tents as fast as we could and squeezed our way all the way to the back and stood next to the heater to thaw our toes. It was only then that we realized we had mistakenly run into the mens tent and we were surrounded by hundreds of guys in various stages of undress. Needless to say be booked it out of there as fast as possible and headed back to the main tent to bundle back up.

A 25 mph slide/drive over un-plowed roads meant that our official post-plunge chai lattes at Ebenezers didn't come until a full 3 hours later. Of course by that point we had warmed up considerably and were starting to forget the agony of the experience.

So, bottom line...I knew it wouldn't be fun...it wasn't really fun...but it makes a darn good chapter in my life story.

Eagle Creek Thinks I'm a Pro

I'll be the first to admit I'm a tad bit obsessive compulsive when it comes to being organized. That being said, I've been worrying about how I'm going to pack all of my stuff for the Peace Corps in just two bags without it becoming one big jumbled mess.

Enter Eagle Creek. They make a fabulous range of travel gear and accessories that I fell in love with ever since I bought one of their cubes for my trip to Chile last year. Unfortunately in my semi-employed state I could hardly afford to outfit myself with such finery at retail price, so on a whim I decided to try and apply for a pro-deal. Without really expecting much, I filled out the form and wrote them this note:

I am a Peace Corps volunteer leaving for Senegal in March to work as an Environmental Extension Agent. I need to pack enough to survive for two years into one bag (the second bag is full of climbing gear). I sure could use your help! Whats in it for you, you ask? Some day I'm going to have my own adventure fitness business. You know, take people climbing, backpacking, kyaking etc instead of going to the gym. Since the cube I bought from you guys last year is still in bomber condition I'll definitely still be using all of your stuff at that time so all of my clients will see it! That and the warm fuzzy feeling you'll get from helping a neat freak bring some semblance of order to a hut in the middle of Africa with no running water or electricity. Sounds like a win-win to me.

I know, not very professional sounding...but I figured it might at least get someone's attention. Apparently it worked because they approved me for a pro deal and now I can organize to my hearts content without breaking the bank! So in keeping with my "professional" duties, for what it's worth I highly recommend you check out their website before your next big adventure.

Perpetual Peace Corps Paperwork

Once the excitement of my invitation packet wore off I realized it was really just a clever disguise for even more paperwork! Visa applications, government passport forms, life insurance, property insurance, media releases...and on top of that instructions for formatting yet another resume and aspiration statement. Apparently the resumes and essays we submit as part of our application don't get sent to our country desk, so this is our chance to help them get to know us a bit before we get there. For the benefit of those who (like me) have no clue what sort of thing you put in an aspiration statement and end up just googling it...here's a copy of what I wrote. Maybe it will help clarify things a bit for my friends and family as well.

A. The professional attributes that you plan to use, and what aspirations you hope to fulfill during your Peace Corps service.

Since my first job as a pooper scooper at a kennel at age 14 I have held a variety of unique jobs from facilitating ropes courses to personal training to managing a political action committee to patrolling construction sites as a night security guard and just about everything in between. No single job could ever prepare me for what I will face in the Peace Corps, but together these positions have provided me with a pretty wide range of professional attributes that can help me get the job done. The most important of these will likely be patience, both with myself as I adjust to new situations and with those I’ll be working with. I’m sure my experience with environmental education and developing curriculum will be useful as well, although I also hope to learn a lot more in this area during training. Good communication and interpersonal skills have been a must in nearly all of my previous jobs and I expect to rely heavily on these traits as I interact with my community and fellow volunteers. I will need to draw on every skill and strength I possess to successfully meet all of the challenges during my service. As they say, the only thing worse than not having the skills you need to meet your challenges is not having challenges big enough to summon all of your skills.

I’m trying to keep my mind as free of pre-conceived notions as possible, so my aspirations for service are pretty simple. I hope to learn as much as possible from as many people as possible, and I want to stand back at the end of my service and feel like I made even a small difference. I have no grandiose dreams of swooping down on some unsuspecting village and single-handedly solving all of its problems, I just want to be able to roll up my sleeves every day and work toward making even the smallest change in someone’s life. If, at the end of my service, I have learned a new language, a new culture and new skills I will consider my aspirations more than fulfilled.

B. Your strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs.

I think the two biggest keys to success are understanding your challenges and communicating effectively. My strategies for working with my host country partners are to take the time to understand their needs and expectations as well as honestly and clearly expressing my own. I know that I will need to be patient because change doesn’t happen overnight, and I will most likely experience many more failures than successes. As a foreigner from a wealthy country I will need to work to break down stereotypes and form honest and open connections with my community in order to effectively work together to meet their needs.

C. Your strategies for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background.

Fortunately I tend to have a very “go with the flow” personality, and I’m just about as low-maintenance as a girl can get. I happen to really enjoy putting myself in new environments and situations just to experience how someone else lives, whether it be in a different country, ethnic group or even just a different state (sometimes living in the South feels like living in another country). I know that living in a different culture for two years is a lot different than spending a few weeks in another country, but my I think my strategies for adapting will be the same. I plan on doing a little cultural research before I leave, but I’ve found that too much preparation usually results in pre-conceived notions and unfulfilled expectations. For me it is easier to go somewhere with a completely blank slate and let the places and people paint their own picture. I plan on leaving my pride at home, since I know from experience that looking goofy while learning a new way of life is inevitable. I’m going to keep an open mind and rejoice in cultural differences rather than looking for similarities.

D. The skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training to best serve your future community and project.

As an outdoor education minor I gained a lot of experience in teaching and presenting environmental education and touched the surface of environmental issues but didn’t get much experience developing solutions to these issues. During pre-service training I hope to become much more familiar with specific environmental issues as well as strategies for coping with or improving them. I also hope to develop enough cultural understanding and language skills to make a smooth transition into my village at the end of training.

E. How you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends.

My biggest personal aspiration is to live a life that would make good story, and I think Peace Corps service complements that perfectly. In that respect I hope my service will lead to many new friendships, ideas and opportunities that will contribute to the next chapter in my story after my service ends. Professionally I think the Peace Corps will help me learn new skills, reinforce old ones, and provide me with an increased sense of independence and self-confidence. I hope to close out my service with an expanded world view and a broader perspective on life that will help carry me into my next big adventure.

8th Grade Field Trip

Tuesday I relived my educational field trip days and went with Erin to meet Jen and Kevin at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. The two of them just flew in for the day (must be nice to be dating a pilot), so we had an early dinner at Capitol City Brewing Company before they left at 3.

On a side note...after climbing every day for two weeks and then quitting cold turkey, I've been going through some serious withdrawal. I miss the vertical world so much that when I found this tree on the mall with such perfectly placed knots I just couldn't resist climbing it!

Caribbean Christmas

Since I'll be out of the country for the next two years we decided to have one last hurrah as a family and we spent the Christmas holiday on a 14 day cruise. Between the pools and climbing wall on the ship and the excursions in port, I would say it was the best cruise I've ever been on. Here's a fast recap of the trip, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

20 December, Depart from Bayonne, NJ

We woke up to about 24 inches of snow which slowed down our drive to the ship, and made us all the more grateful for the warm weather to come.

23 December, San Juan Puerto Rico

We arrived in Puerto Rico around 3pm, so there wasn't time to see much, but we checked out Castillo San Cristobal, one of the old forts on the island and did a little exploring on the streets close to the dock.

24 December, St Thomas
Mom went on a bike tour of water island and dad and I took a boat out to some smaller islands to do some scuba diving. I had never been before, but I dream all the time about breathing under water. Turns out it feels about the same as it does in my dreams...

25 December, Christmas @ Sea

We decided to do the cruise in lieu of presents this year, so Christmas was pretty relaxed. Honestly I much prefer it that way...I'm a bit of a scrooge when it comes to the blatant consumerism surrounding the holidays so I really enjoyed escaping from the "shop shop shop" environment. Dinner on Christmas was formal, so we got all gussied up and took a family portrait.

26 December, Barbados

Barbados brought a break in the overcast weather that had been following us from New Jersey (no rain, just clouds) and we spent the morning hiking in the jungle and exploring a cave. After lunch dad went back to the ship and mom and I spent some time at the beach.

27 December, Dominica

We spent the morning zipping through the trees on a high ropes course/zipline adventure, and the afternoon tubing down class I and II rapids on the country's longest river.

28 December, Antigua
In Antigua we did a combination of snorkeling and sea kayaking. A boat took us out to bird island where we hiked up to the top and met some of the locals (lizards and hummingbirds), then we hopped in the water to snorkel around the reef. After an hour the boat took us to another group of small islands for some sea kayaking where we saw starfish, upside down jellyfish and all sorts of birds. We capped off the day with some well earned rum punch.

29 December, St. Maarten

We were supposed to go sailing on a tall ship named the Lord Sheffield, but 14 foot ocean swells cancelled the trip, so after we looked around town a bit I grabbed a beer and planted myself on the beach.

30 December, St. Kitt
St. Kitt was our last port of call before heading back North, so we went all out and climbed the volcano, Mt. Liamuiga. At 3,792 feet it was the tallest point on the island, but it was only 4.5 miles round trip. The view of the crater was pretty impressive, although not nearly as sulfurous as Villarrica in Chile. I found a little 5.3 scramble at the very top, and since its easier to ask forgiveness than permission I went ahead and climbed up. Our guide wasn't too happy about it, but the views of the ocean were totally worth it!

31 December-2 January, @ Sea

The last three days of our cruise got progressively colder as we sailed back North. We rang in the New Year on the Royal Promenade and lounged around the pool and in the hot tub until hurricaine force winds kept us inside for the last day at sea.

Everyday, CLIMBING!!!
One of the reasons I was so stoked about the trip was I knew there would be a climbing wall on the ship. I figured it would be pretty rinky dink and mostly party routes, but I was pleasantly surprised. There were a few decent routes interspersed between the jug ladders, and there was even a 5.10b that I worked on for the entire trip and managed to send on the last day. I'm a little embarassed it took me that long to get all of the moves dialed, but I'll chalk it up to the setter being ridiculously taller than me and being a bit out of shape after not having climbed in a while. I'm also not very strong so I tend to rely a lot on my balance when I climb...that ended up being a bit of a challenge on a moving boat.