Okay so I have just received my computer thanks to the Little's thank you! so i plan to make more blog entries now that i have a means and not clogging up the company's computer.
With that said I have lots to update you all on. Being that i have been here a month and only posted once! yoh.
Okay well first off camp. Sometimes i laugh to myself b/c it is as minimalistic or more so that my Africa conditions. We have no running water. fill up several large water jugs in the glacier water every few days and then pour them in to a large water jug we have up on massive spindles which has a hose that connects to our sink in our kitchen.
Oh the kitchen, ha also the living room, game room, dinning room and often the drying rack for our clothes. Is a plastic car port, about large enough for a suburban... and we store 6 peoples food/ cook etc all in here. Oh it does have a great wood burning stove. But let me remind you that i am in a RAIN forest and the wood is WET!!! building and starting a fire with wet wood is awful. but we have it down to an art to rotate wood on the store to dry it out then burn it. i think we have managed to create a system for just about everything... nothing is as simple as it should be :)
One perk those is all of us are great cooks and great at cooking with canned goods etc. So communal meals are very popular. We all pitch in ingredients and we rotate who cooks and then cleans. Works out great especially since we have such a massive cooking space to work with.
Oh we also have a very lovely outhouse. mens and womens sides. but all goes to the same pit so really it doesnt matter. I dont mind except when i have to go to the bathroom at 3 am and it is cold, rainy and there might be a bear hanging out near it...
Since we are in the rain forest the area around camp looks like the ewok village and it has affectionately been named so. Massive big evergreen trees with lichen hanging from the branches and lush lush green moss covering the ground. it truly is magnificent and never gets old.
Oh yes we have bears there are lots and lots of bears around here. I have been pretty much guaranteed that a bear will charge me at some point this summer. Super is all i have to say to that. so once i soil myself in front of the clients i will then regain composure and guide them to safety. B/c it turns out the proper way to handle a bear if you see one is... 1 . DONT RUN! if they charge you stand your ground and DONT RUN! (awesome) then make yourself look big and tell the bear to go away.. then slowly move away. sweet this sounds just lovely and i cant wait to experience this.
Oh also at camp we have our massive collections of vehicles, functioning and not. It resembles a junk yard more than anything else. We have our awesome green bus! two 4-wheelers, 2 vans, on which reaks of mildew and the other which we have a camp car in the back so we can all fit, 2 trailors, a broken red dump truck, a partially working old nissan pickup and another not functioning dilapidated pick up...
Or vehicles are always an adventure, i am told things come to AK to die...well we are pushing that to the limit. I have changed more tires, jumped more batteries, forced a tire on a rim, basically jimmy rigged more mechanical equipment in a month than my entire life and i know there is plenty more to be done.
But it is great, for some reason i love sleeping outside in the cold and wet, where my clothes are perpetually damp, cook over a camp stove etc. It is all great!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Cordova!
Well i have officially been here almost a week now and loving it here. Cordova itself is a small 2,000 or so people fishing town. The harbor is really pretty amazing. All these boat parked. People in rubber overall and tall Rubber boots is a common site around town. I have actually picked up some of my own rubber boots because let me tell you when it is raining they are a must!
So i will back up. Last Thursday after succesfully passing my CDL test I flew out to Anchorage. Once we were over AK i was like a 5 year old plastered to the window. The mountains are unbelivable. They just keep going on and on as if they dont stop. YOu can see glaciers and the ocean. Really breath taking. These mountains put the Rockies to shame. I was telling my mom that i was shocked that people in the late 1800 were determined to climb over them... b/c I would have stopped long before these. But as she pointed out gold has a strong alure. boy does it.
So after sleeping in the Anchorage Airport... which has an automated woman's voice come over the loud speaker every hour to let you know what time it was. "The current time in Anchorage is 2 am" Yes thankyou I was sleeping glad to know. I checked in my luggage and grabbed a cup of tea, which i quickly regretted b/c i realized i would have to go through security again to get on my flight. Well not in AK.. and the small airline i was on b/c i just kept on walking and turns out no security just walk up to the gate! loving the small town.
Once arriving to camp around 8 am ish. I through my stuff in my 7' x 9' canvas tent, for which i will call home for the next 3 months! One of my co-workers helped me to build a wood platform for my bed aka thermarest and sleeping bag. Ahhh home sweet home. Each of us has our own tent and we also have a large tent with a wood burning stove and gas stove for our kitchen/ living room.
We are still waiting for the last crew member but the rest of us (5) have been having a great time getting to know each other through community dinners, trivial pursuit games and just general story telling. Oh Ben our last team memeber arrives tomorrow and we have already giving a nick name of Benny- boo boo. I am sure he will love it.
Oh the seanery, well it is plain ridiculous. We have already been out on the glacier and down the Sheridan River a few times. I do have to say the first time you see a glacier is pretty spectacular. And getting to go out and through on crampons to play on it is even better. We found these amazing azure blue pools and drink the water straigh out of it! We are all planning to cliff jump off into the pool. Which is goign to be fridged.
The people in this town are incredibly nice. Every person we talk with just loves to hear about what we are doing and are excited to have us here, recommend places for us to eat, etc. Just really welcoming. The last owners of the opperation we are takign over, have been great at showing us the ropes and sharing their knowledge of flora, fauna and history. They even had us over the other night for fresh Red Copper salmon. So good by the way. That frozen shipped over stuff just isnt quite the same.
I did manage to get a "shower" in the other day. we do have a camp shower, which is basically a plastic bag we fill up with h2o and hang from a tree which has a nozzle on it. so i waited for a day that was sunny and warm... hiked into the woods and had myself a shower. really pretty nice.
these cold rainy days will be a bit more creative but i think we have a system we are coming up with. Between all of us we are comign up with all sort of creative problem solving techniques.
BAcially, we have just been getting ready, practicing backing up trailers, driving the bus, setting up camp/ home and getting ready for the summer! and having a blast doing it.
So i will back up. Last Thursday after succesfully passing my CDL test I flew out to Anchorage. Once we were over AK i was like a 5 year old plastered to the window. The mountains are unbelivable. They just keep going on and on as if they dont stop. YOu can see glaciers and the ocean. Really breath taking. These mountains put the Rockies to shame. I was telling my mom that i was shocked that people in the late 1800 were determined to climb over them... b/c I would have stopped long before these. But as she pointed out gold has a strong alure. boy does it.
So after sleeping in the Anchorage Airport... which has an automated woman's voice come over the loud speaker every hour to let you know what time it was. "The current time in Anchorage is 2 am" Yes thankyou I was sleeping glad to know. I checked in my luggage and grabbed a cup of tea, which i quickly regretted b/c i realized i would have to go through security again to get on my flight. Well not in AK.. and the small airline i was on b/c i just kept on walking and turns out no security just walk up to the gate! loving the small town.
Once arriving to camp around 8 am ish. I through my stuff in my 7' x 9' canvas tent, for which i will call home for the next 3 months! One of my co-workers helped me to build a wood platform for my bed aka thermarest and sleeping bag. Ahhh home sweet home. Each of us has our own tent and we also have a large tent with a wood burning stove and gas stove for our kitchen/ living room.
We are still waiting for the last crew member but the rest of us (5) have been having a great time getting to know each other through community dinners, trivial pursuit games and just general story telling. Oh Ben our last team memeber arrives tomorrow and we have already giving a nick name of Benny- boo boo. I am sure he will love it.
Oh the seanery, well it is plain ridiculous. We have already been out on the glacier and down the Sheridan River a few times. I do have to say the first time you see a glacier is pretty spectacular. And getting to go out and through on crampons to play on it is even better. We found these amazing azure blue pools and drink the water straigh out of it! We are all planning to cliff jump off into the pool. Which is goign to be fridged.
The people in this town are incredibly nice. Every person we talk with just loves to hear about what we are doing and are excited to have us here, recommend places for us to eat, etc. Just really welcoming. The last owners of the opperation we are takign over, have been great at showing us the ropes and sharing their knowledge of flora, fauna and history. They even had us over the other night for fresh Red Copper salmon. So good by the way. That frozen shipped over stuff just isnt quite the same.
I did manage to get a "shower" in the other day. we do have a camp shower, which is basically a plastic bag we fill up with h2o and hang from a tree which has a nozzle on it. so i waited for a day that was sunny and warm... hiked into the woods and had myself a shower. really pretty nice.
these cold rainy days will be a bit more creative but i think we have a system we are coming up with. Between all of us we are comign up with all sort of creative problem solving techniques.
BAcially, we have just been getting ready, practicing backing up trailers, driving the bus, setting up camp/ home and getting ready for the summer! and having a blast doing it.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Onward and Upward... literally, AK here I come
Well, after several great months in Chicago, reconnecting with High school friends, meet great new ones and being closer to family... I got the itch again, I had to take off. As most of you know, I am off to Cordova, Alaska for 3 months of living in a tent, using a pit toilet and having a shower some where in town... oh and getting to take tourist around on a glacier ! ( I am pretty sure I might have a rougher living situation than what i had in S africa.., ha)
I will be working as a glacier hike guide along with 5 other guides who are also raft guides. I also just received my Commercial Vehicle Drivers License (CDL) so that i can drive the bus, yes I will be sure to get a picture of me with my hot ride!
I dont believe I will have much phone access but I will try and keep you all up to date on stories from the summer. I am sure plenty of entertaining things will happen for me to write about. So enjoy feel free to comment those were my favorite last summer! and as always please please pardon my poor spelling, casual writing style and overall lack of care given to typos and grammar!
PS- thanks to Patagonia for hiring me so that I could A. hear about this gig and B. supply me with 90% of my clothing.
Cheers!
I will be working as a glacier hike guide along with 5 other guides who are also raft guides. I also just received my Commercial Vehicle Drivers License (CDL) so that i can drive the bus, yes I will be sure to get a picture of me with my hot ride!
I dont believe I will have much phone access but I will try and keep you all up to date on stories from the summer. I am sure plenty of entertaining things will happen for me to write about. So enjoy feel free to comment those were my favorite last summer! and as always please please pardon my poor spelling, casual writing style and overall lack of care given to typos and grammar!
PS- thanks to Patagonia for hiring me so that I could A. hear about this gig and B. supply me with 90% of my clothing.
Cheers!
Monday, September 7, 2009
Back to life... back to reality...
Well i have been finished for a little over a week now. I came back to "civilization" Yoh, it is a suprise to come back to a big city and see all sorts of people.
I spent the first weekend with my program directors and saw more of Joburg. We went to Soweto, which is where the kids started protesting against the gov't b/c the were being forced to have class in Affricans... in a poorly abridged version of the story... the police opened fire on the kids and killed several. I went to the memorial there , really amazing story... this happened only a few years ago.
Then on Sunday i went to an all day concert. ALL south african bands... fantastic. Once again i was the only white person, but just coming from Venda i was used to it,... but the other concert goers, I clearly suck out to them... my program director actually noticed it first...made the comment of how even in the city it is segregated and that it is sad that it isnt integrated ...
But I had a fantastic time, got up and danced regardless of everyone watching me... and soon many around us we having me going them to dance in their groups... heaps of fun
Then i just got back from Being down near Durban on a beautiful dairy farm. Visiting with a friend's family. Very relaxing...
So only 1.5 days left here and i am flyign back. Landing in Chiacgo on Thursday afternoon. Yes i am so excited to get back and see family and friends and ride my BIKE! but Yoh... i really love africa... it is true about the saying they have here," once Africa is in your blood..."
See you on the other side.
I spent the first weekend with my program directors and saw more of Joburg. We went to Soweto, which is where the kids started protesting against the gov't b/c the were being forced to have class in Affricans... in a poorly abridged version of the story... the police opened fire on the kids and killed several. I went to the memorial there , really amazing story... this happened only a few years ago.
Then on Sunday i went to an all day concert. ALL south african bands... fantastic. Once again i was the only white person, but just coming from Venda i was used to it,... but the other concert goers, I clearly suck out to them... my program director actually noticed it first...made the comment of how even in the city it is segregated and that it is sad that it isnt integrated ...
But I had a fantastic time, got up and danced regardless of everyone watching me... and soon many around us we having me going them to dance in their groups... heaps of fun
Then i just got back from Being down near Durban on a beautiful dairy farm. Visiting with a friend's family. Very relaxing...
So only 1.5 days left here and i am flyign back. Landing in Chiacgo on Thursday afternoon. Yes i am so excited to get back and see family and friends and ride my BIKE! but Yoh... i really love africa... it is true about the saying they have here," once Africa is in your blood..."
See you on the other side.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Volunteer ... learn so much
http://www.zoteworldwide.com/Education.htm#vol
So above is the website of the program Zote Project that i worked for. Please check it out, it is always being updated.
Also, if you or anyone you know are interested in doing service work for a few weeks.. to several months this is an amazing group to do it through...
and always, you can ask me more questions about it
Cheers
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Bitter sweet...part deux
Well, 10 weeks has gone much faster than i expected... though there were days when i didnt think it was going to come.
I had my last day of class yesterday ... tear. It was so hard to leave my class. I took them cookies and candy for my last day. Let me tell you ... they truely app[reciate it. we took heaps of pictures. Oh major detail. I bought a the traditional clothes and i wore them to school... Big hit... everyone was so suprised. My class started yelling and clapping when i walked in... really good fun. Some of the wrote me letters telling me how much they will miss me and how much they liked having me as a teacher... wrote messages on the board. So sweeet.
It was pretty funny b/c then they each wanted an individual picutre with me... i felt like a celebrity.
All day b/c i had the traditional clothes... "Christa... today you look so beautiful..."
All the teachers threw me a going away party with juice and cookies(buscuits) . A few of the staff stood up and spoke and said some really kind things. It is sometimes hard to tell if they approved of what i was doing or if they thought i was doing a good job, it was really nice to hear their thoughts.
Oh some things i think i might not have mentioned but thought i would throw in... everyone's name in Venda... has a meaning... so i was often asked... what does your name mean...? I have no idea... this would get a strange look. i think my parents named me this b/c they like the sounds with my surname...
But they all know what their names mean.. so my family gave me a Venda name... Malondi...which mean "someone who cares"
Also, names are not based on gender like ours are. All names are for both men and woman. Which toook me some time to get used to. amazing how gender roles are ingrained in what we do... also colors. and behavior. For example.. boys here willl have pink back packs for school with flowers on it... to us CLEARLY a girls bag. but nope. it carries books so who cares. Or my sister had colored lip gloss the other day and the boys wanted to put it on... if my brother asked to use my lip gloss that was colored...?! what...
Or behavior... boys and grown men here hold hands, sit close, or put their hand on one sholder as they walk. This is just a sign of friendship...
Oh since i am in my last few days i have been reflecting back and thinking. I feel badly b/c i think in this blog i may have seemed critical of the differences that i noticed. That was not intended. but was also a lesson that all of us clearly have discrimination towards something... also judgment. Who am i to say that the western way is the correct way... i mean i think all of us in the world( for the most part) agree that killing peopel isnt right... but things like having multiple wives, or belieeving in a witch doctor... who am i to say that is wrong.
Overall this has been a very mentally challenging experiance to who i am , what i believe and what i will continue to believe.
I am sure i will have a few more entries left as i think of more things to share.
Cheers!
I had my last day of class yesterday ... tear. It was so hard to leave my class. I took them cookies and candy for my last day. Let me tell you ... they truely app[reciate it. we took heaps of pictures. Oh major detail. I bought a the traditional clothes and i wore them to school... Big hit... everyone was so suprised. My class started yelling and clapping when i walked in... really good fun. Some of the wrote me letters telling me how much they will miss me and how much they liked having me as a teacher... wrote messages on the board. So sweeet.
It was pretty funny b/c then they each wanted an individual picutre with me... i felt like a celebrity.
All day b/c i had the traditional clothes... "Christa... today you look so beautiful..."
All the teachers threw me a going away party with juice and cookies(buscuits) . A few of the staff stood up and spoke and said some really kind things. It is sometimes hard to tell if they approved of what i was doing or if they thought i was doing a good job, it was really nice to hear their thoughts.
Oh some things i think i might not have mentioned but thought i would throw in... everyone's name in Venda... has a meaning... so i was often asked... what does your name mean...? I have no idea... this would get a strange look. i think my parents named me this b/c they like the sounds with my surname...
But they all know what their names mean.. so my family gave me a Venda name... Malondi...which mean "someone who cares"
Also, names are not based on gender like ours are. All names are for both men and woman. Which toook me some time to get used to. amazing how gender roles are ingrained in what we do... also colors. and behavior. For example.. boys here willl have pink back packs for school with flowers on it... to us CLEARLY a girls bag. but nope. it carries books so who cares. Or my sister had colored lip gloss the other day and the boys wanted to put it on... if my brother asked to use my lip gloss that was colored...?! what...
Or behavior... boys and grown men here hold hands, sit close, or put their hand on one sholder as they walk. This is just a sign of friendship...
Oh since i am in my last few days i have been reflecting back and thinking. I feel badly b/c i think in this blog i may have seemed critical of the differences that i noticed. That was not intended. but was also a lesson that all of us clearly have discrimination towards something... also judgment. Who am i to say that the western way is the correct way... i mean i think all of us in the world( for the most part) agree that killing peopel isnt right... but things like having multiple wives, or belieeving in a witch doctor... who am i to say that is wrong.
Overall this has been a very mentally challenging experiance to who i am , what i believe and what i will continue to believe.
I am sure i will have a few more entries left as i think of more things to share.
Cheers!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Praise Jesus
Wow how i forgot to include this...
So yesterday my sister and i went to church... wow... wow... so she normally goes to a different church but wanted to check this church out...
Experiance. Frst off it was 4 hours long. and you arent allowed to leave, for any reason. I didnt realize it was going to be this long... so i forgot my waterbottle... dear lord i was dying... i tried to leave to find some water... nope.. these ushers that i are stretigically everywhere stopped me... "you can drink after church..." which went on for another 45 mins or so...
okay so this service was like (springfield people0 calvary temple on crack/ steroids.... alter calls, people flaling about..." speaking in tongues"... "casting out of deamons"... "healing"... the preachers yelling constantly... my ears where killing me in the end...
On lady kept yelling... "FIRE" and "Heavy rains are coming"... other than that is was all in Tshivenda... but for the sermon there as a translator... for me... yep that ONLY white person amongst hundreds of people... fortunately i am used to being starred at ALL the time here... so no big deal... i am used to everyone looking and talking about me... but the prechers kept looking at me while they spoke... so trying not to have an expersion and look like i was listening for the entire 4 HOURS!!! was difficult... ISH...
So chalk that up for an experinace. Oh so my sister also thought it was ridiculous... she bought a DVD to show here mom. and family. We were all in hysterics laughing about it...
"HEAVY RAINS ARE COMING..." my brother Zwido says to me... in mocking tone... " Christa... buy an umbrella... heavy rains are coming..."
We were all laughing so hard.
On the plus side... if satan was living in me... he might now be cast out of me. :)
So yesterday my sister and i went to church... wow... wow... so she normally goes to a different church but wanted to check this church out...
Experiance. Frst off it was 4 hours long. and you arent allowed to leave, for any reason. I didnt realize it was going to be this long... so i forgot my waterbottle... dear lord i was dying... i tried to leave to find some water... nope.. these ushers that i are stretigically everywhere stopped me... "you can drink after church..." which went on for another 45 mins or so...
okay so this service was like (springfield people0 calvary temple on crack/ steroids.... alter calls, people flaling about..." speaking in tongues"... "casting out of deamons"... "healing"... the preachers yelling constantly... my ears where killing me in the end...
On lady kept yelling... "FIRE" and "Heavy rains are coming"... other than that is was all in Tshivenda... but for the sermon there as a translator... for me... yep that ONLY white person amongst hundreds of people... fortunately i am used to being starred at ALL the time here... so no big deal... i am used to everyone looking and talking about me... but the prechers kept looking at me while they spoke... so trying not to have an expersion and look like i was listening for the entire 4 HOURS!!! was difficult... ISH...
So chalk that up for an experinace. Oh so my sister also thought it was ridiculous... she bought a DVD to show here mom. and family. We were all in hysterics laughing about it...
"HEAVY RAINS ARE COMING..." my brother Zwido says to me... in mocking tone... " Christa... buy an umbrella... heavy rains are coming..."
We were all laughing so hard.
On the plus side... if satan was living in me... he might now be cast out of me. :)
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