It's funny how things don't always work out the way you plan. I am currently sitting in my bedroom in Oak Park, California, the one I lived in since I was about 11 until I left for college when I was 17.

Less than a week after I got to New Zealand, I learned that my brother, Michael, has cancer, a type of sarcoma to be exact. I flew back home yesterday in time for his surgery on Wednesday. I will stay in California for about a month and then fly on to Baltimore, where I plan to stay a few months until I can go back to New Zealand.

New Zealand, of what little I saw, is absolutely incredible. The landscape is lush, all hills of indescribable green. There are fern trees and palm trees, and cypress along the coasts. The ocean water is turquoise, and the beaches I got to see were white sand, though I know along the west coast of the North Island the sand is black due to the volcanoes. I stayed in Auckland for about 3 days when I first got to NZ, and hung out with a terrific French-Canadian girl named Catherine. I then went on to Waihi, where I WWOOFed for about a week and a half, and spent my days in the garden and hanging out with other WWOOFers from all around the world (but mostly France), talking, laughing and playing drinking games. A group of 8 of us spent a few days driving around the Coromandel peninsula, stopping wherever we felt like it. We camped on 2 beaches, including Cathedral Cove, the 10th most beautiful beach in the world. It was a wonderful trip with some great people. I then went back to Auckland and spent the last few days exploring the city and hanging out with some people I met in my hostel.

While New Zealand is not perfect, it is a wonderful place to be. My heart goes out to everyone affected by the Christchurch earthquake (in short, every single New Zealander). I can't wait to go back, though perhaps not alone this time. Until then, I will try to enjoy my time here as best as I can and offer support to my brother and family.

Pit Stop in California

Hello all!

I flew into Burbank last night, and now I have ONE week until departure to Auckland! I have had a wonderful last few weeks in Baltimore and I just want to thank everyone for the lovely time. I got to go to western Maryland for the first time, danced a TON, and on my last night there was a huge birthday/going away party! It has been great and I will miss Baltimore and the fabul

ous people in it. As for now, I have to look forward onto the great unknown. Taxes, bank stuff, unpacking and repacking, and sheer terror await me, along with beautiful sunny weather and fun times with family and Adam when he comes to visit tomorrow!

PS. This happy picture is me and Adam snowshoeing in Frostburg, which is where he's from. We went with Adam's brother Tyler and Tyler's girlfriend, Shay, who took this picture.

One Month!

One month til I leave for New Zealand (and even less til I leave Baltimore), and so far all I am doing is developing extraneous relationships. And freakin' my freak.

I did create a WWOOF New Zealand membership, which is good. Yesterday, my roommate Alison gave the brilliant suggestion of STARTING with WWOOFing (wwoof.org), so I would have things to do, a place to stay, etc. when I got there, rather than freak out MORE and try to eke out a living in Auckland right off the bat.

Stay tuned for further musings, freak-outs, and all things pertaining to my life!

Update

Moving to New Zealand in February! Stay tuned!!

A Retrospective

This entry was written for the Office of International Studies at Goucher College. A more edited version will probably be on their website soon enough.

Important Lessons from the Dark Continent (alternate title: Africa is Hell; alternate alternate title: I Really Like Meat)

Nearly two years after studying abroad, I feel that now is the time to evaluate what I have learned from spending nearly four months on the African continent. There are the usual realizations: an appreciation for what I formerly considered basic necessities (cheese, toilet paper, eating utensils), and a concrete example of cultural differences, such as that bendy and fluid concept of “time”; and the unusual ones: that I sink into my hips when I dance (which may not be West African, come to think of it, but my own idiosyncratic movement), and I’m more invested in where the meat I eat comes from. While my study abroad experiences provide comic anecdotes (“the time I saw a baboon on a leash in Bamako”; “the time I saw a man riding a motorcycle with a goat wrapped around his waist”), and a bangin’ wardrobe, what has it actually done for me? As a recent college graduate with few job prospects, it is easy to say “nothing.” But that can’t possibly be true, so instead I have created a list of the things that studying abroad actually taught me:

● Realizing I have the freedom to make my own choices. Rice and beans or beans and rice might not sound like a choice to most people. When faced with a grand total of four meals in heavy rotation, all of which involve sauce poured over rice, you’ve got to change your mind set—do I want to eat the pepper this time, or leave it out? Are there carrots instead of onions? Is the meat goat or beef? And so on. On a more serious note: traveling to a country, by choice, where most people cannot afford to leave, made me realize that I have truly myriad of options before me in life. So coffee or tea, the 8 bus or the 48 bus, graduate school or work, I can pick and choose.

● Learning to laugh at myself. Studying abroad is a lesson in humility that I had to re-learn every day. I spoke with the proficiency of a five-year-old and couldn’t even do my own laundry. But every day I woke up and tried earnestly to fit more into a world filled with rice, sauce, and people eager to point out my mistakes and if I was lucky, correct them. People liked me more when I laughed at myself, and I liked myself more too.

● Having an open mind. That day I was served spaghetti with ketchup? Maybe my host family had the vague idea that it was an American dish, and being the polite guest that (I hope) I am, I ate it without complaint. However, as I lived in Bamako, I tested and learned my limits. I definitely turned down devil fish, a disgusting monstrosity made entirely of teeth and bones.

These lessons may or may not help me as I try to forge my way in this post-grad, recession-economy world. But no matter what happens I can take comfort in knowing that I have eaten cold mutton head for breakfast, and if prompted, can curse you and your entire extended family in Bambara.

And a final lesson: food is important to me. Next time I go abroad, I’ll go to Italy.

Hi Again!

Hello, faithful reader (I'm talking to you, Lee!),
I figure I'd give you a taste of my oh so exciting life.
I leave for Baltimore Tuesday, after spending about 5 and a half weeks in California. It has been very relaxing, I've spent a lot of time painting, reading, relaxing in the pool, and practicing yoga. My stamina, flexibility and strength have improved, and I feel much better! I hope to keep up my practice in Baltimore.
I've also spent a lot of time hanging out with Inbal and her family and my Grandma. Matilda is 92 years old but still really active, more so than me! I am going to miss her when I go back to school, or rather, Baltimore.
For senior year, I am living in Charles Village, near Johns Hopkins University, rather than on-campus in Towson. I live in a nice three-bedroom apartment with Res, my boyfriend, and my friend Tatiana. It is a cool old place with a bay window, hardwood floors, and a clawfoot tub and even clawfoot radiators! How cool is that?
Also, I can't believe this will be senior year. I'm excited for my classes, which consist of two French classes, a sociology seminar on mental health, and an epistemology class that's cross-listed as both philosophy and cognitive studies. I took cog last semester and loved it, so I am pretty stoked about this class! Next semester I hope I can take classes at Hopkins.

I've got to help with dinner now, bye!

Balafon, Bogolan & Bamakobama

Hello faithful reader(s)!
Sorry it's been awhile, I have since returned from a two-week sojourn around Mali. We visited Segou, Djenne, Mopti, Dogon country, Sikasso, and Bougouni, to name the main places. The trip confirmed what I already knew: Mali is a beautiful country full of many, many things to be explored. On that note, I think I will be staying an extra week or so in Mali, doing archeology in Djenne-Djeno (Old Djenne) with Susan McIntosh, an archeologist/professor at Rice University. I am pretty excited, and just need to go to Air France to exchange my ticket. And find lodging in Djenne.

I am back in my homestay, and it is pretty nice. I have no personal space, which is starting to really wear on me, but my family is absolutely wonderful. They are so kind to me and for the most part patient. It is hard though, to be communicating on the level of a 7 year old (at most!) all the time. Still, I am impressed that I have survived this far, and am sure I can keep truckin'.

Bogolan is going well, I get covered in mud on a daily basis and couldn't be happier. I am having trouble learning much about ideograms, but there is still 3 weeks until the final paper is due (eep!).
Also, I have started learning balafon, a marimba-type instrument with calabashes under the beams which make a pleasant buzzing sound. In order to learn, I had to buy my own balafon, which is being made now and should be finished in about a week. I am learning a song called "N'i ko ka di", which means "Certain Things which are Good". My teacher, Baba, is kind and patient and holds my hand a lot. He is a great teacher and I love spending time with him at Maison des Jeunes, the space where he works. I also learn a bit of bogolan there, as there is an atelier (workshop) which caters to tourists.

Work is upon us, lots of it, so I will be swamped the next few weeks. Three papers, shit tons of bogolan, I will never have a free moment! Still, all will turn out well, I am sure.

Finally, Bamako is for the most part overjoyed about Obama's win. The first thing my family said to me on the morning of the 5th was "Congratulations!" and many other people have been congratulating me. At a boulangerie yesterday, I saw cakes that said "Obama" on them. Barrack, you are loved.