Costa Rica Adventure!

Hey all,
I just got back from Costa Rica and had an amazing time with my best friend Jeanine! We spent our week of vacation stumbling through our spanish, whitewater rafting, rappelling waterfalls, hiking and ziplining through the jungle. It was Awesome! I promised to share pictures so... here they are. The picture above was taken at a class IV rapid on the Pacuare River - one of the top five most beautiful rivers in the world according to National Geographic. The picture below was taken after rappelling a waterfall. This is the pool that you get to jump in at the "bottom."


Rappelling the waterfall.


Another waterfall.

Again.

Our Jungle accomodations during our overnight rafting trip.

Our friend Vanessa whose family kindly let us stay with them for a few nights.
Hammocks!
Jeanine and me.
Best vacation ever!

A Fastforward Kind of Winter

As many of you know this winter is a big time of transition for me and my schedule has filled up very quickly. I am off to explore Costa Rica next week with my best friend Jeanine :) Not only is this exciting because we'll be whitewater rafting and ziplining through the rainforest but we are staying with an old friend of mine from my first few years of college. I haven't seen Vanessa in about three years so I am very excited to get a visit with her. I'm also really looking forward to spending time with Jeanine. We haven't seen much of each other since she moved up to the U.P (upper peninsula) and I moved to the absolute opposite end of the country, New Orleans, this fall. We have done a lot of exciting things together--studying the Holocaust in Poland included--and I'm really excited to share this adventure with her :)

We get back from CR in the afternoon of the 23rd which means that I have to hurry home from Detroit so I can get some sleep before all of the Christmas Eve activities take up the day. Pray for good driving conditions. After being home for about three days my parents and I are heading down to Alabama to visit with some relatives. My grandparents go down that way for the winter-they're called snowbirds where I'm from-and this may be one of the last times they go so we have decided to visit them. We'll also get to see my Aunt, Uncle, and two younger cousins from Georgia while we're there.

We'll either get back from AL on the 2nd or 3rd. I have to be in Maryland on the 8th by 10am to start my new position as a Team Leader for AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC). I'm in a crunch already--not sure how I'm going to get the packing done. Yikes.
I think that most of you--whoever you are that reads this--know what NCCC is but if not... it's a government program modeled after the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930's. It's a team based service program for 18-24 yr. olds who travel in 15 passenger vans and do service projects across the country. One of the main focuses of NCCC is disaster relief... seeing the connections now? I served with NCCC for a year between my sophomore and junior years in college and spent about 5-6 mos down south doing Disaster relief work.

I'm looking forward to a "new" experience doing something very familiar: leading people in service. Wish me luck for the packing situation, the tight schedule, and travel conditions. I'll surely post pictures after I enjoy the warmth of the sun and the rapids of Pacuare River :)

Pictures

Since my return to Michigan I have spent my time conquering puzzles, watching movies, and have spent time with my family and friends. Above is a picture of my nephew who will be two at the end of April. Apparently he didn't really want his picture taken. At the top is a picture of a friend from the local coffee shoppe. Below is a picture my Sister and me and at the bottom is a picture of a long time friend and old roommate who worked tirelessly with me on a 750 piece circular puzzle of a lighthouse: almost all of the pieces looked the same...

The week of lasts.

Okay.... I apologize for the delay and my absence from the worldwide web. I've been "home" in Michigan for two weeks now and have still not adjusted to the cold and snow. I'm happy to report that I'll be leaving for Costa Rica where it will be nice and warm in just one week and then will be headed down toward Alabama on the 27th so I won't have to suffer much longer in the cold.

My last couple of days in New Orleans consisted of packing and visiting with friends. I spent time with a friend who manages my favorite coffee shoppe, went for my "last" dinner at my favorite restaurant Mona's with some coworkers and played guitar for Terry.

I waited around for him to visit on my last full day as I knew that he was planning on stopping by. When he got there I was packing and listening to music in my trailer but saw him walking in the parking lot. I got out the new camp guitar, grabbed my music, and stood on the deck. Terry had been asking me to play these two songs for him for awhile now but I just had not made the time to look at them so he always gave me a hard time about it. So that day we sang "Jack and Diane" and "Brown Eyed Girl" in the parking lot at the village.

After we had our fun with the songs I took him in to get some food. It was Thanksgiving week and I knew that the village was busy for two days and then virtually empty for the rest of the week so I packed up a good bag for him to take. We talked about what I was going to do in the next few months and how things would be different after I left. He told me that nobody could ever replace me and that he'd miss me but that he was happy that I had new things to do and that I would be rewarded for all of the work that I do. It was then that Terry and I had our last supper. I sent him out of the door with a bag of snacks, waved, and said see you sometime to one of the many people that gave me a purpose in New Orleans this fall. I'll miss the funny conversations with my homeless friend who always locks the door behind himself when he leaves. I hope to see him again someday but it's all up to chance now as he has no real, working address, no phone, and no schedule. It's funny how people can wander "out" of your life just as easily as they wander in. I owe him a copy of the picture that we took the week before I left and I promised that I would send a letter every once in awhile that he could get via the current village managers.

I miss my community in New Orleans but know that I will see many of them again someday. It has been a great privilege to serve with PDA but I am excited to get back to service with AmeriCorps*NCCC in January. I hope you all are well. May you find warmth somewhere in this cold winter.

Quick update

I am now temporarily back in Michigan where it is snowy and cold. I have spent the weekend visiting with friends from College and conquering a 750 piece circular puzzle of a lighthouse which was very difficult. I was supposed to drive back down state today but am practically snowed in so I won't be leaving until tomorrow. I know that some of you are wondering what happened next with Terry and my return to the north... I will post about that soon. I hope all is well with my friends and family around the globe today. Stay tuned for the "end" of the story.