The subject is a line from Paul Simon's "Under African Skies" which was admittedly stuck in my head as I was leaving on August 20th, at which point I used the lyric about walking the length of the days under African skies as my facebook status. Nerdy, I know, but appropriate. Over the next few weeks I'm planning on sharing some of my stories and journal entries on here, but in the meantime, here's what I accomplished in my visit to Virginia over the weekend:
Still not on Eastern time, woke up and drove down to Paul's in Alexandria early Saturday. Stopped in to say hello and then met Taylor and Scott for lunch on King Street. Good to see them!
Took a nap back at Paul's because I wasn't functioning. Woke up after a little over an hour and was functioning at a lower level than before, just in time to meet a few of his friends who were over for the football games. I bet I made an awesome impression. Sorry guys!
Ended up heading into D.C. to meet a group of internationals I worked with over the summer and wandered around with them for a bit. There was an awesome sunset as we crossed the mall. Great to see everyone (Julia, Gyöngyi, Timi, David and Dave) before they continued traveling and heading home!
Went back to Paul's and caught the end of the game. Stepped away to brush my teeth and continued my good impression on his friends by not saying goodbye, since the games all ended and they left before I returned. My bad.
Sunday was Jeremy and Adrienne's wedding in Fredericksburg!
I went down several hours early to veg/ pretend to make lesson plans for Tuesday at Hyperion. I love love love that place. If there is one thing I really feel that Rutgers is missing, it's a good, local coffee shop like that. I actually ran into Ross and Matt as they were heading off to do groomsmen stuff, which was fun like old times. Actually, one of my favorite random memories of the end of senior year was running into the two of them there on a gorgeous day and just sitting for an hour since I had little else to do anyway. Oh, Hyperion. So lovely.
I walked around town for a little while, seeing what's new and what's old, before heading over to the Presbyterian Church (which is definitely old). The wedding ceremony itself was hands down the shortest I've ever been at, but the pastor got all of the important things in there. It was downright impressive. And also beautiful. I just totally adore Jeremy and Adrienne together.
The reception was at the Alumni Center and was a totally classy affair. It was great to catch up with music department friends despite the fact that my travels have left me a bit under the weather*.
After, some of us went to the Kenmore Inn. How didn't I know where this was?! Pathetic. But there are a lot of major historic sites in Fredericksburg, so I guess it's fair to not know every single one of them. We hung out in the basement, which seems like a pretty cool place to go with people. I was still feeling the jetlag though so I went back to Alexandria for the night.
Monday was a really nice day.
I met up with my dear college roommate Brittany and walked all over Old Town Alexandria. For all the times I've visited Paul, I haven't really walked around that part of the city. Brittany and I walked from Braddock Road down to King Street and to the waterfront, where we happened upon the Torpedo Factory. This is a place I actually learned about in a geography class once! We checked out some of the art inside and continued along the waterfront. I love seeing this woman. I'm so glad we were able to coordinate!
Then back to Fredericksburg for a quick run-in with my friend Noah and a few of his people. He had gotten back from England the night before after spending the summer there. He might have been the only person I saw over the weekend who looked more exhausted and crazy than I did. Sorry Noah...
I spent the afternoon with my cousin Laura, who just started at Mary Washington. She grew up somewhat near Fredericksburg but hasn't really walked around town and figured it out for herself yet. However, she seems to be doing great at school and we had a lot of fun getting ice cream and checking out other shops and houses downtown. I am loving this excuse to get to know her better, and also to stop in Fredericksburg even though my friends have all graduated and moved on!
In the evening, the plan was to meet Taylor, Alison and Scott for dinner, but the latter two were at a wedding, so really Taylor and I just people watched from benches on campus walk for a while before deciding we weren't hungry and traffic wasn't going to be that bad. I made the drive home in decent time despite some initial congestion (people returning from holiday weekend?) so that I could be well rested for my first day back in the classroom today.
Total mileage: 627. Good weekend. I really need to spend some time relaxing though. I realized going into the weekend that I haven't slept in the same place for more than six consecutive nights since... at least January, quite possibly actually last year. The new quote in my blogger profile is from my friend Becky, who is working on settling down a little bit after serving in Peace Corps with her husband and then traveling the world a bit. It's kind of true. My toothbrush is in the same place each night though-- my travel toiletries bag...
I'm safely back in New Jersey!... for a couple of days.
Like I said, I have no idea where to begin with telling you about my awesome time in Malawi. I suppose the best way to start is with the end, since that was the most recent part. In the coming weeks, I'll post some snippets from the journal I kept. You can look through some of my photos here in the meantime.
Yesterday morning, the team had a nice breakfast together with our hosts in Blantyre, the Machinjili family. The power was out, which is actually unusual-- there are planned power outages several times a week, but those happen at night when everyone is using the most electricity. Even so, Serah provided us with plenty of cereals, fruits and bread as well as our morning tea.
Breakfast felt relaxed. We spent a few minutes celebrating Crystal's 17th birthday, too. Once we got in the cars though, we ran all over Blantyre trying to accomplish last minute errands, deposits, purchases, goodbyes. We arrived at Chileka Airport a little bit later than anticipated, but as we learned over the past two weeks, very little runs on time. It was a small airport, and it took us a while to get through security, but our plane didn't even arrive until it was time for us to depart... so... yeah.
The amazing part about leaving was that a women's prayer group that we met early in the trip took minibuses from their village all the way to the airport just to send us off. They stood at the edge of the parking lot singing and dancing and hugging. It was really joyful and amazing. Then, even after we parted ways there, they remained and took over the end of this balcony overlooking the runway, so they could wave to us as we got on the plane and took off-- that wasn't for about another hour! That was the warmest farewell I may ever have received.
Chinupule women
Then things got a bit sticky. During the two hour flight from Blantyre to Johannesburg, I learned that I wasn't booked as a vegetarian and there weren't any extra veggie meals. Two hour flight? Not a big deal. Enjoyed the bread and salad that comes with the meal. They suggested that when I checked in at Johannesburg, I let them know that they needed to get an extra emergency vegetarian option on board, because an 18 hour flight is a whole different story.
No such luck. I understand these things need to be planned ahead of time, but in a travel/ hospitality/ service industry, I expected some sort of flexibility or contingency plan to accommodate crazy people like me. Nope. There was no chance of me getting a proper meal unless some vegetarian didn't show up. And of course, it seems that I am currently out of good travel karma... I obviously lived on bread and salad and crackers but it was a bit frustrating. At least the team was able to relax and share beers in O.R. Tambo Airport before flying to Dakar and New York City... the organization's president bought us all Castle, a South African brew, which were probably nothing exciting by any means, but was absolutely perfect in the moment.
Today's sunrise caught up with us as we passed between Bermuda and Nova Scotia. The colors were really amazing. I found myself thinking about the next few days-- I head to Virginia to celebrate a friend's wedding this weekend, and then back to school on Tuesday (to teach. I'm done with courses!). I've been trying really hard all day to stay awake, hoping that if I went to bed at a reasonable hour and was super exhausted, I might sleep off some of the six hour time difference. I don't really have time to recover from the travel part of my trip (the homecoming took over 26 hours, start to finish), but my life keeps moving forward and I'm happy to keep up as best I can!
My time in Malawi is almost done, and it has been a really amazing adventure. I am worried that when talking about this trip, I won't really know where to begin.
I have seen many smart, hardworking people who would be very successful had they been born somewhere else in the world.
I have witnessed several wells in various stages of completion-- freshly dug, nearly completed, being dedicated.
I have tried many different traditional foods. I love cabbage so so much.
I have learned a bit of Chichewa.
I have carried a bucket of water on my head (of which there is no photographic evidence).
I have sang and danced (of which there is also no photographic evidence, intentionally).
I have made bricks from mud that will be used to build a primary school.
I have been presented with a rooster (so I wouldn't be hungry on my long journey home).
I have negotiated prices at the market.
I have learned about many different tree species.
I have discussed agriculture and climate change and conservation efforts.
I have been a part of something really wonderful here in Malawi.
PS: I can't wait to show you all the pictures of the elephant I was ten feet away from on my safari trip!
I think I've always been decent at packing for travel, but I think I just brought this to new heights. I managed to put all of my clothes (ALL! for TWO WEEKS!) into one standard sized carry on suitcase. My toiletries and over 40 pounds of donated supplies made it into the infamous black duffel bag. I have a backpack that has various important objects (passport, wallet, journal, etc.) but also enough space to carry a few things for the others I'm travelling with.
Tomorrow morning I'll meet the team at check-in, where we will each check at least one 50 pound bag of just supplies, plus our second 50 pound bag mixed with our own things and supplies, plus we're each carrying two carry ons that are a mix of our things and supplies. Probably 500 or more pounds of things to give away. This is so amazing.
I'm not entirely sure that I'll be able to update while I'm over there, but there is a chance I might be able to post a little something once or twice. Regardless, I can't wait to share my awesome experience with you when I get back! Thanks so so much for all of the well wishes and support.
This little exchange happened on facebook around 2 this afternoon:
It made me giggle a little bit. It seems that my cousin's girlfriend does not know of my history of last minute packing (see here, here). I'll get started sometime after dinner. My friends Jamie and Bailey will be joining me as somewhat per tradition-- Jamie and I always seem to be over each other's houses as the other packs at the last minute for some major travels, but I think this is Bailey's first experience aiding in the procrastination/fun of that. My parents are taking me to the airport, leaving home about 6.30 AM for my 11.15 flight from JFK. I don't foresee a stellar night's sleep tonight anyway, since 1. I am already starting to fall victim to Christmas Eve syndrome with the excitement and all, and 2. I have over 15 hours to catch up on sleep as I fly from JFK to Johannesburg (and then a couple more from Joburg to Blantyre, Malawi). Something tells me this will all work out just fine!
Oh, how I love New Jersey. Well, except for the traffic that seems to meet me whenever I try to go somewhere more than 15 minutes away-- that's getting old. But I suppose it's to be expected when your state is this awesome. Everyone wants to check it out.
Anyway. I love food, and am particularly enthusiastic about local food. New Jersey produces a lot of really awesome foodstuffs. I needed to share my last two snacks because they were both awesomely delicious and both grown literally within a stone's throw of where I ate them. I'm sharing them with you so you can be jealous, but also so I have it in writing and can remember how good this was forever.
My last food at camp: wheat toast with elderberry jam, as made by my friends Andrew Walker and Drew Lovering. The elderberries were growing in Lower Meadow, which is about thirty seconds from Lakeside, the cabin I was living in until a few hours. So good.
My first food at home: tomato with fresh basil. The tomato is a Rutgers tomato, bought at Agricultural Field Day this past spring, and planted on the side of my parents' house. The basil has been growing in a little pot on the back porch of the aforementioned Lakeside all summer (also purchased at the aforementioned Ag Field Day). It's kind of a pathetic couple of sweet basil plants, not a ton of leaves, but what was there was delicious. The pot fell over while I was driving home and one of the plants broke, so I ate it with a tomato. So good.
A few weeks ago, a group of staff members got together in the evening and had a lengthy discussion about how we produce and consume food. It was a really great conversation, mainly focused on the local food movement but also covered other ideas about GMOs and other food issues. I really think food is interesting; everyone needs it, so we might as well actually think about what we're doing with it. But beyond my love of cooking and eating and talking about food, Jersey fresh foods are just one of the many reasons why I love my home state.
I've had my black duffel bag for quite a while, at least eight years. This bag has been to Seattle, the United Kingdom, Johnsonburg (I think I first got the bag to take when I did the Leadership Training Program in 2002, actually, and then it's come with me every summer I've worked here), college, western Pennsylvania and the Eastern Shore, among other adventures. One of the zippers has been broken almost the entire time I have owned the bag. There's a collection of miscellaneous airline luggage and other identifying tags.
You can see the black duffel bag under my left leg. This is in Seattle-Tacoma Airport, shortly after I graduated from high school in 2004.
One week from today, that bag will be accompanying me to Malawi! This is an adventure I've wanted to go on for a long time, maybe not always specifically to Malawi, but somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa to do some sort of positive work. Actually, I've probably been hoping for an adventure like this for about as long as I've owned this black duffel bag. My interest first came from learning songs from southern Africa in choir at church. In college, I focused most of my research projects on different issues affecting Africa. And now, I'm finally going to see what it's like for myself.
But today, that black duffel bag will be filled with the things I've had with me at camp this summer. I don't have much here with me-- mostly books, in fact. Johnsonburg is a pretty awesome place and it's always sad to leave. I'm glad I worked here again this summer after a few years away. If nothing else, spending time in the woods has been extremely calming. Working in the kitchen, the hardest question of my day was something like, which vegetables do I need to cut for the next meal? Has the trash been taken out? Do I need to brew another pot of coffee? which frees me to contemplate the more convoluted questions of my thesis. Have I finished that paper yet? No. And it's unlikely that it will be completely done before I leave next week. However, this summer has given me time to figure out the next few steps, which include teaching part time at Rutgers for another semester while finishing up the Masters and looking for more permanent work. And I have been able to get a lot of work done toward the thing in between hiking and swimming in the lake. Oh, and working in the kitchen. In about 24 hours, I'll be done here for the summer and I'll be loading that duffel bag into my car, to head home, do laundry, and start getting organized for Malawi and whatever follows.
This morning was my commissioning service at church. People kept asking me if I'm nervous. To be perfectly honest: nope. That is not even remotely how I've been feeling.
SO EXCITED! That is how I am feeling!
The service was really, really wonderful. I was called up at the same time as all of the children, and I was commissioned during the super cute children's sermon. Our pastor basically gave a little geography lesson! "If I wanted to come visit you at your house, how would I find where you live?" she asked the children. "Google it!" replied one girl. Another kid noticed the globe and the atlas she was holding and suggested checking a map. Another kid caught on and recommended looking for streets on the globe. In my mind, I briefly wondered how to explain the differences in scale of a globe vs. the neighborhood maps in the county atlas, but Tory quickly moved on, explaining that we could use the globe to see where I'll be going in Africa. Then she got to the point, explaining the difference between using a map to find the way to places, versus trusting Christ as The Way to get places. Tory explained that I was once a small child sitting on the steps where they were sitting, and I grew up in the church and now trusting God to show me the way... in this case, the way to Malawi. She then invited the children to take part in the laying of hands along with our deacons, elders and pastoral staff. It was really sweet.
The laying of hands really moved me. There are always so many people who come forward! I really do believe it takes a village to raise somebody. My parents have done a really wonderful job, don't get me wrong, but I grew up at PCTR and was raised by a really large, amazing village. In fact, that village extends beyond my church-- I have countless family members, friends, teachers, bosses and coworkers to thank for helping me to get where I am today. It's true. And I like to think now, I'm part of the village, hopefully influencing my youth and campers and maybe even my peers or people older than I am in a positive way. I'm going to Malawi with Villages in Partnership to help deliver supplies donated by PCTR and the Allentown Presbyterian Church, and for two weeks work alongside the people we're helping. Hopefully I make a positive impact there, expanding this whole village thing to a more global system of positive influences.
A few months ago when our Outreach Commission chose today for my commissioning, I asked our Minister of Music if we could sing #369 (I'm Gonna Live So) instead of #525 (Here I Am, Lord-- the quintessential commissioning hymn). And we did. It was just a really beautiful morning, getting me even more excited about this trip and the work I'll be doing.
I can now say I've driven to all of the major regional airports!
You've recently heard about my adventure to JFK. I've also written about Philadelphia and plenty about Newark. Well, this week I was asked to pick up some people from LaGuardia! Camp's previous program director was flying in from the midwest with his sons to spend a week with us at Johnsonburg. I was happy to make the trip because
1. I never mind going for a drive,
2. I enjoyed working with Brian a number of years ago and was looking forward to catching up,
3. I wasn't planning on doing anything else last night besides eventually sleeping
4. Now I can say I've driven to all of the major airports in the area!
The debacle that ensued is probably entirely my fault; as I was leaving around 3PM, I grabbed a book at the last minute, just in case they were running later than the expected 5PM landing. Plus, it should only take an hour and a half to get there... ha ha. I'm not sure who was having more fun until I arrived at the terminal at 6.30, Brian and his two boys at LaGuardia, or me stuck on the interstate. Oh man. But, as soon as I got past the toll plaza on the George Washington Bridge, it was smooth sailing and really lovely views down Harlem River Drive and across the Triboro Bridge, and a very easy drive back to camp with a stop at a diner on the way (because his sons needed to experience New Jersey properly).
What I enjoyed most about the drive back was probably listening to Brian pointing out various things about New Jersey to his sons. I'm usually the NJ tour guide, so it amused me to hear what someone else would notice and remember. Brian grew up at Johnsonburg and worked there for many years, so had a lot of great anecdotes to share about camp is well. Aside from the traffic heading into the city, it was a pleasant enough way to spend my evening off, and we're all glad to have Frick back with us for a week.
And now I know how to get to LaGuardia too, just in case anyone else ever needs picking up there!
Rather than spending this week's day off on my graduate work, I instead spent it driving great distances within my beloved state to see my beloved undergrad advisor, who was vacationing with her family in Cape May Point. I figured, when in doubt about my masters, visit the person who has actually already successfully seen me through obtaining a degree. This was a great choice for several reasons:
1. I got to drive basically the entire length of New Jersey. 1a. This included going straight through the Pinelands National Reserve, pitch pines and wetlands galore, oh happy day! 2. I got to swim in the ocean (sort of, it was kind of where the Atlantic meets the Delaware Bay, but there were waves, and salt, and that's all that matters). 3. I got to chat about things, grad school related and not, with someone totally awesome. 3a. It's reassuring to discuss my challenges in grad school with Melina because she knows me as a student, and she successfully went through the same program I'm in. 4. Melina has really cute children. REALLY cute.
So, 380 miles over the course of about 36 hours was pretty sweet. I visited my parents and slept at home in Toms River, which was nice. The trip back to TR from Cape May was not so nice though. That part of the Garden State Parkway is under quite a bit of construction, and received heavy rains on and off during the day. It wasn't actively raining as I drove by the start of the construction zone, around mile 60, but I saw a truck a little ahead of me hit a pretty deep puddle, so I tapped the brake to slow down a little before getting to it myself. Unfortunately, the water started way sooner than I had thought, and I began to hydroplane a little. I stayed under control for a few moments before careening toward the guardrail along the left lane and then starting to fly toward the construction zone--and cars-- in the right lanes. I began to spin a little bit, and as the rear of the car headed perpendicular to the right side of the road and I saw a car heading toward my door, I panicked and slammed the brake, which sent me spinning into the construction zone, taking out a few of those orange barrels and finally coming to a stop, facing in the right direction in a huge puddle in the construction area.
I think I'm a pretty good driver; I do enough of it. In fact, this morning I broke 139,000 miles on my little (now scratched up) car, which is more than 50,000 more than I bought it with just over 3 years ago. That's a lot, considering I'd drive it to college and leave it parked for most of the semester, for the first year I had it. When I drive, I'm often more worried about other crazies around me than my own ability. However, yesterday afternoon, I am extremely grateful for all those around me on the Parkway who were on their game, paying attention and driving carefully. The fact that my faithful automobile and I weren't harmed means that we can enjoy more roadtrips together in the future, starting with this weekend, when I drive great distances in New Jersey again to deliver my friend Tim home to South Seaside Park for his birthday, and go to the Ocean County Fair to celebrate it with our friends.
I'm pretty exhausted as I write this, both physically and emotionally. I just got back from a week of youth home repair mission work in the cornbelt of the eastern shore of Maryland, which was really awesome, but definitely lacked in the sleep department after an intense week prior. Some of the highlights:
Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.
Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.
Corn. So much corn. I drove down separately from my youth group-- they left from Toms River after church; I worked breakfast and lunch at Johnsonburg. My route took me through the western part of New Jersey, which is pretty much all cornfields alternating with forests and cute little old towns. I spent a little bit of time in traffic on I-95 going around Philadelphia, a little bit of time navigating busy state roads around Wilmington, and spent the rest of my trip on various county and state roads through cornfields galore (well, with some soybeans sprinkled in). I basically spent the entire week in the cornbelt of the Eastern Shore. So much corn. Very relaxing.
My youth. I cannot begin to share how great my youth group is. This year we had 24 kids (and 10 adults... the ratio is not normally so absurd, but I think this may be a piece of the reason everything went so well), mostly going into 8th grade but a few going into 7th and 9th. I love this age group. They are just starting to become interesting people who you can actually have a conversation with if you're willing to overlook how obnoxious they can be. And I totally can, because underneath the snide remarks and occasional silent treatment are some really cool and good kids.
Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.
My crew. I was on a crew with another adult (a cop from North Jersey), two girls going into their freshman year, and two guys going into their junior year. Late in the week we were joined by a crew who finished early (a young pastor from New York who reminded me a lot of my older brother, a kid with ADD who would just appear everywhere you looked doing random things like taping his eyes shut, and one of my own youth boys, among others). Together we finished painting basically the entire interior of the house, and built a porch for the back door (in about a day's work, with my supervision!?). We were really excited to finish, albeit late Friday afternoon, and our resident was really excited about our work.
My youth. (Didn't she already mention this? Has she gone all crazysauce on us?) No, I mean my own personal youthful age. In real life, I'm an adult. I'm a leader for our youth group. According to Group Workcamps, I'm an adult (over 21!). However, it took some convincing to get others to acknowledge this. My youth group clearly knows it. My work crew all knew it. It took my resident about a day to figure it out (when I mentioned that I taught a college class). The site coach? Not so much. Despite the fact that I was the only one with experience building things, and was clearly acting as air traffic control on the porch process, I'd ask a question about something like the angle of the railing and he'd just kind of smile and then continue the conversation with any adult man in the area. Group Workcamps Staff? Handed me a youth camp evaluation form, and questioned me for requesting an adult leader form. I know there are some ways women can dress to appear older in the professional world, but how does one appear over the age of 16 when wearing paint-splattered t-shirts and jeans? Suggestions are MORE than welcome. I know I'll be thankful for this when I'm 40, but right now I'd just really like to look like I'm of legal age.
Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.
Ukuleles. So I bought a ukulele two weeks ago, because my friend Katie told me to. I do not regret the impulse buy even in the slightest; it's a really fun instrument and much easier than the guitar for my poor gimpy left hand to work. Katie also owned one, so we formed a sort of "band" with our friend Bailey (appropriately called Bailey and the Ukuleles by our youth) to lead youth group devotions each night. It was well received by our youth group, however, here's a curveball NO ONE SAW COMING: a youth group from HAWAII was at this work camp in Worton, Maryland! Seriously! In all my six Group Workcamps, NEVER have I met anyone from Hawaii! And so I gained my status as the 4th best ukulele player in Kent County.
Life: Past, Present, Future. Because I drove myself down solo last Sunday, I also had to drive myself back solo this morning. First of all, I thought back to my days in youth group on these trips and realize how awful it must have been for my leaders to drive back after a week of hard labor and the late nights of youth group shenanigans. At least they usually doubled up leaders to vans so they could switch off; I was pretty exhausted and this trip was way closer than any of the ones I went on as a youth. Second, my route back (which took more like 3 and a half hours) took me over the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which is how I always drove back and forth to college. Whenever I cross the bridge and see the cooling tower in Salem, NJ, I think about one particular journey to Mary Washington when my dad told me that he almost took a job with PSE&G down there (as opposed to where he has been for more than my entire life, with them in Newark, NJ). That really gets me thinking-- how different would my life be if I had grown up in Salem (or somewhere down closer to Philly or Delaware) instead of Toms River? Would I have gotten involved in a youth program like the one at PCTR? Or music? Would have I have gone to the same college, chosen the same major, gone on this awesome trip to Maryland? It's kind of strange/neat to have things in that perspective, especially as the current chapter of my life (grad school and all that has brought) is quickly drawing to a close. It seems though, that everything is working out just as it should.
Tree of the week: American Sycamore. There was a nice big one in the front yard of my worksite with a really excellent crown, meaning awesome shade for lunch and devotions every day. We had beautiful weather all week, but it was nice to sit in the shade across the street from a hay field and just relax a bit. It was also enough shade to welcome a crew from a few houses down to share devotions with us on Thursday and Friday (which the ukulele was also present for).
Click on people's faces in the photo to tag them.
There's probably a million more things I could say. There's a reason I keep going on these trips (6th Group Workcamp, 9th? 10th? something like that overall mission trip). I'll stop there with the writing, but I plan to continue with my awesome adventures.
"There is something therapeutic about putting your toothbrush in the same place every night, right? Earp, I know you're not familiar with that experience."
