Exploration and Exploitation
Since I last posted, I have made my way to Durban, Fish Hoek, and across the Somerset mountains to the small coastal town of Hermanus. I thought residing in Cape Town had given me a sufficient amount of appreciation for…
Category Stories
The privilege of spending time with the dying
These last few weeks I’ve taken on a job in the ashram’s hospital in addition to the work I’ve been doing at the ecovillage. Every few days I spend the afternoon watching over Archan, a 90 year old man who’s…
On to Kotagiri and back to the ashram
My last day in Bangalore, I had no idea where I’d visit next and no plans. However, as seems to always happen during travel, something came up at the last second: I was invited to spend a few days in…
The Swimmer- Lake Atitlan Part 2
After encountering a surprisingly violent drug culture on the shores around Lake Atitlan, we decided to escape to the water for a few hours to put some distance between the violent hippies and ourselves. We rented a kayak and paddled…
The “Thai-et”: How I lost 25 pounds in 90 days
The thought of going on any sort of diet has always made me cringe. Hearing stories of people’s only caloric intake being from maple syrup, Cheyenne pepper, or lemon water made me question their sanity, but I have always had…
Welcome Home
South African skies Hello from the airspace above South Africa. It was only a week ago that I was coming into the Cape Town airport on a southbound flight from London. Now I am back in transit headed to the…
Sports Day: Thailand’s Pre-Game for the Olympics
This week, our school participated in the annual, two-day celebration of Sports Day(s). These days were filled with cheers, parades, sports (duh), dancing, and a lot of snacks. Rather than try to explain the glorious aspects of these festive days,…
Same Same But Different
Currently, there is one phrase that is printed on almost every t-shirt sold in markets throughout Thailand: “Same same but different.” Besides occasionally using this in class to make a joke when comparing two things, I haven’t put much thought…
Responsibility
I’m sure that compared to some of my peers, I don’t appear to have a ton of responsibility. My expenses have graciously been covered for an entire year, and I’m volunteering abroad without the risk of losing my job, missing…
Trip to Bangalore
A couple weeks ago I decided to pack up my bags and hit the road for a week. First on the itinerary was Bangalore. Our family friend, John, had an aunt who lived in Bangalore as a Christian missionary (the…