Recent Life

Well, 2009 was a pretty big year and 2010 looks to be another wonderful one, full of adventure and new faces and lots of fun service.

In 2009, I graduated from Brown, ran a marathon, and travelled.  A lot.  I bounced from the northeast (of the US) to Australia then New Zealand (then back to AUS, back to NZ, and once again to AUS), on to Hawaii, back to the northeast, then down to Argentina, where I spent a rainy mid-summer New Year's in a tent in the Andes.  I also, without knowing it at the time, accomplished a goal of mine.  Though I currently have little special interest in travelling to Antarctica more so than other destinations, I thought it'd be neat to have spent some time on each of the six inhabited continents (as learned in elementary school): Europe, Africa, Australia / Oceania, North America, South America, and Asia.  I live in North America, so that one was easy, and my first trip off the continent at age 16 was to Europe, so I'd done that as well.  My rugby team's spring break travel to Uganda freshman year added Africa and this year Australia and South America joined the list.  Only Asia was left, I thought.  My dad then obligingly mentioned in an unrelated conversation that my sister lives in Asia.  I've visited her many times in Israel but when I had previously asked what continent Israel was part of, I was told, 'The Middle East,' which was not a continent last I'd checked (and still isn't in common definitions).  The Middle East, as luck would have it, is technically part of Asia, so I've now officially spent at least 11 days (Uganda being the shortest trip) on every inhabited continent.  Goal fulfilled.  Pretty cool.

This year began with Outward Bound down in Patagonia and has continued full swing from there.  I've spent most of January coaching high school swimming and cleaning eight years of accumulated stuff out of my room.  In my spare time, I've been painting my mom's future exercise room a lighter shade of green, erging a marathon (last Sunday was my eighth annual 42,195 meter row), and - oh, right - preparing for AmeriCorps.  Since I like staying busy and feeling productive, this month has been a good fit for me.

AmeriCorps prep this past week has consisted largely of gathering together the paperwork I'll need and continuing to remove items from my packing list.  We'll be issued uniforms at the start of training which we wear almost all the time and most places we end up will be warmer than Massachusetts is right now, so I've opted for one pair of jeans, a few t-shirts, two sweatshirts, and lots of socks to keep my feet happy.  There are many other things on the list too, of course, but I'm keeping it fairly straightforward.  As for paperwork, I printed out my (totally clean - yay!) driving record yesterday and picked up a copy of my official high school transcript from NHS.  I could have ordered a Brown transcript instead, but high school ones are free and take ten minutes to process rather than a week; it was an easy choice.  I also printed out my unofficial Brown transcript, copied my license, and continue to gather the last of my required paperwork for in-processing.  I've also prepared by getting my netbook set to roll.  I hoped that it would 1) have internet/wireless, 2) have basic word processing for journal-keeping, and 3) be able to store lots and lots of pictures.  Thus far, it has exceeded all my expectations in all three areas.  It works quickly, seemingly efficiently, and quietly.  It has all the software I need (after the addition of Microsoft Office last night) and little that I don't.  It's small and the battery lasts about 6 times as long as my laptop battery does.  Basically wonderful.

What's the plan for this next week now that the prep is coming to an end?  Start AmeriCorps!  Tomorrow I finish preparation, Mom and I will head out to Boston on Sunday, and I hop on a plane at 6:35 AM Monday down to Baltimore : )  There, I'll meet a couple of team leaders, be directed to a van, and ride to campus for the start of in-processing.  We'll spend our first couple of days handing in paperwork, being issued gear, and generally dealing with getting entered into the administrative system smoothly.  We'll soon become familiar with campus and the Point, begin physical training, and return to student life as we attend lots of classes to learn all about the NCCC way of life.  I always did like going to class.  I'm super-excited, of course, and looking forward to more wonderful adventures to come!  Now that I've been to six different continents, I'd like to see a bit more of this one country which I call home and help out here.  It'll be an amazing experience.

Bye for now!