the beginning

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air... Ralph Waldo Emerson.

So here it is. I'm currently preparing to become a Peace Corps Trainee in the Preventative Health and Environmental Education program in Senegal, West Africa. This blog will hopefully allow all my friends, family, and all other interested people to read about my adventures, see a few of the thousands of pictures I take, and generally keep updated with my ventures.

As a general introduction of myself, I just graduated from Albion College in Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, minors in English and Psychology. I spent the first 7 months after graduation working my butt off to save money to fund my ongoing desire for random adventures. After a long 7 months on a tiny, secluded, rich east coast island (Nantucket), I flew to Phoenix, AZ for Thanksgiving, followed by 5 glorious weeks on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, where I became an extremely lazy beach bum while I waited for my PC invitation. I'm now back in Phoenix for a few weeks to visit my mom while I plan out the next two months before PC Training starts. Hopefully these next few weeks will be filled with some great final adventures with my friends throughout the mid-west (Pittsburgh, Ann Arbor, Albion, and Traverse City).

At this point, I am working on the seemingly impossible task of gathering and packing all the things I will need for the next two years, and fitting it all into two bags, 80 lbs max (total). Let me tell you, it's already been great fun. Deciding whether or not to take valuable yet critical pieces of my daily life (computer, ipod, etc) has been somewhat agonizing and challenging. I most likely won't have electricity (or running water) wherever I end up living in Senegal, so perhaps a solar charger will come in handy? The decision making process of downsizing all my material posessions has been frustrating and overwhelming at times...

Other than getting all my packing done and planning my travels back east, I've spent an inordinant amount of time sitting on the couch, using my (adorable) new Netbook to research Africa, Senegal, Peace Corps, Environmental Ed, flights back east, flights home from Senegal (perhaps if/when my oldest brother gets married?!), living conditions in Senegal, reading PC books, (starting a blog), and getting in order all my financial and legal "responsibilities" that will remain here while I'm away. Oh and in the process of all this, carving a nice sized chunk out of my summer savings now that I'm unemployed and have no income while also enjoying the end of my student loans grace periods. Lets get the ball rolling here, I'm overly ready to start training and turn my brain back on to learning new things and having daily challenges!!

Thanks for readin my ramblins,

Aloha- PEACE- (and Love)