2009

I've long neglected writing here, so much so that I had to stop and really think before I could type in the web address.  I hope that this finds our friends and family doing well.  2009 promises to be an interesting year.  Most years seem interesting at the start, don't they?  

Joshua and I are still living here in Alabama.  My initial dedication to keeping our apartment clean is fading and I find that clutter is building up.  The novelty of living in a new apartment has worn off.  

Roller derby has opened an old can of worms.  It is challenging certain ideas I've held about myself, forcing me to take a serious look at my mental processes.  All of this sounds rather dramatic, but I think the end results will be great!  I've long assumed that I would always suffer from a rather crippling performance anxiety.  I want to be good at derby, but will have a hard time succeeding if I don't change my performance mentality.  It is also forcing me to come to terms with a lack of excersising.  For years I've just ingored excersise and mourned the loss of my healthier, thinner high school body.  I've reached a point in my training with derby where I will not improve unless I get off of my butt and work outside of practice.  My desire to be good at derby may just help push me towards a healthier life and body.  I've also gone off sweets for a good few weeks.  It is not as hard as I thought and when I do have something sweet, it hasn't resulted in a major sweet food binge.  Another win for derby!

I've been enjoying getting to know the women on my derby team a little better.  There are some seriously cool ladies skating around the track with me.  I'm meeting with my new friend 9 lb. Hammer...

Happy Holidays!

We miss our friends and families and want to say Happy Holidays to everyone!  

Love you.  You know who you are!

Weather

Today I wore a tank top on my walk to the post office and was perfectly comfortable temperature wise. 

It is November 6th.

Nov. 4th, 2008

I started the day by intentionally avoiding pundits. I checked in on fivethirtyeight.com to see the latest projections and then looked away with intention.

Our plan for the evening worked out very well. Joshua and I went to campus and celebrated just as we had hoped to do with our closest philosophy friends. Late in the evening we were joined by a man who had been watching the election results alone. We welcomed him into our group and enjoyed having yet another like minded person join our celebration.

When the reporters called the election for Obama, we clinked glasses and the phone rang. My good friend Marsha was calling and we had wonderful moment of chatting and celebrating. I called the field office in Gadsden County Florida where I spent two weeks volunteering and spoke with a couple of the friends I made there.

A president elect who has policies that a) acknowledge that America has problems which we must work to correct and b) focus on people, pragmatics and compassion. Our first African-American president! This is a huge deal. And it felt like a huge deal.

After our get together started to wind down, we headed out. The idea was to get a drink at a bar or something...but we were at least momentarily waylaid by a crowd that had gathered at Toomers Corner. The corner is where people gather in this town when they are happy. This crowd was made up of a mix of young people. The majority of the crowd was made up of African-Americans and White people, I would say about 60%/40% respectively. It was amazing to come upon such a large group of people excited about the same thing we were, in Alabama no less! The crowd was pretty segregated, but everyone was enthusiastic and there was a positive vibe. After a little while I noticed that there were police around, and they started shooing people away. I noticed that one particular officer seemed to be shooing only African-American people away, as he skipped right over Joshua and I. We didn't like this at all. When finally he decided to try and shoo us away, I asked him why we had to leave. He wouldn't tell me. He responded that he was "clearing the corner". I said, "Why are you clearing the corner?" He would basically only say those two things: 1) that we had to leave and 2) that he was clearing the corner. We left, assuring him that we were not interested in asking why from jail, but one is left to wonder, WTF?

So we head down the street to get a drink. We have two favorite watering holes in Auburn. One, 1716, is a frat/sorority bar that is pretty great during the slower week days when there is not a crowd. When there is a crowd, Roosters is a better bet. For some reason, it is determined that we should go to 1716 even though we are wearing various Obama paraphernalia and people start trying to "talk" to us about politics before we even get in the door.

We go in. We stand there for no more than two minutes before people start coming up to us and giving us an ear full. Two ROTC dudes have white shirts which have "You'll be sorry" written on them in sharpie marker. I start having a conversation with one of the military guys, who is drunk (as am I). Then the conversation turns and I'm talking to this other kid. And we precede to have an interesting, respectful discussion about politics even though we are coming at it from different places. We are momentarily interrupted by a really drunk guy, who tells me that he was really hoping to see an assassination tonight. I tell him in no uncertain terms what I think of him and his opinion. I then go right back to having my reasonable discussion with the other guy. (I would like to state for the record that I had had enough of being yelled at by people who are cruel and say horrible things, also I was drinking. I have found that my saturation point for mean, scary people has been reached and I didn't leave it alone. I'm having an interesting time today trying to figure out how I feel about having um...had some choice words for that guy. I think I'm ok with it. It is certainly not the kind of thing I would like to do a lot. What I really wish, is that I would have thought to call him unpatriotic. Because he is and I think that probably would have affected him more than anything.)

Finally, we leave.

Crazy, crazy night. Such a mix of emotions, thoughts and experiences. I get so tired of living here. Somehow I can't quite ever forget that I'm in the south. I don't remember always being so aware of my location before. At least not in such a negative way.

I would like to know why the south has been left alone for so long to stew in its own juices in isolation. More than once someone expressed the following idea last night: "Well you're in Alabama, what do you expect?" It reminds me so much of the old adage: "Boys will be boys". You know that clever little saying the is used to excuse boys and sometimes men of bad behavior. It is bullshit. Why is it that we should just expect that Alabama will be racist? I mean really? Why shouldn't I expect more of people? Assuming that racism in the south is an essential part of the life here only enables the racism here to continue, almost without challenge. I know that history and culture here is still tied up with today. But we can do better. People can be better. We can use our minds and power of observation. We can acknowledge problems as individuals and a society. Why not expect this southern society to work to overcome their racism?

Anyway, the mind is ticking away today. The wheels are turning, if slowly.

I hope good things for our hard road to come.

No but seriously...

That is right. I finally worked up the courage to call the Florida Democrats office and get the number for a field officer working for the Obama campaign in the Florida panhandle. And now I wait to find out if they can accommodate my request to volunteer for a week or so. Here's hoping that I'll be able to make some kind of a difference with my time. Who knew living next to a battleground state could be so much fun!

For those who do not know: John Richards and his Morning Show on KEXP are amazing. Thank you streaming archive and wireless connection for allowing me to partake in greatness.

Also, have you seen the new Gil Mantera's Party Dream band photo? It is amazing. Why, oh why does GMPD have to be so awesome. They pull me right back in every time I think my allegiance has started to falter.

The President's...oh let's be honest and call it a Mansion

Gil Mantera's Party Dream played a show this evening in Birmingham. I know that I am not the woman I once was, because I skipped said show to attend a reception at the President of Auburn University's gigantic house for new faculty and their guests. It was a huge catered affair. The President shook hands with everyone as they came in and inquired about the department they were with. Good food. Crazy digs. I mean, big and super fancy. We had a decent time. Pretty sure it isn't as good as a Gil show though. Still it was a pleasure as always to chill in our little group consisting of Joshua, Brandt and myself.

Plenty of fun was had afterwords however. We went to Cambridge coffee and had some espresso, which by the way is why I am up typing blog posts at 4:50am on a Wednesday morning. Then to our apartment for random youtube offerings, finally ending up at the previously mentioned bar, Rooster's.

Hopefully GMPD won't give up on me (and the south) just because I've spurned their most recent advances. I only want justice.

Rooster's

We finally found it people. Ok, found might be a bit misleading...let's say we were finally presented to awesome-wise. I knew from the first moment I looked through the front door of the place that this was going to be the watering hole for us. Like a beautiful omen, I saw the bouncer, sporting a honest to god mohawk. The first I'd seen in Auburn. A bar that is regularly filled with people who look like us. (Ok, Ok. So, I don't have a mohawk. But I like them. I tend to feel good when I can see one on a person near me. I wish it were the case that everywhere I went there was at least one person with a mohawk and that I could see them.) The clientele exhibit the regular (read: the way I dress) to hipster looking fashion. For those in Rochester I'd say kind of like the Lux but a little lighter on the "Alt Kid Street Cred" look. For those from the Bellingham days I'd say it is like a cross between a hipster bar and maybe the Up & Up but smaller and cooler. Gone are the days of three stranded 20/30 somethings adrift in a sea of undergraduates wearing polos and sun dresses. This bar offers a refreshingly diverse crowd, with at least one kind, competent bartender and decent drink offerings. Andrew & Neal, they've got Jameson! (You would not believe how tricky it is to find decent non-bourbon whisk(e)y in bars around here!) It has only one pool table, which some people might find lacking, but I think it is great because I rather dislike pool. They have a pub quiz night, karaoke night, live music and a lovely outdoor seating area.

How's that for an endorsement. Take that other bars of Auburn.

Auburn v. Southern Miss Game Day Pictures

Ladies and Gentlemen...Jordan-Hare Stadium

Brandt & Bree in Jordan-Hare Stadium

All Auburn, All Orange!

Joshua in Jordan-Hare Stadium, All Auburn but Less Orange

(before monsoon like downpour)

Joshua & Bree in Jordan-Hare Stadium

(after monsoon like downpour)

I'm a Believer

People told me that I wouldn't be able to imagine southern football. Even with the descriptions and stories, that I wouldn't quite understand until I'd seen it for myself. Last weekend, we stepped a toe into the shallow end of the football pool. We walked around and people watched. Bought some alcohol, pulled up a patch of curb and attended the Tiger Walk. We were there, at the end of the Tiger walk when the eagle came by in its van with a police escort. When the marching band, over 400 members strong came marching to the intersection next to the stadium, filling each of the four streets, playing different songs until they merged, we were there. Standing, waving, clapping, wondering at how this sleepy little town could so suddenly burst to life. We spent the game at Skybar, watching Auburn soundly beat ULM (that's University of Louisiana-Monroe) 24-0. I thought I had the idea of what southern football was about. That evening after the game ended, we sat at home listening to the sounds of undergraduates partying around us and I said, "I think I'm over this whole football thing."

I spoke to soon.

We bought tickets for today's 11:30am Auburn v. Southern Miss football game a few weeks ago. Brandt and Eric (two of the other visiting 1 year instructors) come over at about 10:30am and lock their bikes at our apartment complex. We walk to Cambridge Coffee to get a caffeine boost and head to the stadium. As we get closer to the stadium, I start to get pretty excited. We are in a sea of orange. People are flocking to the stadium, en mass and we are streaming in right along with them. Once getting through Gate 1, we start the long climb up the ramps that zigzag sharply along the side of the stadium. We catch glimpses of orange and green as we go up and up, finally exiting at the very top. Nosebleed section, big time. We finally walk out into the seating area and bam!

Jordan-Hare Stadium. An amazing view, of the stadium and beyond. Everyone in orange and blue. Ok, some people in the Southern Miss colors of yellow and black, but so few it doesn't ruin the effect. Right when we get to our seats the announcer booms: "Will everyone please direct their attention to sections 110 & 109 [we are sitting in 110] for a special sight! Spirit, the eagle, will now be released for the traditional flight around the stadium!" We look up and here comes a beautiful bald eagle flying over our heads swooping around the stadium before coasting over to the field and diving down to the 50 yard line. A sight to be seen.

The marching band comes onto the field.

Southern Miss runs onto the field. And then...

The AU football team enters. The whole stadium is up and cheering.

The offense is great. Someone, last name of Dunn I believe, wearing the number 3 jersey, is amazing. Weaving through these huge Southern Miss defensive linemen like it is nothing.

The AU defensive line is a force to be reckoned with. Each time the defense comes onto the field the slogan "Protect this house" comes onto the Jumbo Tron.

I start to feel it. The Auburn Tigers are good. Real good. They are amazing. They represent this university and city. They are members of the kick ass SEC (Southeastern Conference) and play at a level of college sport here to wit unknown by me. In this sea of fans, screaming "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaar Eagle, hey!", "Go D!", and "Weagle, Weagle, War Damn Eagle, Kick 'em in the butt big blue!" it is hard not to buy in. After the game, walking back to our apartment I see a T-shirt that says, "Once a Tiger, Always a Tiger." And I know it must be true. I've been inducted into the cult of southern football by AU. All Auburn, All Orange, as the saying goes. I watched that football game with 87, 450 other football fans. We stood in the rain 'til we were soaked to the bone. I cheered until my voice was hoarse. My face is burnt, I am dehydrated and worn out but I'm happy.

War Eagle!

I Like That Old Time Rock & Roll

Coming back to Auburn was a little hard for both Joshua and I. It is getting better all the time as we are starting to make friends and get situated. We’ve now met the other three Visiting Instructors (people that have a one year position like Joshua). They are an interesting, diverse group and just what the doctor ordered. Making contact with other people who are a) new to this community and b) older than undergraduates, has been a welcome activity. We just went for drinks last night and it was pretty entertaining. Meeting the other one year peeps has already resulted in walking into a coffee shop and recognizing someone.

Let’s have a brief discussion about fashion. I just recently saw the movie Risky Business. This movie, in my estimation, is terrible. At the least I will say that I did not enjoy it much at all. Tom Cruise’s character had a very specific sense of style that stuck with me. It is sort of a super preppy, super eighties pastel polo shirt with kakie (sp?) shorts and leather loafers with no socks kind of look. Enter Auburn, AL, where apparently Tom Cruise is the fashion icon. OK let’s be real. These students are too young to remember Risky Business, though they probably (like me) know the lip sync in your underwear scene that has become a bit of a cultural reference point. When Tika and I were shopping she kept saying that the eighties are back. I can’t quite tell if they are back, here in Auburn, or if they never left. I have never, in all of my days seen so many people who look so preppy in such great number. It is bizarre. Thank god for other philosophy peeps and a hipster joint named Cambridge Coffee, else we’d be adrift in a sea of pastel polo shirts and sun dresses looking like utter freaks for lack of same.

Everyone is polite and warm which is great. People still stare sometimes, but I think the fact that there are more people around and that some people who used to stare have now seen me a few times has made me a little less shocking.

The bar we went to last night was really cool. It is called Skybar. It has wood floors, a stage for bands and no ceiling. The temperature was perfect and early in the night it is very easy to get a drink without running into a ton of people. I raise my glass to my good friend Brian L. and say that I very much enjoyed my vodka cran(s) and thought of you when I ordered them.

Saturday night there is going to be a get together for the philosophy department at a faculty members house. I’m excited about meeting everyone.

Joshua’s birthday is on Monday and we are going to get an ice cream cake, eat out at a nice restaurant and then have some drinks with at least one friend.

Today, Joshua and I are going to the ticket office to see if we can scare up some football tickets. I will take some pictures of a game day Saturday and see if I can post them on the blog. I am both curious and a tiny bit scared to see what happens. We are also going to go to the farmer's market and see if there is anything good. We have a couple of options after that. We may try to make it to the opening ceremonial for the creation of a sand mandala at the art museum or head to a short video and discussion on campus about responsible consumption.

Quick Catch Up

Joshua and I are both back in Auburn now. The fall semester has already begun. Joshua has four sections of introductory Medical Ethics. Altogether he has about 120 students.

Joshua has reported to have had a nice time visiting his brother and his two best friends from childhood in Bremerton. It sounds like the Bellingham Summer Philosophy Conference was fun as well.

I had an amazing trip home. I got to spend time with both of my families as well as my Grandmother. I also got to see some good friends, Tara and Brian, who drove out of their way to come visit me and spend some quality time with my dear friend Becky.

My brothers and sisters continue to surprise and delight me as they grow up. That all of them are turning into or are already awesome young adults is a beautiful thing. I got to enjoy time with each of them. Bolin and I went on his paper routes together, Garren and I did a couple of Slurpee runs, Leia and I spent a great deal of time with horses. Tika and I did some shopping.

My Grandma was, as ever, a warm, interesting, hilarious woman. I had a great time seeing her in her new element (a retirement community) and meeting all of her new friends and neighbors. We both got to spend an unprecedented amount of time with my uncle and aunt which was also fabulous! I know I sound all gushy, or whatever, but I just had an amazing time.

So, the Washington trips get four giant thumbs in the air. Well played Pacific Northwest…well played. I am from you and I love you.

Also, quick side note, I turned 27. I love a good birthday and this one was no slouch! I had ice cream cake and the Olympics opening ceremony, a couple of delicious b-day dinners and the like.

War Eagle: The Legend

I came across a very friendly seeming individual who (I think) owns a local corner drug store. I asked him if he could tell me why Auburn has both a tiger and an eagle as mascots. He told me the (what I have discovered to be) somewhat variable legend (it depends on who you ask) of the Auburn War Eagle. What follows is our (and now yours if you choose to accept it) first lesson in the Auburn Football Cannon.

Auburn has but one mascot and that is Albie, the tiger. "War Eagle" is the Auburn University battle cry. I like the first version of the story I heard best so that is the one I will relay to you now. Back during the civil war a man from Auburn was fighting in a battle. When the battle was over he found a wounded eagle on the battlefield, and he took it home and nursed it back to health. The eagle came with him everywhere, perched on his shoulder and the whole town came to know the eagle as the War Eagle, due to where it was found. The man brought the eagle to an Auburn v. Georgia football game. The rivalry between these two teams is the biggest football rivalry in the south, so this was an important game. During the game Auburn was doing terribly, they were getting creamed by Georgia. At some point the eagle got away from the man (or the man let him go...I can't remember) and started to fly around the stadium. The Auburn fans, bored of the crappy game started to get excited about the eagle. They began to chant the eagle's name, "War Eagle! War Eagle!" The football team could not understand the crowd, but could hear that the fans were getting excited. This in turn pumped up the football team who came back with a vengeance to defeat Georgia! At the end of the game, the referee shot his pistol into the air to signify that the game was finished and accidentally killed the War Eagle.

Auburn flies one of its eagles at the start of each football game. It flies around the stadium and lands on the center of the field. This year, apparently, Auburn will be flying a golden eagle. One of the Auburn eagles flew during the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake Olympics. It also sounds like all of the Auburn eagles are named "Tiger". If you are interested you can type "War Eagle" into YouTube to see footage of the eagle soaring around the stadium. You can also get a feel for the energy and mass amounts of people that fill the stadium for a game.

The Good, The Bad and The Bizarre

OK Folks. Here we go...

The Good

The Mellow Mushroom. Thank you gods of pizza for bestowing upon us an amazing pizza joint. Within walking distance. Plenty of options, beer on tap, pretzel things and cheesy bread for appetizers and last, but not least, a jerk chicken and pineapple pizza that is to die for.

Coke Icee right next door. Actually many things within walking distance: our landlords, grocery store, Hastings, CVS, Auburn University, Cambridge Coffee!, fresh squeezed lemonade, Cold Stone Creamery, the Auburn Public Library (we think), Day Spring organic foods (where we can get fresh peanut butter!) and a bicycle shop where I can get my old but awesome Raleigh bike fixed up.

Really very decent weather. We stay indoors from about 2pm - 7pm in our sweet air conditioned apartment and head out in the mornings and late evenings.

Beautiful surroundings. Lush, diverse foliage and hills. We went to a gorgeous park not far from our house, Chewachla State Park, and had a nice little walk around the place. It is far enough away that we will probably need a car to get there, (we went with Joshua's mom and sister when they were here), but it is a cool place to visit once and a while.

We have a dishwasher! And it works!!

Netflix still gets to us two days after we mail it out. Well played Netflix...well played.

Our friends Steve and Jill live but a quick hour and a half away from us.

The Bad

The bugs. The bugs are kind of bad but also kind of bizarre. There are many, many bugs. At night, if you take a stroll around campus you will see these little (and by little I mean large enough to cast a respectable shadow) cockroach looking guys scurry out of your way on the path. Last night a cicada landed on the pavement behind me with a thump! Like a small bit of meteor falling from space. A bug that makes a thump is not something I tend to want near me. Also, a lizard got into our house already. Some kind of little pinkish, translucent two inch long dude. I quickly escorted him out of the house. I've had those in my house before either in Arizona or Ghana...I think Ghana, but I can't quite remember.

Ummm. I'm not sure what we had for lunch. They call it a Bagel shop, but I did not just eat a bagel. First of all, we are pretty sure that the "bagels" here are just bits of white bread cut in the shape of a bagel. Also, I ordered my favorite kind of bagel snack: a salt bagel with strawberry cream cheese. The salt on a salt bagel is typically rock salt. This "bagel" had like, table salt on it. There was very little to no cream cheese and the cream cheese that was there tasted very lightly of strawberry and was pretty runny. Do not make me mention Joshua's sandwich which consisted of an "Everything Bagel" which was completely weird and bland with chicken salad that was ground so fine that it was less like chicken salad and more like chicken paste. I am going to do some investigation and find out if the bizarro "bagels" are a southern thing or a just this one place specialty thing. I'm tending to think it is a southern thing because I don't understand how anyone who has had a good bagel could possibly think that what we just ate is a good idea.

I have already encountered a few different free newspaper articles which are either extremely judgemental towards women or vacuous. For example there is a column called "It's a Woman's World" and the logo is the female sign with the earth in it. I saw this and thought, hmmm...this looks like it could be interesting. I was disappointed to discover that the article was about proper toenail maintenance during the summer sandal wearing season. There was also an incredibly insulting advice columnist, name of Debbie (I think). The woman who wrote to Debbie said that she is 27 and gained some weight in grad school. Her relationship with her mom has become strained as a result of her weight gain. She said that her weight is something that she is coming to terms with and that she is big and beautiful. What she was having a hard time with was dealing with the way her mother is treating her. Her mom's insults do not motivate her to change her body, rather the comments make her feel like crap. She wanted some advice about how to deal with her messed up relationship with her mom and dad as a result of her weight. Debbie, the advice columnist offered the following advice: "You may be big, but you are not beautiful. Get on the stair master and don't be such a drama queen." Nice, right?

I think people are staring at me as a result of my hair cut. It isn't the worst thing ever but it does get annoying and I find it a bit rude. Let me give you an example. (This has been by far the worst incident of staring). Joshua and I were standing at an intersection waiting to use the crosswalk. There was a man in the left hand turn lane, in a truck, waiting for his light. He was staring at me. Really staring. So, naturally Joshua and I both started staring back. He looked away and fidgeted around in the truck a bit. He lite a cigarette and put on his aviator sunglasses and started staring again. When I looked at him he looked away, when I looked away he would stare at me again. Rude.

We've also recently had a disappointing experience at a Chinese lunch buffet. We won't go there again. Bummer since this is the place that claimed to have a Thai menu as well.

We get like three channels on our TV if you don't count the Christian station, which I don't.

Temporary badness: We still don't know anyone. I don't think we will until we come back from Washington and get situated. We go out to coffee shops and to eat to have an excuse to get out of the apartment. We walk around a bit to explore. And we keep to ourselves for now.

The Bizarre

I actually overheard the following thing being said by a barista at a coffee shop:

"Hey, you should come to my party. We are going to shoot some fireworks, shoot some guns and hopefully shoot some squirrels." When a fellow barista questioned the sensibility of shooting squirrels he defended his position by indicating that the squirrels would be eaten and therefore wouldn't be wasted. (In defense of the south I will say that I have heard this same conversation take place between two people up in Rochester as well. However, I think the fact that I have heard this conversation twice makes it more bizarre not less.)

At Kroger's (a grocery store chain here in the south), we heard our checker, a woman with a southern accent, tease the bagger, a woman with a thicker southern accent, for her accent. The checker was stating that she wants to get out of Alabama. The bagger was saying that she likes it around here because it is peaceful. The checker said, "Really? Is it Peeaacceful?" with a really thick accent. It was really funny and I don't think the bagger even knew that the checker was teasing her so good was her imitation. We are also uncertain that the checker was aware of her own accent, which makes the whole thing even more amusing.

Auburn University school spirit. Where to start? When I went to WWU, there was this notion that wearing WWU gear (shirts, hats, sweatshirts) was something you did, but not necessarily while on campus. A lot of students had those WWU car window stickers, but by and large you didn't see a ton of western gear on campus. This can not be said of Auburn. TONS of people are wearing pro-Auburn stuff. Shirts and hats. Bumper stickers, window stickers, little stuffed tiger tails which hang off the back of your car. Houses have banners, stores have posters, restaurants have signed swim team posters. Pictures of football players. There is an art store with all university themed art. A huge paw print painted in an intersection near campus. I have seen all of the usual suspects: golf balls, tiger driver covers, license plates, regular plates and clothes. I have also seen or heard of Auburn University chapstick, toothbrushes, toilet paper, hair brushes, car cup holder coasters, Christmas ornaments and even a large wooden carving in a local restaurant.

We have heard from one of Joshua's colleagues that the Auburn University football stadium becomes the third largest city in Alabama during home football games. 80,000 fans all in one place at one time.

I'm sure we will have more news of the bizarre as time goes on and football season starts.

Roc City to Auburn: The Journey

After I got hit with a sudden and ferocious illness on the Saturday before our move, we were still able to get on the road as planned. Joshua had took on the responsibility of taking care of me and packing up the house with some gusto. Thank goodness for Joshua. A huge thank you to all of our friends who helped us...we would have been lost without you!

Leaving Rochester was rough and we are pretty sure that packing and loading the truck was a hellish experience. After we finally left Rochester, everything went quite smoothly. It felt good to drive out of New York state and we pulled over at the Pennsylvania welcome center to do a subdued, and as a result somewhat pathetic, happy dance.

Our first stop was Pittsburgh where we spent a lovely evening dining and chatting with our friend Keith. We were extremely impressed with the beauty of Pittsburgh from the freeway and amused by the quirky-ness of Pittsburgh once we got onto city streets. I'm still moderately alarmed by the art-deco/Gotham city "Cathedral of Learning" that looms ominously from its central location in the University district. Good Indian food, interesting place. We love Keith!

We decided to drive on for another hour or so and crashed at a Red Roof Inn which offered a welcome $46.99 a night. A decent sleep and then on to Kentucky the next day. Wednesday was our longest day of driving, about eight hours. Not so bad as far as road trips go, but by the time we arrived at Mammoth Cave National Park, we were ready to get out of the truck for the day. We had a relaxing evening, spent some time on the easy foot trails near the hotel and chilled out. Joshua decided which tour he would go on the next day, and I decided that for the purpose of continuing to get healthy I would sleep in and relax the next morning. Joshua enjoyed his tour the next morning and we were off again!

When we finally drove into the state of Alabama we were struck by its beauty. I had heard people say that it was beautiful, but this was amazing. The hills, comprised of the lower tip of the Appalachians, and the lush foliage made us very happy indeed. The weather has been warm, but so far nothing much worse than Rochester, though I'm sure it will get warmer yet. We've heard high praises of the winters though, so I think it will all be worth it. Our visit with our friend Steve was wonderful. We very much enjoyed seeing him in his element and meeting his new friends. Steve and Jill came with us to Auburn and helped us to get settled and for that we extremely grateful. Our apartment is cute, newer than our place at Goler house and we are getting closer to having the place set up.

We are close to many restaurants, including a delightful pizza place called Mellow Mushroom Pizza which has already yielded a delicious dinner. There is a grocery store that carries organic milk in carton containers, a Hastings and a CVS within about a 15 minute walk from here, a perfect activity for after the sun goes down. Yesterday, Joshua and I spent some time wandering around campus. It is amazing! Huge but well appointed. I'm looking forward to exploring in the library and Joshua is going to get to meet with at least one member of the faculty tomorrow.

It is strange to be in a town and know absolutely no one. That is sort of new for us as we had begun to feel pretty established in Rochester. I would regularly see people around town that I knew and we often had social activities planned with friends. For now, it is just Joshua and I, in our somewhat messy apartment, catching up on sleep, e-mail and watching TV. A short reprieve before the start of more travel, teaching and researching.

Joshua's mom and sister arrive tonight for a few days. They are going to help us get even more settled and we are going to run some errands. We are going to buy some fun things like a vacuum cleaner, garbage can, sheets, etc.

So far nothing to weirdly southern has occurred except for the appearance of a couple of confederate flags on the way down here. The Alabama flag looks much like the confederate flag minus all the of the color...just a giant red x over a white back ground. Also, Cracker Barrel seems to be a popular place. My pancakes were delicious, but I've never had pancakes that tasted so fried.

More soon.

Goodbye Ghana, Hello New York!

My last post from Africa.

During the last week on camp, with school out and the office closing for the holidays, things were pretty slow. It was both odd and nice to have work slow down a bit as we prepared to leave.

The football match between the teachers and administrators took place on Thursday morning. The teachers won. That means my team lost! Fair enough though, since only one of the players came to practice. Hopefully, next month the admins will be compelled to practice! It was a fun game because it was closer than last month and the competitiveness was running at a fun, but reasonable level.

The leaving ceremony was on Thursday night. There were many remarks given by IVs to other IVs. We were presented with our gowns, which fit more like shirts. Usually the shirts are tye-died, but for some reason, Simon and I were both given shirts that were mainly solid colored. His is dark blue with white and blue embroidery and mine is white with blue and white embroidery. I love my shirt. The CBW children's choir performed at the ceremony as did a 5 man acapella singing group. They both did wonderfully and helped to keep the mood at the ceremony uplifting. The party that followed was good as well.

Finishing up at camp was strange. A couple of big projects that were supposed to occur right that the end of December fell through. I will take a moment to register surprise...nope. I just can't muster any.

It was hard to say goodbye to everyone on camp. Especially Asa, the little boy that I spoke about before. He was sitting on my lap and I was tickling him and giving him random hugs. He is too young to understand about goodbyes I think. I said goodbye anyway. Almost cried but kept it together. Simon has gotten close with Asa's slightly older brother. That was hard to watch, because Diamond does understand what it means to say goodbye. It must be so difficult for the kids that live around the house, that consistent feeling of being left. The end of the month and beginning of the next is tricky because the kids have to figure out each new volunteer. If they get close with a volunteer, like Diamond did with Simon, they will have to deal with some really difficult feelings (as will the volunteer) when the IV leaves. I dislike the notion that my temporary presence on camp is adding to the instability of the lives of the children, but it is. Sometimes we, the IVs, wonder (both collectively and individually) if our presence on camp is benefical over all. I don't want to do more harm than good.

I'm feeling pretty numb about camp just now. I think that I will have quite a bit to unravel when I get home. Thank goodness for Joshua. He is excited to hear about the trip and to do some philosophical discussion about the ethics of the situation.

I believe that I am going to do here. Hopefully, my travels will be pretty clockworkish, and I will be home as I expect to be.

I just said goodbye to my IV friends who work at the camp. Simon, Stacy, Anna and I rang in the New Year at a local bar near our hotel in Accra. I started 2007 in Africa! I think I will cherish that fact all year long.

I've learned so much and it will be interesting to see how the things that I have learned translate back to life in Rochester. Only time will tell... I'm starting to get excited about getting home and seeing everyone again.

I am hoping that the exorbitant amout of time that I will spend sitting in airports over the next 32 hours will be helpful to my mental stability. I think it will be good if I can decompress a little before stepping back into the country. I imagine it is going to be difficult to wrap my head around the desparities between Rochester, NY and Buduburam, Ghana.

My love to my loved ones. See/Talk to you soon!!

Happy Chanuka and Merry Christmas!

I started this entry on December 13th:

Tonight we are celebrating the first day of Chanuka with Simon. I am looking forward to our little get together!

Ok, there was a list of things at the end of the last post that I said I would write about...what were they?

Kakum National Park. Absolutely stunning. So beautiful. But, straight up wilderness in my face. We camped out on these platforms that had mesquito nets over them. 4 people to a platform which holds three mattresses. All of us veterans stayed on one platform and the newbies stayed on another. It was hilarious. I cannot exactly say why it is hilarious but there where many funny, funny things that were said. Random exclaimations when some sort of nasty insect appeared. We had to have two people at once in the toilet. One to use the facilities and one on spider patrol. Yuck. We woke up in the morning to Matt shining a flashlight in our faces and basically telling us to get our butts out of bed.

Once we got up we went with a guide to the Kakum Canopy walk, which is the highest canopy walk in Africa. I think that there are 4 other canopy walks in the world. Anyway, the view was incredible. We went early enough that the mist was still hanging out in the forest. At one point, my glasses started to fog up because of the humidity. I have some pictures, I'll have to show everyone when I get home. The best, best part of the whole thing was that we got to see monkeys in the wild! Most of them were pretty small, but I saw a bigger monkey jump from one tree to another and it was very, very cool to watch. At one point, one of the small monkeys sat on the tree opposite us and had a look right back at us. Someone made the comment that the tree we were looking at was probably some well known human watching spot for the monkeys. I won't forget this experience or the amazing people who I was camping with anytime soon!

Continuing the post on December 26th:
Next thing...
Swimming in the ocean. Thanks to Tori and Hannah, I am now able to swim in the ocean. For the first time in my life, I've been able to do more than stand in the water. I'm not the strongest swimmer in the world, so they've been teaching me a bit about how to watch the waves and judge the best thing to do. It has been really wonderful. I've always had really enjoyed spending time near the ocean and this has maximized the goodness of my ocean time.

MD had a house warming party a couple of weeks ago and it was great fun. It was the first time that we had ventured away from AB's Bar into a bar further into camp. It was so much fun and I'm really going to miss dancing in Africa.

Went to the old fort in Elmina that was used for the slave trade. Don't want to write about it, but would be happy to speak to people about it when I get home if they are interested.

Now on to more recent events.

Camp has been interesting leading up to the holidays. CBW has become extremely frustrating. I've been having a difficult time dealing with the fly by the seat of their pants nature of the organization we are working with. This lax attitude has been exacerbated by the holiday. We are supposed to have a football match, leaving ceremony and children's party on Thursday and Friday of this week, but I don't really see those things happening very successfully. We will just have to wait and see...as per usual.

Christmas is celebrated, on camp, by many of the women and girls getting their hair weaved and everyone putting on their new clothes and walking around camp. Younger kids earlier in the day, older folks later in the day.

All of the IVs got together and made breakfast and dinner. After breakfast we opened our Secret Santa gifts, which were lovely. Lisa got me a huge loaf of fresh banana bread and a T-Shirt that says Miss Attitude on it. Pretty funny stuff. I made Latkas for the dinner (since they were such a big hit the previous week when Stacy, Anna and I made them for Simon in celebration of Chanuka). I also helped Simon make the fritters for dessert.

It has occured to me that most of what I write about is how I am feeling about certain things that happen during my time here. Sometimes what I write can be pretty fluffy or uninformative with regards to what is actually going on at Buduburam. Simon also has a blog on which he is documenting his travels. There is a section that is dedicated to what is going on here and he has done some interesting things the last couple of months. His blog tends to be more fact and less feeling based. It may help to give everyone a more detailed idea about life on camp. Here is his blog address if you are interested in further reading: jebreel.blogspot.com

For now work has slowed down to no work at all, basically, and I'm trying to get my head in the right place for coming home. We are packing tomorrow I think. I'll be leaving camp on Friday, coming into Accra for the weekend and flying out on New Year's Day. Weird.

In other news, I'm very much looking forward to seeing Joshua and am going to freeze in Rochester, mild winter though it may be.

Also - Happy Birthday Garren on the 21st! 14 years old! Love you kiddo.

December

Well, I can't believe it is already a week into December. Tika's Birthday is tomorrow...a quick birthday shout out to my 18 year old sis!

So much has happened in my time here. I am given to understand that once I go home, the muttle of thoughts and experiences that I have gathered here will begin to unravel. It will be awhile before I can really get my head around my life at Buduburam.

Already, my thoughts are turning towards home and the fact that I will be leaving here.

The internet on camp was horrible for a week and a half and now I am finally getting around to posting again.

Finally, we are having some balance after the big turnover at the end of November. The new volunteers are great. The two women living in our house are lovely. Now, it is only four of us in Guest House #1, Simon, Anna (from New Zealand), Stacy (from Georgia) and I. Our house is feeling really comfortable again, which is very important for the mental well being of the IVs who live there. The other house got two new people as well, Matt and Amanda. Both are nice as well.

I've been pleased with the discovery that my life and heart can expand to include more people. I believe that I have made a couple of good friends here. A few that I plan to stay in regular contact with and several that I would love to see again, someday, should our paths cross in the future. I have been lucky to meet so many great people from around the world. The IVs have been a huge part of my experience and have defined the tone for each month. The cast and energy changes each month.

The organization I am working with continues to incure frustration. But that is the way it goes. Everything is starting to slow way down because of exams. The school will close on Friday and the CBW office will close on the 22nd. I think that the IVs are going to be on camp for christmas eve night and Christmas day. I think we might have a big sleepover at ABs and then wake up and breakfast together. Then we will split up to our different local folks who we would like to celebrate with. Then, I think, we will head out and party Christmas night. Sounds good to me.

I just set up a week of individual tutoring with my two girls. HIV/AIDS will only go through next week, craft day will continue...did I tell you about craft day?

I have been helping out Hattie with craft day two mornings a week and one afternoon a week. The kids come and get to make a craft. It is so much fun. The kids get to have some positive attention and a creative outlet.

The last week here will basically be a week of vacation because the whole organization will be shut down.

Ok a quick run down:

I am feeling much better than I was during my last post.

I am coming home soon. I'm excited to see Joshua and my friends. Having said that, I am extremely nervous about reverse culture shock and the weirdness of saying goodbye to the people I have met, worked and lived with at Buduburam.

I am not looking forward to the question, "How was Africa?". How on earth am I to answer that? The scope of what has happened here in the last 3 months will not fit convienently into a few sentances. As long as the person asking the question really wants to know and has some time on their hands, that is fine. Otherwise, I suppose I will just say (as suggested by a fellow volunteer), "Great, how was home?".

At lunch time when I got back to my house Anna was out front dancing with a group of little kids. I dropped my bag in the house, changed my shirt and headed out to join the fun. So great! Asa, the little boy from next door was outside along with Blessing, Jerry and a bunch of other kids. Matt was giving piggy back rides and having races. Those moments, where there is a simple joy in playing with the kids and a feeling of internal quiet, are treasured. Those moments sustain me and I think us as a group.

Oh! The debate society, that I am so proud of, is having it's first official debate on Friday. The subject? Whether or not the refugees should move back to Liberia.

Next post, look for stories about 8 of us IVs spending the night in a rainforest, doing the highest canopy walk in Africa (where we got to see monkeys!), swimming in the ocean and busting a move at MD's house warming party. I also visited an old slave trading fort in Elmina.

Mr. Sandman

I'm posting this from Accra, several days after I wrote it, because the internet on camp has been horrible lately. It has been a huge undertaking just to get my e-mail open.

Anyway...

I just heard Mr. Sandman, you know that song. How or why it is playing I can't say. I'm trying the new internet cafe next to the one I usually go to.

It has been a bit rough around the edges lately. The wall is back. So many people are leaving, I'm still feeling like heading home, but that would be quitting and in this instance as least I am too stubborn and I understand that I still have much more to learn before I return home.

Spent a decent amount of today feeling fairly ineffective. I hate that feeling. A long time ago, my Aunt Kali told me that I would not make a very good teacher because I can't tolerate incompetance. She said that if I were a teacher, I should be a professor, when I wouldn't have to deal very much with discipline. I have for a good many years thought that she was right. My experiences here have only confirmed this. Some people are absolutely amazing with at risk kids. Children who have had a hard life and as a result are tough as nails and misbehave. I am not. Working in classrooms and living around kids who (for many important and legitimate reasons) are fairly obnoxious is not my forte. My patience continues to wear thin and I find that I am getting more and more flustered regarding disipline issues as time goes on. I think this sounds pretty bad, but the fact of the matter is that I am growing tired of this aspect of life here.

Thank god for Tori, a lovely woman from Australia who is helping me to stay afloat with her good conversation skills, insight and sense of humor. We keep quoting "Strickly Ballroom" at each other. Well, mainly she is quoting it since I don't have an Australian accent and she does. "Mr. Fife! Mr. Fife!" She and I have agreed to help each other keep ourselves together throughout our third month.

Woke up the other morning just in time to hear a parent beating their child with a switch right outside my bedroom window. Rachel put it best when she said, "Just in case you forgot where you are..." Tori and I were talking today and she was pointing out that a ton of our energy and mental power goes to just dealing with all of the poverty, trauma and violence that we see and hear everyday. I think that she is right.

My dear housemate Annie, has left camp. She is the first in a long line of 9 volunteers who are leaving in the next 5 days. She is off to travel for the next few months, and I wish her a great journey! May she enjoy her time and be comfortable back in England when the trip is over.

Oh! Also, I've been meaning to communicate this to Joshua but keep forgetting so I'll put it here:

Annie went to see Pink Floyd perform 'The Wall' in concert. She said it was amazing.

The order of the day is keeping my head above water. I think things will fall back into place but for now my mind is a crazy jumble of transitions, child beatings, poor education, shady politics from the administration, living, working and hanging out with several IVs, none of whom know me that well (and vice versa) and basically day to day activities like eating, showering, using the bathroom and generally getting out of bed in the morning.

It is going to be another busy week.

Bye for now, I'm off to have some yam chips dipped in yogurt and a coke at Brotherhood (our local restaurant of choice).

Breakthrough

Too much to say. Not enough ways to say it. A clever writer could make this work.

Let's start with the title. Wednesday during reading tutoring, one of my students sounded out the word "always". Now, sounding out words is a concept that these kids are not familiar with. So, even though she sounded out the word perfectly, she didn't really recognize it. But first things first. The fact that she was able to sound out each letter, now that is a big deal! She didn't know the word, she assigned the correct sound to each letter and letter grouping. It was so exciting! I started to cry, I was so excited. The little girls were pretty thrown off by that. One of them said, "Stop Crying-O!". When I explained that I was excited and happy, they started laughing. We kept on until I could hear her saying the word. Told her the word was "always" and had her sound it out again. Then I made them get out of their chairs come outside and we danced around in celebration for a minute. That was a GREAT moment.

My first official football practice went really well. They were very receptive to the drills that we did, and were pretty respectful. I had one player do a lap for being to fresh with me. He calmed down after that. We will have to see how it goes on Tuesday.

The HIV/AIDS workshop is sounding like it won't happen. We've really hit a wall with the CBW administration, we'll have to see how that works out. I'm not sure that the story belongs online. I'll have to let you know more over e-mail or when I get home.

Ok. The whole nagging cold thing has finally come to a head. I went to the camp UNHCR clinic on Friday due to the fact that one of my throat lymphnodes was ridiculously swollen and not good. The doctor said that I have (I'm probably misspelling this) Pharengitis. No big deal. I'm taking antibiotics, (that I happened to already have in my possession since the ones the dr. perscribed are the same strong antibiotic that was given to me by passport health in the case of horrible runs), and should be feeling 100% by tonight. Whew! Glad to have it checked out, glad that it will be done with soon.

One benefit to meeting the Doctor is that he is involved with HIV/AIDS work on camp as well. Apparently, they are always looking for more help. His organization is doing a workshop this week on Sex and Gender Violence and he invited me to come help out if I can. We ended up getting into a conversation about how NGOs on camp end up wasting effort by overlapping services and how benificial it would be to get some more multi-organization efforts going. I'm think that this will be my focus for the final month.

Tonight will be the last Sunday night drink with Annie. She and I started the tradition back in October and it is distinctly weird that this will be the last one. Thursday is the leaving ceremony so I need to start getting my thoughts together about what to say about the people leaving in Guest House #1. Simon and I will have to work on that, since we are the only people currently living in our house that will remain at the end of the month.

I have had a couple of sad encounters with children lately. Occasionally, I'll have a conversation with someone about their time in Liberia or talk to a child who is having a hard day and it is like someone has pulled a rug out from under my feet. But then there are moments like "always" and they somehow balance out.

I just read an amazing book, 'Beloved' by Toni Morrison. I think it will be relevant to my experience next weekend. I think I am going to Elmina, where I will visit an old slave trading fort. That book, the fort, hearing about war torn Liberia and living on camp, you can't help but wonder about the breadth and depth of human cruelty.

I know. I know! It has been awhile since I last posted. I'm sorry. As time goes on, I'm finding it more and more difficult to explain what is going on here.

I am getting really tired. I guess that is part of it. A full night's sleep isn't really doing the trick anymore. Malnutrition is a bit of an issue. I need to be more aware of what I am eating and try to make my diet much more balanced. Tricky though, with the food that is available to me. It is weird because eating has never been questionable for me. When I am hungry, I eat. Sometimes even when I am not hungry, I eat. Apparently not so in Africa. The heat is a real appetite suppressent for me. Sometimes, I find that I have actually forgotten to eat. Or when I do eat, I can't eat much. Beneficial in the, my shorts are starting to fall off of me (no worries, they were a bit big to begin with) way, not so beneficial in the, not eating enough so that I can't get over my cold that I've had for the last three weeks way. I've recently just experienced a serious resurgence of said cold...may it leave me quickly.

My roomate, Hannah, has malaria. My cold is nothing compared to that. I feel really bad for her and she is having a horrible couple of days. She is on the proper meds though and should be feeling better shortly. By shortly I mean a week.

I'm finally hitting the groove with my reading tutoring group. Rachel and I have decided to break the kids into two smaller groups. She is working with the more advanced group and I am working with my two basic students. They are in the fourth grade and I love my girls! My favorite part of the tutoring session is the last 15 minutes, which I have set aside to read a story to them. Being read to was one of the things that made me love reading. These kids get none of that stimulation. None. It is so fun to read to them because they are pretty much enthralled in the book. They will even sit with me a little ways into recess, so that I can finish the story. In the bulk of our session, we are working on the sounds associated with the different letters of the alphabet. They are already improving in this regard, getting more confident in the letter sounds.

Labeling books in the library and emptying garbage bins with Chris remain my mainstays of sanity. These are very tangable tasks that I can start and finish within a short period of time. There are some differing ideas among the IVs about the sustainability of IVs working on projects like Water and Sanitation (WAT/SAN). Emptying bins is something that the community should be doing for itself, is the assertion. While I agree for the most part, I do think that there is a benefit to having a few bins set aside for the IVs to work. Most of the refugees see Westerners coming and stepping into positions of power or authority on the camp. It is an interesting and I think important juxtoposition for a Westerner to be emptying a refugees trash. Chis and I didn't come here with a holier than thou - look down our noses attitude, and we aren't afraid of getting our hands dirty. We are a part of the community, (in virtue of the fact that we live on the camp), while we are here. Why not participate as such. There are approx. 33 CBW bins on camp, IVs are only responsible for 10 or 11 in the zones near our houses.

HIV/AIDS is getting more interesting as well. We are currently preparing a workshop, set to take place at the end of November, geared towards women. Because of the gender inequalities in this culture, (both ghanaian and liberian) women here are more suseptable to the disease than men. When the team goes on outreach, the overwhelming majority of participants are male. So, we are setting aside a specific day to invite women to come to a workshop, enjoy a free meal and get some excellent HIV education.

I am now the official head coach of the CBW Central Office Football team which will play the CBW Teacher team at the end of the month. Practices start next week. I'm excited about playing this role. There is only one other woman on our team, so basically I was just made the boss of a bunch of grown men, who tend to think that women can't even play football. Again, with the gender inequalities, this is an interesting development and I'm interested to see how this will play out. When I told Coach Tomba today, that I will now call him Tomba and he will call me Coach Bree, we laughed and he came back into the room, shook my hand again and called me coach. We'll just have to see.

The new volunteers are great. I'm continually entertained by watching our little mish-mashy family interact. The vibe has changed considerably since last month. A bit more positive energy floating about and a much more calm vibe.

That is all for now, I'm a tired duck.