It's about time I kicked off this cyber journal to archive my experiences post-college. OSU was a blast and Columbus has become my home because of the amazing friendships I have found in diverse circles around the city. I applied to the Peace Corps October of 2011, was nominated last spring, and accepted my invitation to serve as a TEFL (English teacher) volunteer in September of this year. Toward the end of undergrad, I decided that service abroad would be the perfect opportunity after college to really experience the developing world first hand. Studying abroad in Spain summer of 2011 was a blur of exciting travels and memories, and caused me to be very restless for more rambling during my senior year. I am incredibly blessed to have been surrounded by incredible family and pals for the first 23 years of my life, and every one of you have impacted me in a positive way and led me to this awesome opportunity to live in Panama for a couple years. My success in the Peace Corps will be determined by my adaptability and ability to build strong relationships of mutual trust and respect, and I am totally ready for the challenge. I am excited to experience a new culture in a new environment, and I hope to continue to see how truly similar and interconnected people are in very different places.
So, before I begin chronicling my Panamá adventures and loony ramblings about life, literature, music, etc., I would like to give a recap of 2012 (what a wild year!) from my shoes:
-Spring 2012: Road Trip to Nashville/Appalachia/the East Coast with the Timmy, Eric, and Maxwell, some super cool pals who I happened to live with throughout college and have been buds with since the SJ days. Awesome trip, got to see many parts of the States that I have not been too, thus quenching some of my thirst for adventure and new lands.
-Graduated from The Ohio State University June 2012......but instead of receiving my diploma at commencement (lo siento, Mama!), I was groovin' to Phish (y mucho más) at Bonnaroo with some very special funkadelic friends. Such an inspirational transition out of undergrad ; )!
-Summer 2012, Clark Lake, MI: Got a job in the kitchen at the Beach Bar and lived at Grandma Scott's cottage. Pontoons, lake baths, books, bike rides, bonfuegos, family, friends, sunshine....truly lived the dream!
-Fall, Return to Columbus: I returned to Columbus to continue working for After School All-Stars, an after school program for at-risk youth. I work at Moler elementary in the south side of Cbus as program leader for my 6th grade class. My kids rock! I also have had the opportunity to return to my volunteer commitments I became involved with in undergrad. I mentor with Hispanic Big Brothers and Sisters, and my match is a super cool 3rd grader named Jeremy. I have also been able to visit the ESL class where I volunteered and see my friends, refugees from Ethiopia and Somalia.
-Beer School: I continued my lifelong quest for knowledge by getting a job at World of Beer Easton, which included 2 weeks of mandatory beer school training. It has been awesome learning about beer from all over the world and bartending is super fun. I have met a ton of really cool people and love sharing in the popular human passion for brews!
-Anne and Greg's Wedding in Sayulita, Mexico, November 2012: Received the best birthday gift ever in the form of a plane ticket to Mexico to see mi prima Anne get married. Sayulita is one of the most incredible places I have been (a well-kept secret paradise, no doubt), and it was awesome to get a taste of Latin American culture and Spanish! Bomb fish tacos, scuba driving in pristine Pacific ocean water, lots of hippie surfers (and other gringos who have relocated permanently), and wayy too much authentic Mexican tequila...memorias locas con la familia!!
I have tried to take advantage of this "limbo" period to enjoy my life and the people in it. I have enjoyed having time to cook, read, learn guitar, grow the hair out, go to concerts, get in to mischief with the very special Kristin "Yoko" Eberts and others, see mi hermanito Thomas Vetter hoop with the CCHS Varsity basketball team, etc. Again, so blessed, so fortunate. I see no other option in this time of my life as a young, passionate fella than to take my gifts, talents, experiences, etc., to a new community, find my role, and bring some development to the lives of a few Panamanians, no matter how small or visible.
2012 has been a volatile year with a lot of intense ups and downs. Incredible advances in technology and feats for mankind have been shadowed by war, tragedies, natural disaster, and landlocked politics. I see the change facing the planet reflected internally in my own life in transition. I am incredibly excited for the future and optimistic because of the cool stuff my college friends and peers are doing and the incredible people I encounter every day, doing simple acts and gaining simple perspectives that will truly change our world. Patience, humility, sense of humor, empathy--these characteristics will help me succeed in the Peace Corps and in life, hopefully leaving the world a little better off than when I entered. Positivity. Buenas Ondas. Peace!
p.s. "'...& only as you gasp your dying breath shall you understand, your life amounted to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean!'"
"Yet what is any ocean but a multitude of drops? "- Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell
I am currently in the living room of my new host family in Santa Rita where about half of the voluntarios are living during training. The majority of the houses are concrete structures with metal roofs and hard stone floors. Mi casa has 2 bedrooms, a shower room, and living room. They have running water most times and it is potable. Development in the present day is a strange phenomenon, for they lack some basic amenities and yet most in this pueblo have cable and smart phones. Other volunteers have more comfortable setups with screens, toilets, and showers in their houses, but I am one of the only lucky souls that lives with a family who has wifi! ...still blowing my mind a little.. Thus far the food has been very good, little veggies though. Mostly rice, chicken, and fried corn tortillas. My family is awesome. I live with Dilsa and her boyfriend Andres, and her 3 kids--Carlos (19), Alan(10), and Alanis (8). They also have a dog out back names Suzy, and 3 pericos (3 little birds, literally a la the Bob Marley tune...I made sure to play the song for them last night with mi guitarra). I have been here less than 24 hrs and I already feel like a member of the family. Yesterday we spent the afternoon in the river down the road, swimming and swinging into the water on rope swings. A fellow volunteer and I also taught Alanis and Alan how to play ultimate frisbee and they were naturals. Carlos is a cool dude, he studies finance an hour away at the university in this region, and his helping me improve my rusty Spanish immensely. I am so excited to spend the next 2 months here, and am already a little sad that I will have to leave them.
We are going to be super busy every day for the next 8 weeks. 4 hours of formal spanish class in small groups 4 days a week, tech and project training in the afternoon, and many excursions planned in the next to weeks to Panama City, back to PC headquarters, and to a few sites of current volunteers.
Other than that, it's hot as hell every day and i get to wake up to screaming gallos every morning. Going for a run before sunrise. More updates to follow, but until then don't worry bout a thing cause every little thing, is gunna be be alright. Especialmente en esta vida Panameña.
