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Want to Help Educate Kids in Cambodia?

Today Jeff and I received an email from a friend of ours from college. Maryann was my roommate during the summer I interned in DC, and throughout college we spent many afternoons together watching Rice baseball. Since graduation, she’s been doing amazing things–teaching English in Japan as part of the JET program, working as staff abroad the Peace Boat, and most recently dedicating herself to PEPY, an organization in Cambodia that merges voluntourism with a mission to improve the lives of young people through education. Maryann is a dynamic person—the kind of person who doesn’t just talk about things but gets them done—and PEPY is a fabulous organization. (I’ll personally vouch for it’s credibility, but go ahead and check out their website and look it up for yourself if you want).

Anyhow, Maryann’s email, which I’m going to share below, is a request for help. PEPY is trying to raise money to expand their programs, and if you donate through this link— http://www.networkforgood.org/pca/Badge.aspx?BadgeId=109979 —by the end of January, you can help PEPY not only through your donation but also by upping PEPY’s chances of winning an additional $50,000 dollars. Imagine how much $50,000 can do in Cambodia. Imagine how much your donation can do.

I’m not usually one to pass on things like this or solicit people for donations, but I think this is a worthwhile project, and I believe some of you may be interested in helping out. (If you can’t give by the end of January, I’m sure they’d be happy for donations any time. Also, be sure to check out their voluntourism programs and consider joining them for what promises to be an amazing trip.) As Jeff and I are especially interested in organizations doing good work in areas which we plan to travel to, we will certainly be making a donation to PEPY.

The email:
Dear friends and family,

Your 10 dollar donation might be able to earn PEPY Programs $50,000…. can you help? No, this is not a Cambodian magic trick, but a contest for whoever can get the highest NUMBER (not amount) of online donations ($10 or more) before the end of the month. The donations have to come through this link to count

http://www.networkforgood.org/pca/Badge.aspx?BadgeId=109979

I hope you know its not my style nor PEPY’s to bug people for funding. BUT, we really think we can do this and we need your help!

If you have $10 to spare, please help us out right now by going to the above link and shooting your credit card numbers into cyberspace! This contest only lasts 8 more days so it has to be soon!

If you can’t donate right now, you can still be a huge help for us by sending this message to 5-10 of your friends and asking them to donate as well. We need to get a few hundred more donations to be in the running for this, and if half the people on this list can donate $10 and get a few friends to as well, it’s very possible.

Plus, the $10 or more that you donate through this Network For Good link will go to support PEPY’s educational programs in Cambodia, so no matter what, your efforts will be doing good! Just a little catch-up for those who aren’t in the PEPY know. Besides being my new life/job in Cambodia (yes, along with grad school still, don’t worry), its also experiencing some fabulous growing pains at the moment. So many new exciting ideas and programs in our heads! We are in the midst of planning meetings this week for our one, three and five year plans, and to give you some heads up on bigger projects in the pipeline, we have been discussing:

– purchasing land in Chanleas Dai near original PEPY Ride School in order to set up a community based development organization. The office housed there would have PEPY Program Managers working on community and parent education, school educational programs, environmental and health initiatives (designed by RDIC.org), and income generating training programs. They would also work with an extensive team of community leaders hired to disseminate this work into each village. (you are the first to hear this! we have been discussing this week – more to follow!)

– working with RDIC to bring their Sesame Street-esque educational series to 100+ schools across Cambodia. By working with RDIC as they hire and train local educators to visit schools monthly, equipping them with projectors and solar powered batteries with which to show each classroom of students we will help bring social, health, environmental, and literacy issues to light for communities around Cambodia. Each of the 27 minute episodes in the 13 part series (there will be a new series produced each year), also includes an educational workbook and the students are able to do lessons and activities both before and after seeing the shows.

– we are also trying to help RDIC get the $7000 per episode raised to get this first series on TV. We are confident that once these high quality animated/puppet shows are on the air, sponsors will be knocking each other over to get their name and commercial into the allotted 3 minutes of commercial time as, as already proven in testing these videos at schools and communities including The PEPY Ride School, these videos are very popular among kids and parents alike as there is NOTHING like this in Khmer.

….. and more. These are all still on the drawing board, but keep up with us over the next few months as, with our new Cambodian Country Manager, Aline Meas, who brings seven years of experience as the Executive Director of a local NGO, we are on a great path and lots of developments are in the works!

Thank you for supporting our work and please remember to donate $10 through this link, or pass it on to friends if you can!

http://www.networkforgood.org/pca/Badge.aspx?BadgeId=109979

Many thanks for your belief in me, in PEPY, and in our team and big hugs to all,

Maryann

—————-
Maryann Bylander
Interim Executive Director

maryann (at) pepyride (dot) org
www.pepyride.org

PEPY
Phone (US): 914-458-4262
Office (Cambodia):023-222-804
Cell (Cambodia): 012 189 2120

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Travel Take Two: Egypt

Welcome to the first entry in what we plan to make a recurring series here on Lives of Wander in the run-up months to our actual departure. I mean, you did come here to read about travel, didn’t you?

What we’ll be doing in our Travel Take Two series is take a second look at some of the trips Jeff and I have gone on together. We’ll recall the highlights—the events that make travel the wonderful adventure that is. We’ll also remember the lowlights—the moments when you want to say screw it and jump on the first plane home. And we’ll see what kind of lessons we’ve taken away from each trip, lessons that hopefully will help us maximize the highlights and minimize the lowlights on our RTW trip.

Destination: Egypt—A 7-day tour through Cairo, Aswan, and Luxor with a sidetrip to the Red Sea.
Date: June 10-17, 2004
Travel Partners: My brothers Gregory and Mark accompanied us on this trip. We also spent two of our days with friends Kate and Ben

THE HIGHLIGHTS:
For me, the most amazing thing about Egypt was that it was just as incredible as I thought it would be. When you’ve spent your entire life imaging a place, you often find that when you get there, it doesn’t live up to your expectations. This was not true for Egypt. I think I spent the entire trip walking around wide-eyed and slack-jawed. So what did I love?

1. The Pyramids of Giza. Completely awesome in person, it was phenomenal to wander around the only surviving ancient wonder of the world.

2. Luxor Temple. We explored this temple at night, when it felt absolutely other-worldly. The avenue of sphinxes glowed, bats flittered around, and robed men would pop out from behind columns looking to get a tip by explaining something or pointing something out to you.

Temple of Luxor

3. Tour of the West Bank—Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, Temple of Hatshepsut. It was cool to get to go inside the tombs, and it was nice to have a guide who gave us little history lessons at each site and explained art work, hieroglyphics, and ancient Egyptian religious beliefs.

4. Local food. The steak shish kebabs at Amoun Restaurant in Luxor and the chicken fatta at Cafe Riche in Cairo (each maybe about $2) were awesome.

5. The Egyptian Museum. It was like a huge warehouse of treasures. You couldn’t turn around without seeing something amazing, but the mummies and the Tutankhamun exhibit were the best.

Egyptian Museum

6. Just exploring Cairo. The city was a cacophony of sounds, sights, smells. Wandering along the Nile, hearing the call to prayer blasting out over the city, being out on the streets after dark when it seemed the whole city would come out with huge crowds at sweets and icecream shops, exploring the confusing alleyways of the market, dancing in the back seat of a taxi with a very enthusiastic driver…it was a mad, mad city but in a completely intoxicating way.

7. The friendly people. Almost without fail, everyone we met was friendly. I can’t even count how many times we were told “Welcome to Egypt” from people we simply passed on the street.

8. Getting to travel with my brothers. The combined trip to Greece/Egypt was both Gregory and Mark’s first major international trip, so it was really cool to get to share the experience with them. We’re hoping that family and friends will meet up with us at times on this trip so we can share the adventure of travel with them.

THE LOWLIGHTS:
While there were certainly “lowlights,” I have to say that in the big picture all of them were rather minor and had little effect on our enjoyment of Egypt. I think that all of my travel companions would agree that this was a fantastic trip that we’d all be happy to do over.

1. The bus ride to Hurghada. The air conditioner didn’t work for the majority of the trip. A young girl threw up in the aisle. A Bollywood movie was played at absolute top volume and involved multiple women screaming in the most shrill voice I’d ever heard. In general, it wasn’t a pleasant trip.

2. Hurghada. Hurghada was our access point to snorkeling in the Red Sea. While the snorkeling was good (though the waves at our last stop were a little much for me), the hassle of Hurghada was annoying. The town was rather dumpy and quite the tourist trap. No one would give us a straight story when it came to organizing a trip, and the hotel rooms we reserved were not what we were given. We were happy to spend the whole day out on the boat and away from this town.

3. The unexpected stop on the bus ride from Hurghada to Cairo. Somewhere in the middle of the desert, in the pitch-black, our bus stopped, and we (the only non-Arabs) on the bus were made to get off and talk to a soldier with a big, scary gun. It was a bit nerve-racking, but it turned out fine as they just wanted to know where we were going.

4. The constant requests for baksheesh (tip). Wherever we went, people called out for baksheesh. I have no trouble tipping people if they provide me with a service, but I find it frustrating to have people ask for a tip for doing something like showing me where a McDonalds is when a) I didn’t ask them to, and b) I have no interest in going to McDonalds. That’s not a service. That’s an annoyance. It’s hard to always say no because you know these people don’t have much money, but just handing out money indiscriminately isn’t the answer.

5. The 25 mosquito bites between my elbow and wrist that I received in one night at the Africa Hotel. Overall our hotels were not so great, except for the New Radwan Hotel in Luxor, which with its pool and air-conditioning (at the crazy rate of about $14 a night) was a true treat.

LESSONS LEARNED:
Egypt was a new experience for us in many ways. It was the first predominantly Muslim country we’d ever visited. It was the first time we’d visited the African continent. It was the poorest country we’d visited. There was a lot to learn.

1. Not all jellyfish sting. Who knew? Until I swam through an entire swarm of them, I had no idea. I guess the big takeaway point here is that what is true at home may not be true elsewhere. Be open-minded. Be daring.

2. It’s important to maintain perspective when haggling over prices. When we were in Hurghada, we were trying to find the best deal on a snorkeling trip. We’d walk into a place that had a price listed on the wall, but when we’d ask at the desk, they’d always say that price wasn’t right and quote us something a little higher. This was really frustrating, and we spent some time haggling, before realizing that we were really arguing over the equivalent of a dollar or two. It wasn’t worth it.

3. Always ask to see a room before you commit to it, and don’t be tempted to book multiple nights before you’ve stayed at a place. It’s good to have a place booked for your first night (especially if you arrive at 3 a.m. as we did in Cairo) but don’t commit to more than one night without having seen the place. In the morning, you can book another night if the place is good, and if it’s not, you can find somewhere else where you can ask to see the room first.

4. Agree on a price before you get in a cab. Most of the world’s cab drivers don’t use meters…or they don’t use them properly. So it’s important to find out how much a trip should cost by asking a local or checking a guidebook and then agreeing on a price before you get in the cab. Oftentimes, the cab driver will try to raise the rate when you get there, but stick to what you agreed, pay, get out, and walk away. Ignore the cab driver yelling at you as long as you paid what you agree. If, however, by some accident you should realize that you actually stiffed the guy, then run back to the cab as fast as you can, pay up, and add a nice little tip to the top to make up for your mistake. (Real life experience speaking here. Ooops.)

5. Eat local. We ate almost every meal at local restaurants and never once got sick. We then went to a McDonalds one day when we were in a hurry and we all got sick. Yuck. (Bonus tip: Carry toilet paper with you at all times in the developing world…chances are the bathroom won’t have any and I don’t know about you, but I have no interest in learning the left hand method so popular in that part of the world.)

6. If you’re only going to have a short time in one place, have a plan for what you want to do. Just exploring and stumbling across things is great when you have lots of time, but isn’t the right way to approach only one day in a place. We didn’t get the most out of our time in Aswan, because we didn’t really have a plan.

7. Bring ear plugs. Those Bollywood films are really, really painful. Ear plugs are necessary if you plan to maintain your sanity.

8. Dress appropriately. When we were at the Valley of the Kings, a tour bus pulled off and a number of tourists got out wearing clothes that were entirely inappropriate—bikini tops and cut off shorts, men’s tanktops, etc. Egypt is a Muslim country, and while no one expects you to wear a burka or shalwar kameez, it’s only considerate to wear conservative clothing. Not only is this a simple matter of respect, it also protects you from unwanted attention and/or harassment. The same is true if you’re visiting a Catholic Church in Italy, a Buddhist monastery in Southeast Asia, or your new boyfriend’s grandma right here in the U.S.

9. “Just close your eyes, pray to Allah, and go.” As we were standing across a huge intersection from the Egyptian Museum, staring at buses that didn’t ever stop but only slowed enough for passengers to jump out of, cars that paid no attention to lane lines, and automobiles that used their horns instead of their brakes, wondering how in the heck we were going to get across, a local man approached us and gave us that advice. He then grabbed us by the hand and led us through the traffic, dropping us off right in front of the museum, then wishing us a good visit and disappearing into the crowd. His advice has stayed with me. Sometimes to have the experience of a lifetime you just have to set aside your fears and go.

Aswan FeluccaNile WashingEgypt CrewPalm Date TreeSphinx

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A Setback, Literally

The start date for our trip has always been fluid, tied not to a date on the calendar but to an event, namely Jeff’s completion of his PhD. As anyone who has ever worked toward a PhD or anyone who has lived with a PhD seeker knows, nailing down a graduation date can be tricky. The finish line can be squarely in sight, seemingly so close, but then as you’re about to pump your arms in triumph at completing this marathon—this Ironman—you learn that you have another lap to complete before you can break through the tape. This ambiguity seems particularly true with the sciences, though I’ll be the first to admit I don’t have experience with other fields. Jeff can work all day, every day, (weekends included) and do everything “right,” but if he doesn’t get the results he wants, it doesn’t matter. Science is fickle. As I mentioned in an email I sent to many of you announcing this Website, we hoped to leave in July, neuroscience gods willing.

Well, folks, it doesn’t seem the neuroscience gods are on our side. (Who wasn’t making the proper offerings to the gods? Go ahead, fess up.) In some ways, July was always a pipe dream. For us to leave in July, everything had to go right. Everything. Even if you never took anything beyond high school chemistry, you probably could have figured out the chances of that happening were slim to none, and that’s looking at the odds in a positive light. But damn it, for once, I was being an optimist. And for a while, it looked like things would go our way. The head of Jeff’s lab here in D.C. gave the nod of approval to the June graduation plan in the pre-Christmas weeks. (Apparently he’d been drinking too much eggnog, especially considering his wife is due to deliver their first child in June, which makes me think the chances of him booking a flight to Stockholm for a June defense date were, again, slim to none.) A schedule was drawn up, dictating what paper would go where when. This was going to happen. Jeff would be working like a madman, and we’d have to cram all our planning into the wee hours, but this was going to happen. Maybe those optimists know something.

Alas, no. Jeff’s been doing everything right, but the universe is not on our side, or to be more specific, Sweden isn’t on our side. Apparently Sweden is going to extract a toll in exchange for those cheap visa fees. Jeff’s mentor in Sweden isn’t on board with the June graduation plan, and if he’s not on board, there’s really very little that can be done, considering he may just be the only person on the planet who has any true idea of what the Karolinska graduation requirements are, since they seem to change with the wind. One requirement I have been made aware of, however, and which you may find interesting, is that Jeff must apparently publicly declare his intent to defend some months before the actual event by literally tacking his thesis to some board. Very Martin Luther, me thinks. I suggested that he just email the thesis to someone else and tell them to print and tack up the dang thing, but he says that’s not allowed. Seriously? What kind of weird system is this? He’s supposed to fly over to Sweden in order to tack some paper to a board? While we all wish his thesis might be as earthshattering as Luther’s theses, I just don’t think it’s going to be (no offense, Jeff). Email seems a plenty viable option to me.

He also must recruit an opponent, someone well-established in the field, but someone with whom he has never worked, to show up at his defense and challenge him (this in addition to his committee). Perhaps that also happens in the U.S., but I’ve never heard of it. What is this, a boxing match? And don’t even get me started on the general bureaucracy, which seems to require that once he actually finish his research and thesis, he then spend months wading through paperwork. Even if every single experiment goes right, every paper gets accepted, I still don’t think he could manage to graduate in June.

So if no June graduation, what about July, August? Oh no, folks, this is Sweden, land of endless vacations. If not early June, then September. Those are the options, the only options. And so that’s that. It seems, unless you all—and I do mean you all–start reciting novenas, that happy day of defending will not happen until September, which means that we will probably embark on our trip in October.

It’s not by any means the end of the world, but I must admit that I’m a bit disappointed. Though I knew the timing was fluid, I had really started to think of July as departure time and to build my plans around it. I was already counting down to my quit date at work. Guess I’ll have to refigure that. As for the trip, one major thing will change, and that’s the route we’ll take. Instead of the Southeast Asia to Africa to South America journey we had been envisioning, we’ll now be going Central/South America (approximately October to February) to Southeast Asia (March to May) to Nepal/India (June) to Africa (July to September).*

And while I’m disappointed, aren’t you excited? This gives you three more months to spend with me before I hit the road. Lucky you.

*All dates are approximate. One day we’ll nail down an actual itinerary, and when we do we’ll post it right here.

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I’m happy to be a Swede

When I was in college, we went to Sweden one summer, not unlike a number of other summers of my childhood, since my mother is from a small town in central Sweden. On this particular trip, however, my mom, dad, sister and I all stayed for three weeks in one hotel room in Uppsala, while my sister and I took a language course. With European hotel rooms being what they are and at that time in my life, let’s just say it was difficult to be confined in such a way. To boot, we were right on an intersection that, while not seeing much traffic, is friendly to blind people. Meaning it beeps. Loudly. Alternating between quickly when the pedestrians have a walk signal, and more slowly when they do not. So all through the night, my brain would rattle with a bee-bee-bee-bee-beep … beep … beep … beep … bee-bee-bee-bee-beep. I longed for mere Chinese water torture.

The carrot for enduring this temporary loss of sanity, along with a few more bureaucratic hoops, was permanent Swedish citizenship, which these days translates to EU citizenship. This has already been very useful, affording me flexibility in work trips to Sweden while my classmates fiddle with visas. (And since Theresa is married to me, she can easily get a work visa should we ever desire to move to Europe. Nice option to have, and one that many others would kill for.)

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being Swedish for the culture as well. I see a lot of how I am in the way the society works, both in good and bad ways. I feel I understand and fit in with both the timidity I disdain and the thoughtfulness I appreciate. Swedes have a very egalitarian perspective on society (as their government reflects … or is it the other way around?). And Stockholm manages to be the cultural center of Sweden while still feeling small and walkable.Sweden vs US Visa Info

But now there’s another new reason now to be pleased about being Swedish. When we looked up the visa requirements for all of the countries we were interested in visiting, we saw that many countries charge EU nationals substantially less than U.S. nationals for visas. I mean, check out the chart (click here to see a full-size version). At least Vietnam, Zambia, Brazil, Chile, and Bolivia all charge way more for U.S. visitors than Swedish visitors. I figure in total, my visa fees will be less than half of Theresa’s. So that’s useful.

I guess what I’m getting at is, thanks mom for pushing me to get my permanent citizenship. It’s an invaluable trait to have in an increasingly connected world. While my Swedish nature leads me to desire citizenship even without any benefits, saving a few bucks on my visas sure doesn’t hurt.

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Travels Through Our Own Backyard

Whenever Jeff and I travel—whether it be a weekend trip to a nearby destination, a week-long vacation around the U.S. or abroad, or our upcoming RTW trip—we always devote some time to figuring out what it is we want to do at our destination. Skimming guidebooks and scanning websites, we make lists of attractions that interest us and take notes of restaurants others are raving about. Lord knows we don’t want to visit a place and miss the best spots.

Funny then, isn’t it, that you can live in a town for years and still never see some of it’s most worthwhile attractions.

Jeff and I live in one of the most touristed cities in America. (Trust me, having worked at the Smithsonian and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, I am well-versed on “tourist season” in D.C. I try to have patience. Really, I do. But for the love of Pete, could you please move to the right side of the escalator if you don’t plan to walk!)

We’ve been here for multiple years (4.5 years – Jeff; 3.5 years – Theresa), and there are still plenty of things we haven’t done. But I don’t think Jeff and I are alone in this. I’d wager that the majority of us rarely take the time to be tourists in our own backyards.

For Jeff and I, the start date of our RTW trip will be the end date of our life in D.C. We won’t be returning here. Where we’ll end up, we don’t know, except that it won’t be here. As we prepare to say hello to the world, we must say goodbye to the only place that we, as a married couple, have called home. To make the most of it, we’ve compiled a list of things to do before we go. In between trips to the REI, we’ll be squeezing in as much as we can.

  1. Ascend the Washington Monument. The first few years we lived in the area, security concerns closed the Washington Monument. Restoration work kept it closed even longer, but it has since re-opened, so it’s time for us to go check out the view.
  2. Make a few more trips to Eastern Market. I love markets of any sorts. You can be sure that I’ll be checking them out in cities around the world. Eastern Market is the best in D.C., and wandering the food, craft, and flea market booths is a great way to pass a weekend morning.
  3. Tour the Smithsonian museums that we have yet to visit. I’m ashamed to admit that even as an employee of this venerable institution, I have yet to make it to all the museums (African American Art, Postal Museum), and others I have just made rather cursory visits to (Freer & Sackler, Hirshhorn). I will correct this before we depart.
  4. See the Supreme Court in session. This is a bit hard for us to do, since it’s in session on weekdays, but I think we can manage to squeeze in one visit. If not, we should at least take a tour.
  5. Enjoy Kenilworth Gardens. These aquatic gardens have been on my list for a while but I haven’t yet made it there.
  6. Rent a pedal boat and paddle around the Tidal Basin when the cherry blossoms are in bloom for a prime view of the beauty.
  7. Attend a Nationals game at the new stadium. It’s set to open this season, and it will be one more stadium Jeff can cross off his list.
  8. Explore the National Archives and Library of Congress. I think Jeff and I have both been to these at one time or another but not recently. I think they’ve both been improved since we last set foot inside.
  9. Check out the National Building Museum. I’ve meant to do this forever but never have.
  10. Make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It’s the largest Catholic Church in the Western Hemisphere, and is supposed to be quite visually stunning.
  11. Take part in a protest. How is it possible that we’ve lived in D.C. this many years and have yet to protest anything?

What have we missed? If there’s a D.C. spot that you think we might not have made it to but absolutely must, let us know. And what about you? What backyard spots have you yet to visit?

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A Boring Post About Insurance (Who Said There’s No Truth in Advertising?)

We met with our local Allstate representative on Friday, because the completely useless DMV decided to further complicate our already busy lives. While there, we checked the official DMV records with our agent and the proof of insurance they threatened to fine me for not sending them was in fact in their database already. Silly DMV. Anyway, we thought it would be a good opportunity to ask a few questions about our travel related concerns in regards to insurance.

Anyway, here’s what we learned there:

(1) Renter’s insurance will still cover your personal belongings in storage. Though we plan to be able to find homes for most of our belongings with friends and family, it’s reassuring to know that our standard renter’s insurance policy will still cover our belongings against damage or theft while they are at a storage facility. We’ve accumulated a fair number of things already that we plan on keeping for a while. This makes me hear Tyler Durden in Fight Club hearing “The things you own end up owning you.” Food for thought.

(2) You should never cancel your auto insurance policy (while still keeping a car). This seemed to me to be a great idea to save money while we’re gone, but it turns out I was way wrong. Here’s why. This causes all kinds of headaches in terms of vehicle registration, because most states (including Maryland) will require the insurer to take your tags. Also, when you return and want to purchase insurance again, you must pay a substantially higher rate because you have not had continuous coverage. What you can do is reduce the levels of insurance to a very high deductible with liability coverage only. So it still costs us a couple of hundred dollars, but that’s better than having to re-register and pay a lot more later. The other option is to just sell the car, but we’ll need a car as soon as we get back (wherever we end up) and don’t want to have to buy one right away.

(3) A lot about life insurance. I’m gonna be honest, it’s not something I have thought much about getting, since we’re young and can both support ourselves just fine. But with this trip and the uncertainty we face anyway when we get back, we thought it would be a good time to get some sort of policy. At our age, term life insurance makes more sense as it is a lot cheaper, and we have decided to just get a 10 year term policy. We’d be plenty young to get cheap insurance when we reassessed in 10 years. Anyway, it is definitely something to think about when planning a trip, just in case.

So I hope that wasn’t too boring for anyone, but it definitely has a lot of good tidbits of information for any of you thinking about logistics. Just a few more of the many things to worry about for us to now check off of our list.

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Volatility

Sometimes change seems to happen at a slower than snail pace. Other times change seems to burst forth suddenly. The world can be a staid place. It can also be extremely volatile.

For many years, Kenya has been considered one of the most stable countries in Africa. Sure, Nairobi is a fairly dangerous city, and many Kenyans suffer from a lack of things we would consider basic necessities. Undoubtedly, Kenya is part of the developing world. But politically it has been stable, avoiding the troubles that plague many African nations: civil wars, despotic rulers, and violent rebel armies. Democracy seemed to have taken root. Corruption, on an African scale, was minimal. When Americans considered traveling to Africa, Kenya was often at the top of the list of places they might go.

But suddenly, our perceptions have been challenged. The results of the recent presidential election (which international monitors are now questioning the legitimacy of) sent the country into a spiral of violence. As I’ve followed the news, what I’ve found so disturbing is the way in which a dispute over election results has transformed into ethnic violence, pitting members of native ethnic groups or tribes that have been living together peacefully for years against each other. A large amount of the violence seems to be directed by members of the Kalenjin tribe against members of the Kikuyu tribe. Though my knowledge of Kenyan tribal history is practically nil, my understanding is that the Kikuyu are currently in power, while the Kalenjin consider themselves historical owners of the land.

In this Washington Post article from today’s newspaper, one of the survivors from the church that was set aflame while it was packed with Kenyans (most Kikuyu) fleeing the violence described the attack and then noted that the most disturbing thing for him was looking out into the mob that was attacking and seeing a man named Paul, who he described as “my neighbor, my friend.” For anyone familiar with the Rwandan genocide, the similarities are haunting.*

It is scary to see what lies beneath the surface and to witness how fragile peace can be.

As for us and our trip, what does this mean? At this point, nothing, really. We probably won’t make it to Kenya until just a little less than a year from now. Much can happen in that amount of time, and it’s futile to speculate. For now, this is a reminder that things can change quickly, that our itinerary will never be set in stone, that a place that was once a certain must-see could become a must-miss. While we are anxious to see as much of the world as we can, and while we won’t be deterred by idle and baseless fears, we do value our lives and safety and will never knowingly put ourselves in a dangerous situation.

Let us all hope and pray that the violence soon ends in Kenya.

*If your knowledge of the Rwandan genocide is limited, I highly recommend that you read General Romeo Dallaire’s Shake Hands with the Devil. I discussed this book on Spargel in May 2005.

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Happy New Year!

Allow me to echo the sentiments of the rest of the internet/Western world and wish everyone a Happy New Year!

I, for one, enjoy the holiday, though not for the overpriced parties. It’s always a time of renewal, redemption, and hope. Anyway, as is the tradition, I had my period of reflection and self-assessment, otherwise known as the New Year’s resolution. There are two big ones, and everything else is trivial by comparison.

(1) GRADUATE!

(2) Get our trip organized and started.

Now both of these have smaller and more finite sub-resolutions, though I guess nothing is more finite that getting a diploma and getting on a one-way flight armed with just a backpack.

And should I meet my goals, New Year’s 2009 will be a lot different for us than New Year’s 2008. Our current best guesses put us somewhere in Africa. Who knows what we may find ourselves up to. On a beach? On a safari? Tracking gorillas? And what will we find to resolve then? And if we’re lucky, we’ll find ourselves celebrating “New Year’s” multiple times during the year. I’m sure there will be plenty of times we could use a little hope and rejuvenation.

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Practice Run

Wednesday night Jeff and I returned from our Christmas trip to Louisville. And while we hadn’t planned on it, we ended up having a bit of a practice run (and I do mean that literally) for our upcoming RTW trip.

As anyone who has traveled before knows, things don’t always go according to plan. You can research all you want, make only the wisest and most well-thought decisions, and yet, something can still go wrong. Planes are late. Traffic jams occur. Strikes happen. You fall ill. Your luggage gets lost. Your dream destination actually turns out to be a nightmare.

One of the biggest lessons the road teaches you is that you can’t control everything. Life happens. And sometimes life is messy. Patience is required. A sense of humor is mandatory. “Being Zen” is something I’m working on–learning to let go, to accept things as they are, to not get my panties all in a wad over things I can’t control. (Does anyone else hate the word panties like I do? If that wasn’t a common phrase, I would have opted for the much more dignified term underwear.)

So anyhow, back to Wednesday night. In order to make the most of our holiday, we’d booked an evening flight back home.–8:20 p.m. to be exact. It was a direct flight on Southwest to BWI. Once at BWI, we would use public transportation to get back home. Now public transportation isn’t necessarily the most efficient way of getting around but we opted for it because A) it’s free for us thanks to the commuter benefits we each get through work, and B) it’s better for the environment. Also, public transportation will be our primary means of travel on our trip so we might as well get used to it. With our flight scheduled to arrive at 9:45 and with all our luggage carried on, we shouldn’t have had any trouble making the 10:20 bus. This bus would take us to the Greenbelt Metro station, from where we would take the Green Line to Gallery Place, at which point we’d switch to the Red Line and ride it to our stop, arriving at home right around midnight. If we missed this bus, well, um, uh… But wait, who cares, we weren’t going to miss this bus. We had plenty of time. Heck, maybe we’d get lucky and the plane would be early and we’d make the 9:40 bus. We had a great plan.

Well, we all know about those best laid plans of mice and men. Yeah, that’s right, they often go awry. It started off with a 10 minute delay. No big deal. But the 10 minute delay stretched and stretched and stretched until it was about a 30 minute delay. Our plane was late arriving because of other delayed connections in Chicago, and then we had to load and get the luggage onboard and all that jazz. Now, I’m all for airlines holding a plane for a few minutes for passengers delayed by another flight–we all know how much it sucks to miss a connection–but I can’t say it didn’t make me a bit frustrated. Just like that the 35 minutes we had between our plane landing and our bus leaving was down to single digits.

But what could I do? We grabbed seats in row six, the closest to the front we could get, and just hoped for the best. No amount of arm flapping would make the plane go any faster. When we landed, luck seemed to be at least a little bit on our sides. We had 15 minutes. And it looked like we were headed straight for gate A1, which would have popped us out right by the airport exit. But at the last minute, we turned, and started rolling further and further away from the exit, all the way to the gate at the very end of the terminal. To top it off, another plane was blocking the way, so we had to sit idle for another couple of minutes before we could get to that far, far away gate. The anxiety level was high, I admit, and I had to physically stop myself from checking Jeff’s watch every few seconds.

As soon as the plane was at the gate, we hopped up and prepared to get our butts and our bags off the plane, down the terminal, and onto the bus. But, oh no, not so fast. The people in the front row decide to take their sweet, sweet time getting off the plane. Which is all fine and dandy unless you’re blocking the entire freaking aisle so no one can disembark. Courtesy, people, courtesy. If you’re not ready to go, keep your butt snug in its seat until everyone else is off. Then you can mosey your way off the plane at your own chosen speed.

Eventually, of course, we did make it off the plane and started running like madmen through the airport, swerving around slowpokes and those families who are apparently only able to walk in a horizontal line that spreads across the entire terminal. My heart was racing wildly and I was breathing like I’d just climbed Mt. Everest, but I felt like I was running through water. I wasn’t going anywhere fast. Let me tell you, even if your luggage is on wheels, hauling an extra 30+ pounds plus a shoulder bag is not easy. At this point, it’s save yourself, so I yell to Jeff to go on without me. Naturally, he’s a bit faster, and I’m hoping that if he can get to the bus, he can get the driver to wait the extra minute or two it will take me to get there.

Soon I’ve lost sight of him, as I run, run, run what seems like miles and then pop out into the cold and dash madly in front of the incoming traffic. Thankfully no one runs over me. I spot Jeff. And then I spot the B30. It’s barreling right past him. Shit.

But, wait, the bus makes two stops here at the airport. We have one more chance. We just have to make it all the way to the other side of arrivals faster than the bus can get there and load however many passengers are waiting. No problem, right?

And so once again, we’re off. This time we don’t even bother making our way over to the the sidewalk, but dash along right on the edge of the road. It’s a long curve, and I keep expecting to see the bus stop up ahead, but it’s always just a bit further. Finally, I spot it, and it’s there. The bus is there. Still loading. Again, I tell Jeff to go on ahead, and he takes off, running as if his life depended on it. As he nears the end of the bus, the doors shut. The bus is ready to depart again, without us. But before it can pull away, Jeff charges to the doors and bangs on them until the driver re-opens them. I, about 20 yards behind, hustle up while he stalls on the stairs. As the bus lurches away into the night, I pay my fare.

Today I’m still trying to catch my breath.

But we made it.

On our RTW trip, I know they’ll be times when we aren’t as lucky. At some point, we’ll run as hard as we can only to be left panting, hands on our knees, staring at the tail lights disappearing down the road. I can only hope that this won’t happen too often and that when it does, we’re Zen enough not to let it ruin our trip for long and savvy enough to figure out what to do next. Even if that’s just sitting and waiting for the next bus to roll up.

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Spreading the Holiday Cheer

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all our loyal readers (and lurkers)! Yes it’s a day late, but the big day is always a little busy. All in all, it was a grand day with family and friends. Santa must’ve adapted to the internet age and reading our blog, because we got a number of things to help us on our adventure. Sporks, duct tape, silk sleeping bags, a gorillapod, and a new compact digital camera all found their way under the tree at the Dowell’s (I’ve always been amazed at how Santa can find you even when you travel). In other exciting news, we now have corporate sponsorship to go gorilla trekking! Good news gorillas! Thanks mom!

In keeping with the spirit of the holidays, we’ve been putting a bit of money toward our charities of choice. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that we tend to support organizations that are effective in assisting the developing world. We want to share three of them that we strongly support with all of you:

Kiva.org: Populizing the nobel winning Grameen Bank (another great organization) microloan style of developing world investment, this organization allows you to loan money to entrepreneurs in places as far ranging as Tajikistan, Uganda, Bolivia, and Samoa. Most loans are about $1000 over about one year, though the brilliance of Kiva is that each loan is put together by many lenders loaning $25 each. And the best part is you get your money back (without interest naturally), so you can then send it to another entrepreneur in need a year down the line. We have recently completed our first two loans (a co-op in Ecuador and a soap maker in Sierra Leone) and have reissued the money to a restaurant in Uganda and a shopkeeper in Afghanistan, and added a beauty salon in Nicaragua and a general store in Peru). The site has a lot of social aspects, and you can easily track the progress of your loan and see it at work. The link up there is a referral link, but we don’t get anything else out of it other than the satisfaction of knowing how many people sign up and donate through us.

Doctors Without Borders: Most likely you have heard of Doctors Without Borders. This Nobel Peace Prize winning organization provides health care to those who most need it: people affected by wars, disasters, or simply lack of access. The doctors, nurses, and other professionals have the courage to give up everything and put themselves in harm’s way, and no regard is paid to politics, religion, or other such factors. The need for medical care is the sole determining factor for where Doctors Without Borders goes, and often they’re the only people to go to some of the world’s most needy and dangerous places.

Charity Begins: An organization that we’ve had contact with in the past that coordinates delivery of aid supplies to developing countries. You can help by donating goods, delivery time, or money. We plan on being couriers for them when we travel, so even if you’re not headed anywhere, maybe you can donate something for us or other travelers to transport. Check their website for a list of desired items.

Those are our favorites, and we’d love it if we’ve convinced some of you to support them as well. But we’re always looking for great causes, so what are some of your favorites? Who do you think does great work in the world (or even your local neighborhood)?