Conveying the Voluntourism Experience

One of the first things Kristen and I discussed when we began planning our trip was that we needed a blog, and obviously, that blog needed a name. We enlisted suggestions from friends. My friend Dave came up with Voluntourists. It turns out that Voluntourism was already a noun enjoying some regular usage. In fact, an entire website is devoted to it. Voluntourism.org. Today I had the pleasure of participating in a webcast on Voluntourism.org- the subject of which was "Convenying the Voluntourism Experience."

You can listen to it HERE.

I recommend checking out the whole website. There's lots of cool stuff on there.

Trip in Review: Part 3- Central America and Home

We left Thailand and enjoyed a short stop in San Francisco, catching up with friends and taking in all those American comforts we'd grown to miss. Then it was off to Belize, for the last chapter (if chapters are organized by continents) of our trip.

We headed to Dangriga, Belize because Kris knew some people who had volunteered there. Our taxi driver took us to the one guest house we'd heard of, the Jungle Huts. The Jungle Huts is run by Phil, who is an all around great guy. He and his wife have four daughters, who are among the world's cutest children. Here I am with Samara, Alexei and Nyera.













Nyera and Mariah:

















And Samara again, because this is just too cute not to post:













While we were in Dangriga, we volunteered at the Holy Ghost school. It was a flexible volunteer stint, to say the least. We filled in for absent teachers, gave extra help to kids who need it, and had a bunch of rain days because of the tropical storms and flood warnings. Thankfully, the floods weren't as bad in Dangriga as predicted and everyone was fine, aside from a lot of cases of cabin fever. Here's a group of the students from Holy Ghost, lining up after lunch:

















These two girls continued to work on math problems during recess.

















Right now all the classrooms are in trailers. The building behind the kids playing is scheduled to be demolished and then work on a new school will begin.













Recess fun.













It's easy to meet people in Dangriga. There's not much to do in a traditional touristy sense, so Kris and I spent a lot of time walking around and chatting with locals. We became fast friends with G, who then had us over for a traditional Garifuna meal. He and his friend Cliff cooked up a delicious feast. Here's Kris pitching in to "organize the mash", AKA smush up the plaintains.

















While on one of our aforementioned walks, we spotted this pathetic little guy.













When we first got to Dangriga, the river was crystal clear and bright blue, but the heavy rains made the water muddy.














Along with G, our wandering through town led us to Fabrizio, who became another fast friend. The four of us, on the surface, seem completely different, but we had a great time spending an insane amount of time together. Here's Kris with Fabrizio and G on our last day in Dangriga.















After our time in Dangriga, we spent a week taking in the fun and the sun of Caye Caulker and San Pedro. Simply delightful.

From there we headed to Costa Rica, and more specifically Purasuerte. There was a recent post with the details of our time there, so I'll keep it brief. Here's Kris planting some stuff:













And here's a Heliconia that was on the property:

















My friend Anne (of JVC roommate in Montana days) met up with us in Quepos, Costa Rica. It was so great to see her. The three of us girltalked nonstop for about 5 days.













We three of us also checked out the jungles and beaches of Manuel Antonio. We heard the howls of howler monkeys and saw squirrel monkeys and some other type of monkey that's name I'm forgetting. We saw a sloth from afar and some raccoons up close. And this cute iguana:














Before Anne had to head back to San Diego, we, along with John our Purasuerte pal, squeezed in a trip to a coffee plantation outside of Alejuela. Carlos, our tour guide, was fantastic. Here he is demonstrating coffee picking.


















Then Anne flew off to San Diego, and a few days later Kris and I took off to New Orleans. We originally planned to volunteer in New Orleans for about a week, but some of the people we know there were headed to Fort Benning, Georgia for the annual vigil to close the School of the Americas. Joining them seemed like a great way to wrap up our trip. Before we went, Jocelyn, founder and Director of Contemplatives in Action, (an all around great gal!) gave us a tour of the city and we stopped in at some the places we'd worked on the last time we were there. The trip produced lots of mixed emotions. There's clearly so much more that needs to be done.


















But, there's also so much that has been done since we were last there. The daycare we worked on is finished and many of the streets that were full of debris and rotted out houses are now full of new homes. Here's a street in Habitat for Humanity's Musician's Village.














Kris and I joined Jocelyn and Matt (a current Jesuit Volunteer in New Orleans) for the road trip to Fort Benning, GA. For those who aren't familiar with the School of the Americas and the push to have it closed, there's plenty more info here. This was the first time Kris and I had been to the SOA vigil. Having both gone to St. Joe's and done JVC, and generally mucking about Jesuit circles, we'd heard a lot about it. The Ignatians are a social justice enforcing kind of crowd. So, it was interesting to learn more, especially having just been in Central America. It was also great to run into old friends from college and JVC, because both places were a huge influence on why we got into all this volunteer stuff in the first place.

From the SOA Vigil (a solemn procession in which the names of those who were killed by graduates of the SOA are sung out):


















A highlight of Fort Benning was meeting up with our friend Andrew. It's always a laugh riot when that guy is around. Adding to the hilarity was the addition of Andrew's instant new best friend, Christo. These two are a buddy movie waiting to happen.














Andrew, Kris and I drove up to Atlanta, where we met up with my fantastic cousins. Here I am with my cousins Loretta and Michael.














It was great to wrap up a long trip in which we met so many new people, by reconnecting with friends and family.

I feel particularly thankful this year. I'm so thankful for having the opportunity to take a trip like this. I'm thankful to all my friends and family (and some strangers!) for generously supporting us in all kinds of ways. I'm thankful to the many people who literally helped us find our way. I'm thankful for all the great people we met while volunteering- the people that run the organizations, the other volunteers, the Habitat homeowners, the kids at the orphanage, the people taking our English classes, and everyone in between. I'm thankful for friendly strangers chatting with us at bus stations and park benches. I'm thankful for interesting architecture, and ancient ruins and tropical wildlife. I'm thankful for delicious food and fresh fruit. I'm thankful for oceans and mountains and everything in between. I'm thankful to live in a place that I love yet still be able to see the world. I'm thankful for all the new friends I've met and all the old friends I return home too. I'm thankful for hope and change and all that stuff that sounds so trite and corny but is truly the stuff that changes the world. I'm thankful that, just from this experience, which in the grand scheme of things is a drop in the bucket when it comes to really understanding the world, it seems that we're all way more similar than we are different and that if we'd just stop and listen, peace might not be THAT hard.

And I'm thankful for Kris. Not only would I probably be too chicken to take a trip like this alone, but I wouldn't have laughed nearly as much, or overanalyzed every aspect of life or had so many incredible experiences. Here we are on our last night of the trip.













I'm looking forward to settling into a routine for a while, but I'm pretty sure this is not the last time we'll travel together.

Trip in Review: Part 2B- Southeast Asia

After our excellent time in Thailand, Kris and I made our way (via bus and taxi on very bumpy roads) to Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was there that we met up with my friend Debbie, who was on her own whirlwind trip around Asia. We had plans to meet at the WLS volunteer house, but happened to run into each other on the busy streets of Siem Reap. Here's Kris and Debbie, standing on the corner outside the house where we stayed. Our neighborhood took a little getting used to, but after a few days it began to feel like home. A weird temporary home. But home.














There were five of us staying at the WLS house. Debbie, Kris and I, along with Michelle from England (and NY) and Annabelle from Sydney, Australia. We all had trials and tribulations when it came to adjusting to life in Cambodia and the poverty and difficulties we witnessed through our volunteer work, but we all shared many amazing experiences and laughed a lot. Here we are at dinner in downtown Siem Reap. Me, Annabelle, Debbie, Michelle and Kristen:














Most of our time in Siem Reap was spent volunteering at the ACODO Orphanage. We taught English to the children who lived there (67 in all) and also taught English classes for teenagers who came in the afternoons. Here's Kristen with some of the kids:














Here I am getting beaten at thumb wrestling by Chai:













This is the bedroom for all 67 of the orphans:














A bunch of the ACODO crew, including Sobean, an awesome staff member who is amazing with the kids:














After some lessons on body parts, clothing and colors, we traced this little guy and the kids colored and labeled him.














I swear I don't play favorites.



















The kids line up every day for a lunch of rice and some soup.














We were lucky to be there for the premiere of the kids' dance performance. They practiced every day for the big show and planned to perform a couple times a week as a fundraiser for ACODO. We were beaming with pride for those guys. They did so well!












Our bracelet making craft project was such a hit that even the security guards wanted one. Here's Kris presenting one of the guys with his bracelet.



















At the end of our time at ACODO, we were each presented with an "Expression of Appreciation" from the ACODO President.














Vanna, the director of SOID (Another group we volunteered with while in Siem Reap) invited us to his son's first birthday party. A great time was had by all.














I'm a party animal.


















Traveling around Siem Reap usually happened via tuk tuk because Debbie, Kris and I were too chicken to ride on motorbikes. Here I am with Sokun, one of our favorite tuk tuk drivers.


















The gas station in Siem Reap was a shelf on the side of the road stacked with some old bottles filled with gas.














And a trip to Siem Reap wouldn't be a trip without a visit to Angkor Wat. Impressive and awe-inspiring is an understatement.
































Here we are on our last night in Siem Reap, with Bob and Meriam (great folks from Holland that were also volunteering) and Tom and Maureen, the couple that coordinates WLS in Cambodia.














Following our time in Cambodia, Debbie, Kris and I made our way to Vietnam. We took in the sights and sounds of Saigon which included the motorbikes filling the streets, a Water Puppet show and a very educational yet disturbing visit to the War Remnants Museum. From Saigon we traveled north through Na Trang, and then to the small town of Hoi An. Hoi An is known for tailoring clothes. We had a bit of a field day with that, and also enjoyed the quaint surroundings and delicious food (might I recommend the White Rose and the Cao Lau). Here's Kris and Debbie in the streets of Hoi An.














Here's Debbie and I biking back to town from the beach.














Our cooking class...














An adorable mother/son duo we met at the market:



















From Hoi An, we went to the nearby city of Hue for a couple days, and then we headed north to the Hanoi airport. After a bizarre interaction with an airport security guard who really wanted to take our passports, we finally flew out of Hanoi and arrived in Luang Prabang, Laos. I love that place so very much. Rivers, mountains, smiley monks, a great market, delicious food, and friendly people everywhere...life in Luang Prabang was grand.

Debbie and Me in LP:














The place we stayed was right next to a big Temple, so we'd often stop in and chat with the monks there. It probably goes without saying that monks are nice people but, good grief, were these guys nice. This sums it up:














Every morning the monks get up bright and early (or still dark and early), and then collect alms. They eat and live on whatever they collect from alms. But no eating after 11am. We got up one morning to see what the alms collection was all about. This picture is the result of some fiddling with the color adjustment feature on my camera.


















While in Luang Prabang, we took a boat trip to some nearby villages. The poverty there was really extreme. I believe this family has 15 children.


















Our boat driver, Mr. Thungdy, is awesome. Our trip was fantastic and educational. We got back, and Mr. Thungdy invited us in and served up peanuts and beer. That turned into more beer, and then fried seaweed (best stuff ever). We chatted with Mr. Thungdy for hours and laughed hysterically. Mr. Thungdy summed it up well with, "You funny! I funny! We friends!"














Bars in Luang Prabang close at 11:30pm. If the clock strikes 11:30 and you're still in the mood to hang out, then there are two options. The bowling alley and the dance club. On one of our first nights in town, we went to the bowling alley and met Grant the American butcher and Tim the English farmer. We became fast friends, and pretty much hung out non-stop for the rest of the week.














It was very sad to say goodbye to Luang Prabang, but it's definitely a place I plan to return to someday.

Next stop: Central America.

Trip in Review: Part 2A- Southeast Asia

After one night in Bangkok, literally, we headed off to Chaing Mai, where Nong, our new best friend, met us at the airport. Nong is the wife of Seth, our HFH team leader. Nong currently lives in Lampang, Thailand but she's gearing up for a move to the US. Kris and I were so lucky to not only have the best tour guide we could ask for, but meet someone as kind and funny as Nong.

Chaing Mai is full of beautiful mountains, ornate temples and friendly people. Nong took us into the mountains to see some Hmong villages.

















The Chaing Mai night market was full of excitement. Kris and I got caught up in a shopping/bargaining frenzy, then were introduced to Rotee the delicious pancake/funnel cake dessert, and we all rounded out the evening with a run-in with an elephant.














One of the many great things about traveling with Nong in Thailand, was her interest and knowledge of Buddhism. We went to a slew of Temples and Nong was able to tell us about the details and symbolism behind everything. At one Temple, there were slates that, for a small donation, you could write a message on, and then make a wish for one of the families that attend that Temple. Here's Kris and I making our wishes.















The highlight of our time with Nong, was the visit to her family's house. Nong's parents don't speak much English but it didn't really matter. We had a great time visiting with them, sharing in the delicious meal they cooked up, and getting to know each other without all that pesky language stuff. Here I am with Nong, her sister Mai, and her parents.














After Nong's whole family sent us off at the bus station, Kris and I headed back to Bangkok. We did an afternoon of touristy stuff in Bangkok and it because of gentlemen like this one, that I rank people watching among my favorite activities.















Just when I felt out of my element and overwhelmed with cultural differences, I'd spot a 7-11 and remember that the world is sometimes smaller than I think. It was at the Bangkok bus station (which is bigger and brighter than I could have ever imagined a bus station to be) that we spotted the one and only Dunkin Donuts of the trip. Kris and I have great friends, Andrew and Danny, who once drove overnight from San Francisco to Eugene, Oregon just to get some Dunkin Donuts for their staff meeting. This one's for you, guys!













And in the "it's impossible to resist taking a picture of this" category...

















From Bangkok, we took the overnight bus to Khao Lak (we got good at those overnight buses. Not too shabby an experience especially when they didn't blast Chinese movies with Thai subtitles). Khao Lak is home of the Tsumani Volunteer Center, and what quickly turned into one of the best towns I've ever visited. There's more details on our experiences in Khao Lak in earlier posts but I'll just summarize by saying it was a magical two weeks. We met such amazing people, both locals and volunteers, and really felt like part of the community. Plus, it's a beach town and I can't emphasis enough how beautiful the beaches in Thailand are.

Some highlights of Khao Lak...

Kids from the English Camp we taught:













The Volunteer party where we all dressed in traditional Thai clothes:


















John, Goi and Ken at the Volunteer party. Ken now runs Volunteer Teacher Thailand, an off shoot of the Tsunami Volunteer Center. If you have even the slightest hankering to travel to Thailand and help out a great cause, contact Ken. He's a great guy and is doing excellent work. You will not regret it.













Kris coloring with the kids at Home and Life orphanage:














David and I attempting to teach the kids animals in English. THIS IS A BEAR! (I recommend checking out the Home and Life blog. It's a really well-run, homey atmosphere, and Root and Rasa who run Home and Life are a great inspiration. There's a wish list on their blog if you're in the mood to send holiday packages overseas!)














And here's Kris and I with some of our volunteer pals, taking part in one of John's photo shoots. John, also a volunteer, works on a number of websites in Khao Lak. John is yet another amazing guy we were so lucky to get to know. His art knows no bounds. In order to take this picture, he stook on a chair in the middle of the street.













While in Khao Lak, John took Sophie, David, Kris and I on an outing to Phangna Bay, home of "James Bond Island." Apparently they filmed a scene there for one of those old Bond movies (I'm clueless on the Bond front). Here's John and Kris with Bao, our boat driver.














On the way back, we stopped at a Muslim fishing village. These folks have an entire village on stilts. Fascinating stuff.














Another outing involved a stop at a Temple that was built out of a boat.


















After our volunteer stint in Khao Lak finished, Kris, Sophie (a fantastic gal from England who also volunteered in Khao Lak) and I spent a weird and fun night in Panang (Ladyboy central).













From there, we headed out to Railey, where we watched the best sunset ever. That's right. Ever.

The Trip in Review: Part 1- Eastern Europe

The big voluntouring trip is officially done. We didn't post as much to this blog as we would've liked. From the sights we saw to the volunteer work we did, to the amazing people we met, it's hard to know where to begin. For now, I'll do a little trip overview using just a fraction of our zillions of pictures.

Our first stop was Prague. Prague seemed like it was straight out of a Disney movie. I'm sure Disney bases their movies on places like Prague, rather than the reverse but I saw Disney first so c'est la vie. Prague is an adorable city that is easy to get lost in. We never grew tired of making up stupid Czech puns. Czech me out. Czech mates. What's the Praguenosis.

Miles, a friend of Kristen's from SF, was on his own round the world adventure, and met us on our very first stop. Here's Miles and Kris taking in some of the tasty Czech beer, on a midday stop at a skate park.












After Prague, the three of us headed south to Cesky Krumlov, the cutest town on the planet. Ok, maybe that's extreme, but I recommend that everyone goes to CK if they get the chance. It's even more homey and beautiful and quaint than the name would suggest.





I'm sure that Slovakia is beautiful. Our experience of Slovakia was limited to a couple days in Bratislava. We stayed at an old dorm that is also used as a hostel in the summers. We found a certain sterility in Slovakia. This train, and Kristen's expression, sum it up.













People often ask what types of places we stayed in along the way. Because of our tight budget, some of the locations were less than stellar. This place in Lake Balatan, Hungary was pretty decent aside from the terrifying artwork.


We both loved Budapest despite getting unncessarily fined on the train, ripped off by a cab driver, and assaulted by a gypsy. The energy, architecture, and general vibe of the city made it a place I'd love to go back to. Budapest is where we met up with our fellow Habitat for Humanity volunteers. After a day in the big city, our group headed off to the HFH affiliate in the small town of Hajduboszormeny.

Our volunteer work involved a variety of tasks. Here's some of the crew working on the roof and insulation.













Much of the success of that experience can be attributed to the Habitat leadership. Here's Kris and I with Seth, the leader of our volunteer crew who's a staff member at HFH, and Pisti, who is the construction manager at the Hajdu HFH affiliate. Both of them are patient, hilarious, and generous beyond belief.














Throughout the two weeks, we became close with the other volunteers. One of our fellow volunteers, Danica, celebrated a birthday during our time in Hadju. Here's Danica and the vegan birthday feast that Robin so artistically arranged.














And, updates on the houses! In the few months since our group was in Hajdu, the houses have been finished, dedicated, and the families moved in! Here's the Toth family. The boys all look very intense here, but they're a happy, fun crew. Dani, the oldest son, is a senior in high school, and spent his entire summer working on site. Dani got to the work site at 7am every day and would be the last one working. Dani was a great teacher when it came to all things roofing. I'm so excited that he and his family have a home to call their own. I couldn't think of a more well deserving group of people.

And here's a look at the finished houses from the outside.


I can't talk about HFH Hajdu without a mention of Sandor, the Project Supervisor. Sandor was not only the supervisor of the worksite, he coordinated the volunteers and always made sure we had everything we needed. HFH Hajdu is really lucky to have him.





After we finished our work in Hajdu, we headed back to Budapest for a few days of touristy stuff. Here's the whole group.














The world is jam packed with interesting food, and new and interesting ways to prepare food. Unfortunately, I never got around to trying one of these giant tubes of bread stuffed with something or other, that we kept seeing in Budapest.













After a sad farewell to our new friends from HFH, Kris and I spent a couple more days in Budapest and then headed out to Turkey. It's hard to sum up Turkey. Istanbul is gigantic and overwhelming and fascinating. Us silly Americans think a house that is 100 years old is old. The Aya Sofya was built in 537. That's right, folks. 537.

Here's the world famous Blue Mosque.














Kris at the Spice Bazaar.


















Busy streets in Istanbul.














After a few days in Istanbul, we did a bit more touring in Western Turkey. First we headed off to the island of Bozcaada. Beautiful and relaxing. Thanks for the suggestion, Dinah!














We saw very impressive ruins in Bergama. Here's the Acropolis.














Then to Pamukkale, home of these crazy calcium deposits and thermal waters. It was a ridiculously hot day so I attempted to cool off in the waters. It was probably heat stroke at work.


















I leave you with this important message from this gentleman we saw at the Ephesus ruins.

















Stay tuned for Part 2: Southeast Asia.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Itsy Bitsy Spider
Originally uploaded by mc973

Teaching English in Cambodia turned out to involve a lot of singing. Here's video of some of the kids singing one of the many songs we taught them.

Bats, and scorpions and lizards...oh my.

Greetings friends, family and random internet stalkers. We apologize for the delay in posting. It's tricky to update the blog when you're in a jungle with no internet. But alas, we are now back in the USA (New Orleans to be exact) and are here to tell you about our volunteer stint at Purasuerte in Costa Rica.

Kris and I arrived in San Isidro, and after an unsuccessful attempt to get in touch with our contact at Purasuerte, trusted a cab driver who claimed he knew how to get there. The farm was about an hour out of town, via many long and windy mountain roads. Our driver, as one would expect from a native Costa Rican, only spoke Spanish. Kris and I have limited Spanish. Yet we chatted all the way there. I'm not sure how that got accomplished but the three of us laughed a lot. We finally, after some confusing twists and turns, arrived, in the dark, at a sign that said Purasuerte. The driver turned off the car and said, "Purasuerte!" There was nothing around. Uh...we're not getting out right here, amigo. Thankfully, our next attempt to call Drennan was successful and he picked us up.

Drennan dropped us off at the volunteer house where we met Mud Flap, the friendly dreaded chap who ran the gardens, and John, the only other volunteer. In "it's a small world" news, John is a native Jerseyite now living in Philly. So, the four of us got to chatting right away, and started chopping up the ingredients for some fresh salsa.

Before I get to the details on our volunteer work, let me just tell you about my nemesis (plural nemeneaux?). The bats living above my bed. Meet Beatrice and Nadia!

If they just hung there quietly, I may've been able to adjust, but the loud swooping at night a)scheeved me out b)was just so rude and distracting for those of us who are NOT NOCTURAL. I turned into Bill Murray a la Caddyshack when it came to trying to get rid of these gals. If I wasn't on an organic farm, I may've just stabbed or punched them or both. But, alas, we're all about not killing stuff and being au natural...so I took the Flap's advice and gathered up some fresh citronella.

Here I am, working on that important project.

I tied it up in bundles all over the ceiling and alas, they found a new place to live! They still swooped through the room now and then, but I think it was clear who was boss.

So...the farm. PS, as I'll refer to it, is located in the Costa Rican jungle, in the tiny town of La Florida. There are 30 acres of beautiful, lush with flowers and plants land. There's a big 'ol greenhouse with lots of veggies and fruit. This is Mud Flap's pride and joy. Our work involved helping out in the greenhouse with watering and weeding and trimming, cleaning up dead plants and flowers throughout the property, replanting beds of spinach and cayote (This is not how you spell it. Whatever it's called, it's a tuber), and cleaning the volunteer house.

Here's Kris and I after some replanting in Mara's Garden:















Kris developing her machete weilding skills:



















And here I am, with one of the many mysteries we uncovered while cleaning:

This nasty substance was on many of the books I pulled out of the bookcase. I later learned that it's larvae from the infamous Goo Bug. Just what I wanted to hear. The Goo Bug leaves this sticky, nasty substance, which is something akin to rusty honey. In short, it's disgusting.






But it wasn't all Goo Bugs and Scorpions (oh yes, found one of those crawling out of the bookcase too!). Here's one of the many types of beautiful flora that we came upon. I forget the name but let's just call it Prettyalia, or something like that.



















And then we have our four-legged pals. Wuli, the cat that thinks she's a dog, loved reading American Pastoral. That's right Matt- she might be smarter than Don.















And, meet the new love of my life, Mana. If I was dognapping sort of gal, she'd be with me now. She's even cooler than this picture would suggest, if that's even possible.















Lots of down time was spent hanging out on the porch, listening to the sounds of the jungle, and contemplating life's mysteries. I swear it was more exciting than this picture of John and I would suggest.















When the sun goes down at 5:20 every day, it means nights are all about dinner and games. Here's Mud Flap, sorting out the rules for Cranium.



















And here I am, cooking up some banana pancakes, next to that oh so lovely fridge.















So, there ya have it. Life in the Costa Rican jungle had it's up and downs but overall, it was a beautiful place. It was nice to wind down our big trip with lots of natural beauty, gardening, reflecting on the porch, meeting new friends, and eating the tastiest fresh pineapple I've ever had.















And, now, we're off to check out New Orleans and see what's changed since we were here about two years ago. Stay tuned for a report!