|
| Michael and I took a road trip to Tierpark Goldau, which is a Landscape and Animal Park. We packed a picnic lunch but for the 3 hours we were there, we couldn't find a comfortable, warm, and animal-free part of the park to eat. ... So we ate in the car in the parking lot afterward. My favorite thing about this park are the deer that wander along the majority of the paths. I was told that they don't interact much with people during the summertime, because there are so many and they are well fed by the passerby. But in the wintertime, they are more insistent and did actually follow Michael and me all around the park even though we didn't have any food for them. Some even squealed pleadingly! (I didn't know they make noise!)
| | |
|   Lake Sarnen, Obwalden (Central Switzerland)
I had most of the day to myself because Michael had to go to classes. So I took a walk by the lake which is downhill from his house. The weather was great, scenery was idyllic, air was clean. Around 3pm I sat down at a bench on the far end of the lake, intending to enjoy my solitude. Instead, I promptly fell asleep! In addition to the jetlag (it would've been 8am in Chicago at that time), I had not slept well on any of the flights or the night before at Michael's. I napped (sitting upright) for about an hour before I got cold and woke up. It was a relaxed day, though, overall.
| | |
| By the end of my stint in Newton, Iowa, I had more than the usual amount of requests for updates regarding my upcoming travels. I suppose this was to be expected, given that this trip will be of indefinite length and consist of surefire adventure & romance. 
Well... "Ask and you shall receive"
I'll try to update this blog with relatively interesting stuff regularly, and include pictures wherever it makes sense to. After revisiting my other blog (http://neuroplastictravel.blogspot.com), I decided that that one should remain dedicated to my Kenya or volunteering travels. Even though I haven't been back this year, I still have more pictures, videos, and information I've been meaning to add and write about, so once in a while, you should check in on it. If not that, then at least see www.villagevolunteers.org and make a donation to support Sirua Aulo Academy under the Namunyak Maasai Welfare organization. Thanks!
| | |
| Someday I will be more consistent about blogging :)
| | |
| First of all, I want to thank God for all the blessings he has put in my life, and honor Him as the ultimate one in control.
Secondly, I acknowledge and thank my father specifically for allowing me the financial freedom from academic debt to travel and work as I do. I know that there is no way that I could have done anything in the past year without my dad's sacrifices to ensure his children will not have to pay back school loans after graduation.
Thirdly, having expressed appreciation for my father's money, I want to thank God again for honoring me with the full scholarship that put me through graduate school and took that burden away from him (especially having chosen an out-of-state university both times).
Fourthly, during this national economic meltdown, I thank God again for leading me into such a career that is inherently safeguarded from fears of unemployment, as well as one which allows me to take time off whenever I feel like it to travel.
Fifthly, but not at all lastly, I thank all the great people I have met over the years. I recently realized that because I meet so many people all the time, everywhere, I am lucky to be able to pick and choose my favorites with whom to keep in touch. That means my circle of friends are the best of the best, so if you are reading this, that means you are among the best. Note that there are certainly people I don't even attempt to contact because they are not worth it, but there are many others I simply forget to reply to or re-initiate contact. New things and new people crop up to vie for my limited attention, and the old ingrained procrastination habit sticks to me like ink on paper. So if you have not heard from me for a while, don't be offended. I still love and respect you as someone who has made an impact on my life, whether you know it or not.
Thank you!
| | |
|
