¡Bienvenidos a México!

Traveling can be a lot of things. It can be new, fun, exciting, adventurous, and enlightening, and it can also be scary and nerve-wracking {but it’s rarely ever boring}.

My week in Mexico was a bit of all of those things, and in the end, it was also deeply personal. Have you ever been to a place that just recharged you? By the time I landed in Playa, I had just finished two years of grad school, and spent the weeks leading up to my trip taking exams, writing papers, giving presentations, and packing and cleaning my apartment. I was exhausted, and Mexico gave me time to think and breathe.

Let’s take it back to the beginning…

I woke up early to catch my flight from Boston to Playa del Carmen. It was early, and still dark outside, but it was quiet. My friend was supposed to join me, but a few weeks prior she had to cancel due to a family emergency. I decided to go alone.

I landed just after 3pm. The heat and the humidity were the first things I noticed when I got off the plane; it had been a while since I had been in such a climate. I found it comforting.

I cruised through immigration, baggage claim and customs. And then it got chaotic. I should have known better and taken some time to pause before I left the airport, but I wanted to get to the bus stop because I knew the timing was tight {I found this article, which was super detailed, but in the moment it didn’t help me with much more than the name of the bus}. After a failed ATM stop {it dispensed dollars, not pesos}, I walked out of the customs area and entered a sea of bus, shuttle and taxi drivers, ready to pounce.

And pounce they did. But I had a plan {or at least I thought I did}. I navigated my way through the ticket sellers and found the ADO bus stop. Forty-five minute wait. I hunkered down and studied the tourist map, avoiding those around me trying to sell me on alternative transport. One guy was particularly insistent. He started his sales pitch, saying his shuttle would be there sooner. I thanked him but said no. He started dropping the price, and couldn’t understand why I would wait 20 more minutes for a $5 cheaper fare. I ain’t got nothing but time, I thought, and money is tight. Anyway he kept trying and knocked it down to $20 and said it would drop me off at my hostel. He sold me with that personal drop off part, so I said yes, though until my ride came, I was worried I was being scammed, or that the ADO bus would arrive before that.

But it didn’t. My ride came, but it wasn’t a shuttle or a bus. I rode in a regular car {or was it technically a taxi?} with one other girl who spoke a bit of Spanish. We stopped at a gas station after abut fifteen minutes; the girl got out to get water, and while I waited, our driver looked at me and said Amiga…taxi. I saw a taxi a few feet in front of ours and understood: we had to get out. The driver paid the taxi driver to take us to Playa, but only to one location. The girl asked if we could pay more to go to two locations. Thirty-five pesos extra. I told her I didn’t have pesos yet {damn ATM!}. She said she’d pay. It’s only $5, she said {she must have meant in Israeli dollars, as it would have been less in US dollars}. I was grateful, but I knew that that was just what travelers did for each other – they helped each other out.

{“That girl” was 22 and her name was Amit. She was Israeli, doing her post-military service travel. I told her I met a pair of Israeli girls when I was traveling in Southern Africa {in Lesotho} and mentioned they were doing their ‘right of passage travel,’ as I remembered it. She was doing six months in Central and South America, and by the time I had met her she had been traveling for 5 months.}

The taxi driver dropped me off near my hostel, and I walked about a block down the main street to get to its entrance. By the time I settled in and showered, I realized I couldn’t stop sweating. I forgot what it felt like to sweat constantly, to feel it drip down my back and collect on my upper lip, and to watch my hair slowly grow in size until it more closely resembles a lion’s mane; to be in a room with a fan and have it still not be good enough, and to have all of my clothes stick to me, and my hands fail to dry after washing them. I was in a perpetual state of sticky…¡Bienvenidos a México!

The most perfect chocolate wrapper

Visit one new city and/or state

Little did I know, this was going to be an easy one {okay, okay, for someone with wanderlust, this was actually a given}. But since I made this list back in the fall, I’ve already been the three {that’s right, THREE} new cities AND states. Not only is this a big {and early} win for my 30 before 30 list, BUT it is getting me closer to my long-term goal of visiting all 50 US states! It’s very exciting.

Austin, TX

The city of weird! Honestly, Austin was never on my radar, but go I did {love and all that}. What I love about cities like Austin {besides the warm weather} is that you get a mix of city life and outdoor adventure. So I ate breakfast burritos, took a city bus tour, walked around Lady Bird Lake, played minigolf and witnessed the weird. It was a quick trip, so unfortunately I didn’t get to explore a whole lot. Until next time.

 

UT Tower

The perfect reading tree at Lady Bird Lake and Hiking Trail

Keeping Austin weird

San Diego, CA

California, on the other hand, has been a dream place of mine to visit since AmeriCorps*NCCC {one of my corps members was from there and I was convinced it was a place I needed to visit}. When the opportunity arose to travel to San Diego, I jumped on it. The business school here was looking for a graduate assistant to chaperon one of their undergraduate service-learning trips, and since I have plenty of experience in that department, they scooped me up. We not only volunteered with Feeding America and the San Diego Rescue Mission {both of which were a lot of fun}, but explored the city and surrounding area as much as time would allow.  While it was a bit of a draining trip acting as a chaperon, it was certainly a great getaway from Indiana. I’ve so missed the beaches and mountains – living in the middle of the country is not for me {at least not at the moment – never say never!}. Looking forward to going back someday and seeing more.

Los Peñasquitos Canyon

The California Tower at Balboa Park

 

Seals in La Jolla

 

The call of the ocean is strong on San Diego’s beaches

 

My new friends {seals of La Jolla}

 

Running into the Pacific

 

A random morning of archery at Balboa Park with friendly local

Hot Springs, AR

Another place that never crossed my radar was Hot Springs {again, love}. When I was an intern at a consulting firm last summer, I assisted with an economic development revitalization strategic plan for the City of Hot Springs. When my boyfriend and I were looking for a place to meet a few weeks ago, Hot Springs turned out to have been the midway point {who knew?}. To be honest, there is not a whole lot to do there, but we enjoyed our weekend there – hiking in the national park, enjoying the thermal beds, and testing out some local eateries. I recommend it as a stopover if you happen to be driving in that area. It will probably be prettier when the leaves have returned, but it was beautiful nonetheless!

Hiking in Hot Springs

Life is too short for normal

 

Enjoying the famed hot spring baths

 

round 3: five days on cloud nine (week 5, part 2)

I just had the best five days, and perhaps the most needed break of the year so far.  Earlier this week there were so many things happening and going on I just needed to take a break from being TL for a bit, and I apparently chose the right week, because there were some team issues and of course my team still had to deal with the housing situation.  But thankfully the only part I played was in the distance, as my ATL Jess informed me of everything that was going on.  I didn’t have to make any decisions at all, and that was wonderful.  I’m sure she had to deal with more than she expected, but perhaps that’s just a taste for her/my team why I so badly needed this 5 day break.

I can’t even begin to describe how wonderful these past five days were.  I haven’t been that genuinely happy in a while, so that in itself was a great feeling.  I wish I could capture every moment here, but I guess I’ll have to do my best to remember it all:

Thursday
“Watch out the mailman is coming…Oh my God there’s a mailman on this street!”  It’s something so simple and regular for so many people, but on Union Street it was something significant.  It meant there were now people living in the homes we’ve been building.  When I left the first four houses built were ready to be occupied, and now they finally were.  And they were receiving their mail every day, just like millions of other Americans.  Such a small thing, yet so significant at the same time.  It made me so happy to see this kind of progress, especially after the two days that I had just had.  Earlier that morning I had said goodbye to Steven before Gary, another TL in New Orleans, drove me to the Bay so I could start my leave.  Throughout the day I didn’t do much more than scrape paint off of paint trays, but it didn’t matter.  I was on leave and off-duty, just able to be a regular volunteer and get to catch up with Katie, Michelle and the other staff, as well as Delta 4, the team currently serving with Habitat.  I could not have asked for anything better.

After work we went to Los Tres Amigos for some $1 margaritas before heading on over to the Mockingbird for some mockingburgers, music and off-site time with some of the other staff members.  Or so was the plan.  We got our burgers, yes, but ended up leaving relatively early because we were so exhausted.  Oh yea, and we met a Marine who just got back from his 4th tour in Iraq and is home for two weeks.  I have nothing but respect for our soldiers, but after the four of us were talking a bit about being in AmeriCorps and working for Habitat, it somehow turned into him asking me out.  Multiple times.  My “nos” didn’t seem to work, and there were moments when I just wanted to laugh out loud because of the absurdity of the situation. “No guy likes to be turned down,” he said, to which Michelle replied, “Apparently you do.”  He must have returned to our table four times, and despite only being in town for one night and making his way to PA for the next two weeks, he said he’d fly back to New Orleans for a date.  Seriously? Does that work on girls normally?  Perhaps he truly is a nice guy (although he was nice enough while talking to me), and I felt awful for continuing to turn down someone who’s probably been through hell repeatedly in Iraq, but it was still a no, and once he left he mentioned he’d never been turned down so badly before.  One of the HFH staff members Ryan was there and asked if he even knew remembered name, to which he replied, “I don’t know, Alexis or something…” Decision well made.

Friday
“Alix, how about we give you your own team of volunteers to be in charge of today,” asked one of the staff members.  I, and everyone else, had to laugh before responding, “No thanks, I’m off-duty.”  Day two off-duty was wonderful.  We had 70ish high school boy volunteers from the local private school (one kid wore loafers, to the construction site.  really?).  They were a nice group and Katie and I had them de-nailing some wood before lunch, and then doing miscellaneous cleaning tasks after.  They were only there until 1:30ish, so for the rest of the afternoon we did clean-up and prep for the following week when they were going to have more volunteers.  And the best part is I got to drive one of the trucks up and down the street, carrying wood and trash to various places.  It. Was. Awesome.  Makes me really want a truck even more than I did before. Granted I had a little difficulty seeing over the wheel, but still, it was so much fun and I’d love to be able to do it again sometime =).  The afternoon ending up being a busy one, with some of the staff members seemingly a bit frantic, but before calling it quits, we indulged in some raspberry king cake.  What a great two days on site it had been, and it was only about to get better as the weekend began…

At night we went to a surprise part for a friend of a few friends.  Ryan and Chris’ childhood friend was turning 30 and they said we could come, so Michelle, Stephen and I (Katie was sick) headed on over and had such a great time.  The house of the couple hosting the party was absolutely beautiful and everyone was really friendly.  What was so great to see is that many of these people have been friends since they were kids, and many of them grew up in the Bay.  There was something so perfect about all of it, something so right.  We ate some great good, listened to the live band (playing country, so awesome; the guy playing guitar grew up next to one of the staff members), watched a seven year-old bust some serious dance moves, and just enjoyed the evening.  We turned in around 11:15 (after stopping at Benignos for another drink, of course), and I don’t even remember hitting the pillow I was so tired, and slept so solidly (well, Katie and Michelle do have the best couch ever).

Saturday
I planned on heading to the beach in the morning, but we ended up getting scones at the Mockingbird before deciding on watching a movie until we needed to leave for New Orleans.  I could barely contain my excitement as we packed and got ready to head to Nola for the Krewe du Vieux parade, apparently a local favorite.  It’s the first big parade of the Mardi Gras season.  We got into New Orleans and headed to Michelle’s friends’ apartment, where we hung out for a few hours before taking the street car down to Royal Street.

We hung around for a bit, Katie and I getting a croissant, before we met up with some of the other Habitat staff.  It was great to see them again (ok, it had only been a day…), especially at the parade.  They mentioned this parade a few months ago, and I had been looking forward to going with them for so long I was so happy it was finally here!  It passed us around 7:30 or so, and some of the floats were pretty awesome.  There was a lot of awesome music and so much excitement, it was really cool to see and be a part of.  There were many politically-inclined floats, which was interesting, and many interesting costumes.  And of course, there were lots of beads being thrown.  Katie managed to acquire a tangled ball of beads, which was how I got my first three necklaces (purple, gold and green, Mardi Gras colors).  My fourth one was given to me but someone in the parade (teal, matching my shirt), and the fifth one I may or may not have picked up off the ground…apparently it’s bad luck but it was pink and the beads were bigger.  Life is pretty good right now, how much bad luck can come my way?  Overall it was a lot of fun and I’m glad I got to see my first Mardi Gras parade; hopefully I’ll be able to see others this season!!  After we all headed to the Famous Door where we danced to live 80s and 90s cover music, and then Michelle, Katie and I made our way to the Bourbon Cowboy before heading back around 11pm.  Our feet hurt, we were tired, and yes, apparently really old.  But it was a really fun day and since we started in the early evening, we didn’t mind turning in early.

Images below: Michelle, Katie, Me and Sarah; taking a stab at BP; me with HFH crew

Sunday
This was perhaps one of the most fun days I’ve ever had.  The original plan was so simple: get up, go to Jazz brunch at Buffa’s and then Michelle and Katie would go home somewhat soon after that.  Oh no.  Life had bigger and better plans for us that day.  We headed to Buffa’s and weren’t sure if any of the other staff were going to meet us there.  When we realized they weren’t, we decided to go with the flow and change our plans a bit.  What resulted was a completely random, yet fun day, and I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day: beautiful weather, great friends, and fun/random experiences in New Orleans.  First, we headed over to the French Market and did some (“window”) shopping; I got a snow ball (finally!), and then we had beignets at Cafe du Monde.  Getting off to a great start and it wasn’t even noon yet.  Next, we headed back over to Buffa’s and there we saw Gary, another TL.  When I went up to him to ask him how the whole getting a table at the very busy Jazz brunch thing worked, he introduced me to a guy he met, also from Utah.  Gary mentioned I was also with AmeriCorps, and then I told him Katie and Michelle were too, and he and his wife were so excited to hear we were serving in New Orleans that before they left they gave the bartender $40 and told her to give us whatever we wanted.  Awesome.  Then another woman came over to us, shook our hands and thanked us for serving.  She also bought us a drink.  It was interesting to have so many people come up to us and thank us for our service.  That hasn’t really happened to me yet.  So with these free drinks we all started out with a double mimosa and enjoyed the jazz while we were waiting to get a table.  When we finally got a seat, we ordered our food and then of course had more mimosas.  And it wasn’t even 2pm yet.  The day was starting off great.  Once breakfast ended and we left (after being thanked by a few more locals), we decided to walk and seize the beautiful, beautiful day in front of us.  From there we ended up at Pat O’Briens where we sat at the piano bar.  Katie and I shared a Hurricane (made famous at Pat O’s), and we all sang along (loudly, of course) to the music (my favorite, Sweet Caroline).  It was soooo much fun, and even though we decided to move on from Pat O’s, we didn’t want the day to end yet, so we continued to walk and wound up going into one bar and straight up to the balcony. Katie and I had been wanting to just hang out on a balcony for a while, so when we mentioned that Gary said he had been to the bar ahead and then we walked up and went to the balcony.  Who knew it was that simple?  We hung out there for a bit, enjoying the view and the cloud nine that we were all on before continuing to walk.  We stumbled upon Yo Mama’s and had heard they had good burgers, so naturally we got some. Katie and I split one, and I couldn’t even finish my half, but they were really good.  By the time we were done at Yo Mama’s it was 5ish in the evening, so we decided to finally put an end to our day.  After saying goodbye to Gary, Michelle and Katie took me to the hostel I booked my night at (oddly enough, it is the hostel I stayed at two years ago when I was down with my ASB group).  I wasn’t ready to go back to my housing and be TL, so I wanted one more night to be away.  I didn’t do much but talk on the phone and then head to bed early, but it was still nice to be away (and for $18 too!).

Looking back, this entry doesn’t do justice to how much fun Sunday was, but it is a day I hope I remember forever.  I wish I could have captured the adventure that day turned out to be.  There’s something to be said for not having plans, being flexible, and how the day can turn from good to great all because of a few good drinks and even better friends =).

Images below: me & Katie with a hurricane!; the glass ash tray that walked off the table and broke itself- we have no idea how this fell off the table. i was texting and then heard a crash, and didn’t see anything. the waitress didn’t believe me when i said i didn’t know how it fell off the table. i think the guy next to us did it; the bill from yo mama’s-on each bill they have a yo mama joke. yes.

Monday
Alas, another beautiful Monday (I will never get sick of these!).  Another friend came to visit and he picked me up at Starbucks (where I wandered because I was going stir-crazy waiting in the hostel) before we headed to start the Historic Jazz walking tour, which is part of the U.S. National Parks system.  Unfortunately, the first three stops were the Louis Armstrong Park and it was locked off (although some guy told us later that on the other side there was a gate open; we clearly did not try hard enough).  But we did get to walk around and listen (via cell phone) to some historical background on the places we did get to see, i.e. the Basic Street Station (the only historical train station still standing), and the U.S. Mint.  We then hung around the park just talking for a few hours, catching up and enjoying the sunny day (in the 70s..yes, it is February).  It was a great way to end my break, enjoying New Orleans with a friend and still being off-duty.  We ended the day by eating at Juan’s Flying Burrito, which was REALLY good.

I returned to my team after we finished dinner and said our goodbyes.  I caught up with a few of my CMs, some of whom seemed excited I was back, others possibly indifferent.  I have my key back, and my govy phone. It’s official; I’m back on-duty.  It’s going to be a busy week, with housing moves, van retrieval, and a site visit from my unit leader, but I feel ready.  That’s what five days of fun in paradise will do for ya.

round 2: second saturday

I started out today at the Mockingbird with Katie, sitting with our lap tops and eating mockingburgers (vegetarian for me of course).  People of all ages came and went as we sat for a few hours getting work done and talk before we too headed out to enjoy the Second Saturday festivities (as the name indicates, Second Saturdays occur on the second Saturday of every month, a time for community celebrations).  As we stepped out of the Mockingbird we were greeted by the sound of wailing sirens, both police and firefighter.  We felt older than 22 and 27 as we covered our ears because the sirens were so loud; the children nearby didn’t seem to be bothered, however.  It was a small holiday parade, which included Santa, his elves, Christmas decorated cars, the local high school band and a pony.  Oh and beads.  Of course.

As we made our way to Main Street, we took a detour towards DeMontluzin Avenue where the angel tree stands.  During the storm five years ago “several locals (including a retired hurricane hunter) sought ‘high ground’ on the second floor of the Bay Town Inn, near DeMontluzin Avenue.  When the huge house began to crumble in the violent storm surge, three of them–Doug Niolet, Nikki Nicholson, and Kevan Guillry–swam to a nearby oak tree in a last-resort effort to survive the storm. All three individuals made it through safely by clinging to the limbs, but the tree did not survive. When the tree, the very thing that stood strong to save their lives, faced imminent removal, they sought the help of an Indiana ‘chain saw sculptor’ named Dayle Lewis with the Kat-Rita Wood Project, a non-profit organization that turns hurricane scrap wood into art. Lewis whittled the bare Live Oak down to its main trunk and created beautiful angels from some of its existing limbs” [as originally printed in Mississippi Magazine].  It is such a beautiful tree and it is absolutely amazing that three people clung to its branches during the storm and survived.  The tree doesn’t stand too far away from the water, which makes it all the more incredible.

After visiting the angel tree, we made our way towards Main Street, where it was clear that Old Town was ready for the holidays.  There was music playing in front of shops, Christmas decorations up everywhere and deals in just about every store.  We went in and out of each one but didn’t buy much (except for a BSL car decal and Ken Follet’s new book for me!).  It was just great to walk outside in the 60 degree weather and enjoy the spirit of this holiday-themed Second Saturday.  We talked, and I tried to soak everything in, as this is my last weekend in the Bay.  I will of course come back to visit, but it isn’t quite the same as living here and enjoying being a part of the community.  I love the fact that these events happen every month and that the community comes together to have these little celebrations. There is so much spirit in this small town and besides the people I work with, this is what captured my heart and makes me feel at home.  As Katie said, it’s rare when you find a place you love, people you enjoy being around, and a job you love to do all in the same place.  And that’s what she and I have found here, and I know part of my heart will always belong in the Bay.

round 2: more houses and a denver trip

So the week started out like any other, except that there seems to have been a wake up call for my team. They finally started paying attention to safety stuff and wore what they were supposed to without having to be asked.  Granted, they still forget sometimes BUT it is such a drastic improvement and it’s so great.  I only spent Monday-Wednesday working with my team, and they’re making a lot of progress.  They put siding up on the house we’ve started from the ground and it’s great to see them working so hard on this project.  I can’t wait to see it finished!  On Wednesday evening one of the other TLs, Alleigh, drove from Ocean Springs to pick me up to take me to the New Orleans airport (after saying goodbye to my team and making sure they were set before I left;  I felt like a mom saying goodbye to her kids) where I was flying to head to Denver.  Because there are so many teams in New Orleans, we hung out with one of them for a bit, which was a lot of fun.  I don’t normally see any CMs from the other unit, so it was nice to spend some time with them.  After that, Alleigh and another CM drove me to the airport where I was planning on spending the night.  I had looked online and called the airport to see if it was ok, and after hearing that it was, I decided that was logistically easier.  I found a few chairs without arm rests between them and tried to sleep, but because I was trying to hold onto my backpack and because I was nervous about not waking up for my 6am flight, I didn’t get much sleep.  Not to mention it got cold with the AC on.  There were other people sleeping there, and the lights were on the whole time so it wasn’t an unsafe experience, but I only got about 4 hours of sleep. I finally woke up around 3am and just decided to read until my flight.  The flight was good, and I arrived a bit early, and then just hopped on the shuttle that took me to my hotel where I met my mom and had some breakfast. Because I was coming from Mississippi, where nothing more than a light sweater is needed, I didn’t have a coat.  So, I was in a long-sleeve shirt with a scarf, so after breakfast we went to Outdoor World where I bought a cream colored pea coat =).  It was lightly snowing, which was nice. Although it was cold, I liked that it felt more like fall than it does in Bay Saint Louis, AND that there were trees with colored leaves on them!

The School

My mom and I drove to Denver to visit the campus and boy is it tiny!  I’m used to bigger campuses, both at UD and BU, but this one, having only 8,000ish students, is a lot smaller.  Despite being in the city it still has a nice campus.  Basically the main buildings are all within one square city block, which I guess would make it easy to get around.  I really liked the green and all of the pretty stone and brick buildings.  We walked around the campus for a bit, and had some lunch before I got the chance to sit in on a class, Intelligence and National Security.  It was an interesting class, and a small one (all classes are fewer than 30 students, which is similar to the graduate classes I took at BU).  I got to speak with one of the students, who also just graduated in May, so it was nice to get a student perspective.  After that we attended the open house for the Josef Korbel School and it was great to hear from professors and students.  Obviously they want everyone to come to their school, but it was still great to hear how excited and passionate they were about their programs.  So, what brought me to DU?

Sometime during my senior year, while looking for graduate programs in international relations, I came across this article, written by the Foreign Policy Association, which ranked the top graduate schools for international studies.  The University of Denver was on there and my eyes lit up.  I applied to DU as an undergrad but declined acceptance because I thought it was too far away.  Now, after graduating, and with dreams of living in Colorado for a bit, I was really excited to read that DU had an excellent international studies program.  So I looked into it more and yes, it will cost me an arm and a leg if I don’t get enough scholarships, but I was excited by the variety of programs it offered, from homeland security and international health to humanitarian aid and assistance.  I thought I finally found the perfect combination of programs until last week when I came across DU’s Master in Development Practice.  I had read about this degree months ago, but for some reason I must not have read the information thoroughly or I would have had it in my mind to go down this track.  It is an interdisciplinary program, combining lessons from multiple schools and disciplines.  Students are required to take classes in the social sciences (i.e. education, human rights, peace-building, sustainable development), health sciences (i.e. community and global health), the natural sciences (i.e. deforestation), and management and policy making.  It combines my wide variety of interests with my desire to learn about multiple issues that go into international development, and that’s not even the best part.  The best part is that students are required to study abroad for 6 our of their 26 months.  Required!  I couldn’t believe it.  It combines in-class and online studies with hands on, in-the-field research in Asia (Vietnam and China), Africa (Mozambique and Kenya) and Central America (Guatemala).  Students also travel throughout Colorado to Native American nations, to NY and DC for conferences, and are required to do a 5-month internship with a Colorado governmental, corporate, or academic entity.  It’s a very structured and intense degree program, and an expensive one, BUT the tuition includes all of the travel (from my understanding from what I’ve read online).  I’m also looking at Columbia University (which also has an MDP program) and NYU, but this one is my favorite program.

The City

The city of Denver was not what I initially expected. Coming from the airport and driving along I-70 W, all I could see were run-down buildings and industrial plants along the sides.  I was heavily reminded of images I’ve seen of Philly in the 1980s.  I was extremely surprised as how industrious the area we were driving by was.  The area the campus was in was also a grungier looking place compared to the actual downtown area, but at the same time I really liked that it wasn’t pristine and perfect; it was raw and flawed. I’ve often found myself drawn to the grittier parts of cities, and while I haven’t been to many, I have an unexplained desire to do so (i.e. the Bronx, Harlem, Southie in Boston etc) and is probably, to some degree, why I also find myself drawn to lesser developed countries.  I can’t pinpoint the reason, but the draw has always been there.  Downtown Denver, however, was clean, colorful and fun. Full of restaurants, places to shop, art and trees/flowers, it was a nice place to visit.  We really only went to the 16th Street Mall to walk around for a bit, but it was interesting to see how different this part of Denver looked than what we had just driven by.  One of the greatest parts, I think, was being able to see the mountains in the distance behind some of the buildings.  The combination of city and outdoors is something that attracts me to Denver.  Overall, we had a good experience in Denver and hope to get the opportunity to come back someday!

The Mountains and other parts of Colorado

After spending Thursday looking at DU, we spent Friday exploring other parts of Colorado.  We first stopped by Hammond’s Candy Store where we took a factory tour and saw the candy being hand-made.  It was really interesting and I couldn’t believe that the small Denver-based factory was the only place of production for the entire country!  It was pretty cool though; not too many places like it anymore!  After that we drove to Historic Georgetown, CO where we headed away from the city and 40 minutes west into the mountains.  It was so BEAUTIFUL and I finally got to see the mountains I am in love with (actually, the day prior we didn’t see any because of the overcast weather; in the morning we finally realized there were mountains on the horizon once the sky cleared!).  It was interesting to walk in the town’s small main street and see the historic buildings in their (mostly) original conditions.  The town itself was a bit run-down but I really liked being able to walk throughout the various shops.  We had lunch there before we continued to shop and ended our excursion by driving to a wildlife viewing area to view the bighorn sheep.  There was a group of them that we got to see which was cool.  On the last day, before we headed back to the airport, we really didn’t have much else to do or anything planned so we decided to visit the Wild Animal Sanctuary, which is a sanctuary for abandoned and abused big carnivores (i.e. lions, tigers, bears, wolves etc).  It was really cold out, but we still got to see the animals.  I really just wanted to go play with some of them, but obviously that wasn’t possible (well technically it was if I wanted to jump a fence BUT I’d prefer to live…).

After visiting the sanctuary we headed to the airport where we sat for a few hours waiting for our flights.  While the waiting was uneventful, the first 10 minutes of my ride was anything but.  We hit a normal amount of turbulence and everything was shakey for a bit, but then (I wish I knew more technical things about flying and turbulence…) the plane jolted and dropped a bit (nothing major, but any kind of drop that high up is enough to make people nervous).  The woman next to me gasped while I clutched onto the seat.  I can’t remember what I was thinking, as it all happened so quickly, but after I couldn’t help but laugh, wondering what I’d really do if we had in fact kept falling.  I also couldn’t believe that had happened, however normal it might be, but was glad it was for just a split second.

Overall it was a very good and successful trip to Denver and I look forward to a future where I might be back there for a few years!

P.S. I started and finished the book In the Sanctuary Of Outcasts by Neil White, which is a true story of a man sent to jail for kiting checks in MS (actually not too far from the bay), but the jail is also home to one of the last “leper” colonies (he refrains from using that term in the book, and I would too if there was another way to describe it that everyone would immediately catch on to!).  It was a really great memoir and a really quick read!

Images below: the inside of the Hammond’s Candies factory; my and my mom in the gift shop; view of the Rockies; historic Georgetown (2 pictures); the big horn sheep; the 16th Street Mall; 16th street mall artwork; 2 lion cubs playing at the sanctuary

exploring mississippi

Vicksburg, MS

The first full day we were in Mississippi we were in Vicksburg, where my training will take place.  We decided to get up early and take the scenic drives through the town.  I thought they were going to take a few hours to do, but as we soon found out, Vicksburg is a small town and it really didn’t take us long at all.  It is a nice town, but we didn’t get the chance to walk around much since it was blazing hot out and most places were closed considering it was July 4th.  So after the drives, we just hung in for a bit before heading down near the river to see the fireworks.  We sat for a few hours waiting for the fireworks, and were surprised that we were allowed to sit where we sat along the Yazoo River.  It was great getting to take in our surroundings, and even more so it was great to hear all of the southern accents and observe how they lived and acted.  The fireworks started a bit late, but they were great and a lot of fun to watch =).

Below are some pictures from our day of exploring: a street full of shops and places to eat, the painted murals near the river (I loved these!), Taylor and me waiting for the fireworks, a Mississippi sunset, and some great shots of the fireworks!!

Jackson, MS

On our second full-day in Mississippi we checked out of our Vicksburg hotel and headed to Jackson, MS, which is about an hour away.  Taylor had to take a plane from the Jackson Airport the following day so we figured staying in Jackson for a day would give us the chance to take advantage of the area and explore a different part of MS.  When we got there we relaxed for a bit and then headed downtown to do a walking tour of the area.  I must admit, that based off of my experience being in NYC and Boston, I thought for sure heading down at 2pm we’d run into traffic etc.  When we got there, there was nobody around.  Granted it was the day after the 4th and technically a holiday, but I wasn’t prepared for how empty it was.  I also wasn’t prepared for how small it was.  I was expecting tall buildings, and was surprised at the lack of big buildings, but also at how run down it looked.  I don’t mean to sound like where I come from is better than Jackson, MS, but there were many abandoned and boarded up buildings and it made me sad to see that while the city may have potential, it was definitely lacking in many ways.

Despite the fact that it was really hot outside and that there was nobody around, we parked the car and started our walking tour of historic downtown Jackson, which ended up taking us about an hour/hour and a half.  We got to see many beautiful buildings, such as the capitol building, governor’s mansion, the war memorial as well as other pretty scenery, such as the streets and the park.  While there the area was really pretty, I was still surprised at how dirty and run down the downtown area looked, as well as how unkempt the lawns around the buildings and parks were.  I sound like a New England snob saying that, but I think it definitely just made me realize how much I’ve taken for granted where I’ve lived, just how different where I come from is from this area in the South, and how important it will be for me to travel and see new places so I start to understand more about the places I’ve never been to before.

Below are some pictures from the historic part of downtown Jackson: the Old Capitol Museum, the War Memorial Building, the Governor’s Mansion, the Capitol Building, an old Firehouse (now home to the Chamber of Commerce), Smith Park, the Lamar Life Building (Jackson’s 1st skyscraper), a steeple through the trees and a pretty southern house.

road trip to mississippi

The moment I had been waiting for since early March was finally here; I was heading down to Mississippi to start my year of service with AmeriCorps NCCC.  While I was busy packing and excited to get started, it was difficult to say goodbye to my friends, knowing that this experience would be different than college in the sense that I was going to be gone for 11 months, and most likely the only chance I’ll get to see them again is in December when I come home for our winter break.  Part of it didn’t feel real either; it felt more like I was leaving for a week long vacation.  I was so focused on just organizing the road trip down that I hadn’t really had a lot of time to let it sink in that I was actually starting my NCCC experience.

I drove down with Taylor, and we started by driving down to stay with my aunt in New Jersey so we could avoid having to drive through NYC in the morning.  It was nice to visit with them for a bit, but we turned in early since we were going to be heading out around 5am the following morning.  On the second day our road trip really began as we made our way to Virginia, where we stayed for the first night.  It wasn’t that difficult to drive the 6-7 hours, especially since we found ways to entertain ourselves with car games (i.e. the license plate game), and took frequent breaks.  We made it to Harrisonburg by 2pm, and had planned on exploring the downtown area in the afternoon since our hotel was on its outskirts (the reason I booked that hotel was because it was within walking distance from  downtown Harrisonburg); however, we were so exhausted that we both ended up napping for about 2 hours.  I didn’t realize how tired we were until we found it nearly impossible to get out of bed and head downtown.  So unfortunately we were unable to explore that area, but we got the rest we needed to continue our road trip the following morning, which also started bright and early.

  As we drove through Virginia, we saw a lot of beautiful landscape, from the vast farmlands to the rolling hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  It was so great to drive along the pretty scenery.  At one point we stopped over on the side of the road to take a picture of the mountains  beyond a farm house.  We pulled over to the side of the road to take the picture and as I was walking back to my car, a VA cop pulled up behind my car.  At first I thought we had done something wrong by pulling over to the side of the road, but he was asking if we were ok, as he thought we had broken down.  I thought it was really great of him to stop by and check in on us, and was relieved that he was just there to help if we needed.  After stopping to take that picture we headed on to our I-81 detour: driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

While we drove by the Blue Ridge Mountains for most of our time in Virginia, it was definitely great to drive through the mountains.  I had done so 5 years ago when visiting JMU, and decided it would be a nice way to break up driving in I-81, which we were on for a few hundred miles.  The mountains were beautiful, and while there were designated scenic overlooks, we basically stopped when we wanted to have a look out.  Some of the views were breathtaking, and the mountains covered so much ground it was awesome to see.  The roads were curvy so we took our time, but we weren’t on the parkway for very long; it was just enough time to enjoy the mountains before heading on to our next planned stop: the Natural Bridge and Caverns.

The Natural Bridge is a rock bridge in Virginia that was made many, many years ago, and the bridge itself is 20 stories tall.  My aunt told me about the bridge and thought it would be a nice break for us to stretch our legs.  I am really glad she told us about it because it definitely helped to get out of the car to do some walking and exploring.  When I first saw the bridge I was taken aback, and was in awe of its size and beauty.  I saw pictures online but seeing it in person was way cooler.  We just sat and stared at it for a bit before walking along the trail, getting a chance to see the creek, a Native American site (a recreation from what I remember), and butterfly gardens before ending at the waterfall, which unfortunately wasn’t as big since there wasn’t enough rain to make it so.  After walking back along the trail and under the bridge again, we headed over to the Natural Bridge Caverns.

We took a tour, which last about 30 minutes with a small group (4 people total, plus the tour guide), which was nice because we didn’t have any problems hearing at all or have trouble fitting in the areas. It was really great to take the time to walk through the caverns, which if I remember correctly are the deepest on the east coast.  It was a bit cool down there, but refreshing since it was hot outside.  We saw some really big columns, and got to walk down to one of the deepest points.  At the bottom she told us about the workers who used to work there at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century.  To give us a better idea of what their working conditions were like, she turned off the lights at one point and it was pitch black.  She used a lantern to show us what the workers would see, and it was not much at all.  I wouldn’t have wanted that job.  Over all, it was a great tour and again a nice break from our drive, which we continued after the tour ended and headed on to Tennessee where we stayed with my aunt and uncle.  They live on a lake so we got to take a relaxing boat ride together before dinner.  We turned in early to get ready for the last leg of our road trip: heading to Vicksburg, Mississippi.

On our final day of driving, we got a later start which was nice because it gave us the chance to sleep in a bit.  We headed out later because we wanted to go to a BBQ restaurant in Chattanooga, TN called Sticky Fingers.  I went there last year when I was doing one of the alternative spring breaks with BU in New Orleans.  They had great BBQ and the best corn bread, so I wanted to venture there again since it was on our way.  After finishing lunch, we began our last leg to Vicksburg.  While the day before was a difficult day for driving (my legs got really cramped), the last part wasn’t as difficult and it was actually more exciting because we realized we were almost there.  We took a few stops here and there, and in Alabama we gained an hour.  After about 3 hours in AL, we FINALLY hit Mississippi and it felt really great to realize we were almost there.  We were in MS, on I-20 for a while, but it was a pretty road that made it more bearable.  We got into the hotel around 7pm after stopping off at Applebees for dinner.  After checking into our hotel, we just relaxed, getting our energy back for the next day when we planned on exploring the downtown Vicksburg area and catching the 4th of July fireworks at night.

Overall, it was a really great road trip.  While we did 20+ hours of driving, we kept ourselves entertained with the scenery, the license plate game, talking, and joking around.  I love road trips and am really glad we took one down.  I would definitely do it all over again =).