Two days home from DC, NY in four days, Cambodia in ten. Now that the last "place" is off my checklist, the next time I go somewhere, it will include Cambodia. It feels so incredibly...real. I almost can't believe it. I oscillate between exhilaration, anticipation, and fear.
The orientation was wonderful. My roommate was also going to Trinidad, and she went to Amherst, which is so close to where my extended family has lived forever. She's the only one of the four of us going to Trinidad who is not doing AIDS work, but she is instead doing creative writing, so still tied to the rest of us between the writing component to my goals in Trinidad and another whose project includes "ethnomusicology." It was mostly informative, both in practical knowledge (safety, grant details, health insurance) and experiential knowledge (those who have been sharing their experience). I wish more of the region-specific stuff dealt with the Caribbean, but it was still good to hear. Those who talked about their time in the country were most helpful. I'm not the kind of person who learns from websites or bland information being spread, but rather from doing, seeing myself. This was close--it was personal narrative.
I know now to bring dress clothes to Trinidad, to wait until I get there to get a permanent place to stay so I can be sure it's safe. I learned we are called citizen diplomats and are supposed to do more than just our projects, that volunteering and community involvement and simply getting to know people are the most valuable things you can give and take away. It may take three doors with locks to get inside, and you always have to be aware, but it doesn't mean you should spend all your time there afraid--just cautious. It will take time to adjust, but most fall in love with it and say the experience defined their lives. I am excited to get to know a different country, to work with the brilliant Fulbrighters I met and be inspired. I know the country's "Trini time" will be different for a type A like me...that will be interesting :)
In general, I need to say that I loved being back in DC in general. That city feels like home to me in so many ways. It's become a friend. I walked by a few homeless and realized that meeting their eyes acknowledged them and once you know them as human, you cannot ignore it, cannot unknow it. The question is what will you do, and that I don't know. I watched the rain (and hail) fall in torrents, and it was beautiful when seen from a window, notebook in hand. Just walking around and existing within the city is enlivening in its own way.
Thank you Sean and Leonor (and Lena and Ana) for giving me a place to sleep and for generally taking wonderful care of me for the days on either end. I am so blessed to know you. Thank you Drs. Kumar, Pataki, and Smith, and Marcia at Suburban for your smiles and the wonderful faith you have in me, only having known me for two summers. To the Meltzer Lab, I am glad to see little has changed. I will be back :)
From the Gospel on Sunday: Do not be afraid. but have faith. It felt as though it were directed at me.
God bless you all. Thanks for listening :)
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Hawaii Part Two
As promised, the remainder of the Hawaii trip. It's been quite a change coming home to rain and chilly weather, but so much is coming I can't help but be excited...
May 30
Slack key guitar concert performed by a couple--the male half had been playing this traditional style since he was six. I wasn't sure I'd like it at first, but the stories the couple told throughout made it special. Sandy, the woman, called everything "beautiful"--I understood why. There is no stronger word. She would close her eyes whenever her husband played and after, she'd smile and look at him with a mix of admiration, adoration, and pure love. It was, well, beautiful.
June 2
A "nothing" day--brunch, lots of reading, rummy, lunch, reading, town, rummy, dinner, sunset, rummy. I'll admit concern--I don't do "nothing" well. I thrive on plans and packed schedules. The prospect of a day with nothing but the resort's weekly continental breakfast and laundry? Daunting, but I enjoyed it, the sleeping in, the relaxation, the ample time to read, and now, nearing bedtime, I'm still tired. Maybe it's the sea breeze.
It was windy till mid-afternoon. I loved it, sitting out reading with the wind in my face, watching whitecaps in the water and palm fronds do the hula.
June 4
I love the way the waves come in at angles to form a v right below the balcony. I love the deep aquamarine of the sea. I love the wind off the water, in my face; I feel it lightens me. I love the currents and choppy waves while snorkeling. It reminds me of the truly awesome power of the sea, that it can suck you in and is much more powerful than you. Yet its reminders are nothing you can't swim through, nothing that truly hurts you, only leaves you with a lingering (and humbling) sense of wonder and awe.
June 7
On the Kalalau trail: At times, the trail wouldn't be visible on the next bump, and you'd ask aloud, how the hell do we get around that? or you'd see the trail and ask how do you climb that?. The cliff parts, inches away from a slow down where the sea crashed into the rocks, were often loose scree and at times, seemingly impossibly angled. At parts it took your breath away, walking along cliffs straight down to the crystal clear ocean (so clear you could see the reef underneath it). Sometimes it took away your powers of speech.
God bless the maintainers of this trail (I can't imagine doing anything to it...), those natives who cut it, and the inventors of trekking poles and ibuprofen (I wouldn't have made it without those two things...)
June 9
I wish I could have transformed into a dolphin today. They have such fun playing with one another and with the boats. While hiking, we watched them--some just kept leaping out of the water and leaping and leaping....Pop and Matt essentially had to drag me away.
June 11
Queen's Bath. I loved climbing lava rocks, but the fish were nothing too spectacular. With some, their silver glinted in the sun, and a few looked genuinely bug-eyed terrified when they seemed stuck as I hovered above. The sea turtles made it all worthwhile. The baby was the size of the snapping turtles at home. They were jostled by the waves, but not too much, and when they surfaced, they were so close you could really see them--breathtaking!
It rained after dinner--beautiful, especially watching all the places it was raining and not raining. And before the sun set, a rainbow.
That may or may not be everything (I like the ambiguous endings lol).
I realized after I'd sent it out that my link to the pictures was wrong. This is the real link: http://picasaweb.google.com/nickiboisvert.
Thanks for listening :)
May 30
Slack key guitar concert performed by a couple--the male half had been playing this traditional style since he was six. I wasn't sure I'd like it at first, but the stories the couple told throughout made it special. Sandy, the woman, called everything "beautiful"--I understood why. There is no stronger word. She would close her eyes whenever her husband played and after, she'd smile and look at him with a mix of admiration, adoration, and pure love. It was, well, beautiful.
June 2
A "nothing" day--brunch, lots of reading, rummy, lunch, reading, town, rummy, dinner, sunset, rummy. I'll admit concern--I don't do "nothing" well. I thrive on plans and packed schedules. The prospect of a day with nothing but the resort's weekly continental breakfast and laundry? Daunting, but I enjoyed it, the sleeping in, the relaxation, the ample time to read, and now, nearing bedtime, I'm still tired. Maybe it's the sea breeze.
It was windy till mid-afternoon. I loved it, sitting out reading with the wind in my face, watching whitecaps in the water and palm fronds do the hula.
June 4
I love the way the waves come in at angles to form a v right below the balcony. I love the deep aquamarine of the sea. I love the wind off the water, in my face; I feel it lightens me. I love the currents and choppy waves while snorkeling. It reminds me of the truly awesome power of the sea, that it can suck you in and is much more powerful than you. Yet its reminders are nothing you can't swim through, nothing that truly hurts you, only leaves you with a lingering (and humbling) sense of wonder and awe.
June 7
On the Kalalau trail: At times, the trail wouldn't be visible on the next bump, and you'd ask aloud, how the hell do we get around that? or you'd see the trail and ask how do you climb that?. The cliff parts, inches away from a slow down where the sea crashed into the rocks, were often loose scree and at times, seemingly impossibly angled. At parts it took your breath away, walking along cliffs straight down to the crystal clear ocean (so clear you could see the reef underneath it). Sometimes it took away your powers of speech.
God bless the maintainers of this trail (I can't imagine doing anything to it...), those natives who cut it, and the inventors of trekking poles and ibuprofen (I wouldn't have made it without those two things...)
June 9
I wish I could have transformed into a dolphin today. They have such fun playing with one another and with the boats. While hiking, we watched them--some just kept leaping out of the water and leaping and leaping....Pop and Matt essentially had to drag me away.
June 11
Queen's Bath. I loved climbing lava rocks, but the fish were nothing too spectacular. With some, their silver glinted in the sun, and a few looked genuinely bug-eyed terrified when they seemed stuck as I hovered above. The sea turtles made it all worthwhile. The baby was the size of the snapping turtles at home. They were jostled by the waves, but not too much, and when they surfaced, they were so close you could really see them--breathtaking!
It rained after dinner--beautiful, especially watching all the places it was raining and not raining. And before the sun set, a rainbow.
That may or may not be everything (I like the ambiguous endings lol).
I realized after I'd sent it out that my link to the pictures was wrong. This is the real link: http://picasaweb.google.com/nickiboisvert.
Thanks for listening :)
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Hawaii Part One
Since I just came back from Hawaii, and managed to write each day to keep tabs on what I was doing/seeing, I figured I would share some with you. I'll try and post some pictures here at some point, but should have sent the link to my pictures to you all as well.
Hawaii: greeted us with dolphins our first morning and said good bye with a rainbow our final night.
May 25: Flying
1pm keeps repeating itself. Wandering the aisles, I see: a couple asleep, leaning on one another. A few others, asleep, mouths open; others somehow lying across three seats. I can't sleep (Tylenol PM for Cambodia!).
I open the Pslams to songs of praise, familiar songs of praise, and Naomi Shihab Nye to something similar, giving thanks. All is done but for the grace of God.
With clouds above and clouds below, and blue sky and blue sea, I wonder if there is truly a firmament separating sea and sky, or if it's just space, or if the two meld together as one and we are simply fortunate not to drown. After all, sky is as high up as we perceive it, and that depends on where in space we are.
If eternity exists (and where it exists?) this blueness above and below could stretch into it and it would be peaceful and teeming with life. It would be beautiful.
May 27: Day 2
After our ultralight ride (www.birdsinparadise.com--my shameless plug for a fantastic ride.): major adrenalin rush going up. Once you adjust to the fact that there's air and space all around you, amazing. The coast was spectacular, surreal, like a scene from Jurrassic Park (which was actually filmed in part on the NaPali coast). A large pod of dolphins, sea turtles, coral below...perfection. I wasn't as moved as I'd hoped I'd be, but I was smiling and it was spiritually fulfulling, if that makes sense.
May 28: Day 3
While hiking and contemplating how overwhelmingly beautiful the scenery was--almost too much so to truly be adequately appreciated: As I neared the car, it started to rain. To my disgustingly sweaty body, it felt like a profound act of mercy. Perhaps it was; God is in the details too, and the details are equally if not more important.
May 30: Day 5
Two women with a little girl, building a coral sand castle--it looked like three generations.
I had a yes! moment, where I felt utterly connected. While snorkeling (which is always awesome--solitary, exploratory, oh! there's a nifty fish so close I could about touch it!). There was a turtle, which was awesome in itself, but being me, I stayed a while, watching it emerge from its rock hideout, surface on and off, before returning. Just me, the turtle, and the vast ocean. It was incredible.
More to come! Thanks for listening :)
Hawaii: greeted us with dolphins our first morning and said good bye with a rainbow our final night.
May 25: Flying
1pm keeps repeating itself. Wandering the aisles, I see: a couple asleep, leaning on one another. A few others, asleep, mouths open; others somehow lying across three seats. I can't sleep (Tylenol PM for Cambodia!).
I open the Pslams to songs of praise, familiar songs of praise, and Naomi Shihab Nye to something similar, giving thanks. All is done but for the grace of God.
With clouds above and clouds below, and blue sky and blue sea, I wonder if there is truly a firmament separating sea and sky, or if it's just space, or if the two meld together as one and we are simply fortunate not to drown. After all, sky is as high up as we perceive it, and that depends on where in space we are.
If eternity exists (and where it exists?) this blueness above and below could stretch into it and it would be peaceful and teeming with life. It would be beautiful.
May 27: Day 2
After our ultralight ride (www.birdsinparadise.com--my shameless plug for a fantastic ride.): major adrenalin rush going up. Once you adjust to the fact that there's air and space all around you, amazing. The coast was spectacular, surreal, like a scene from Jurrassic Park (which was actually filmed in part on the NaPali coast). A large pod of dolphins, sea turtles, coral below...perfection. I wasn't as moved as I'd hoped I'd be, but I was smiling and it was spiritually fulfulling, if that makes sense.
May 28: Day 3
While hiking and contemplating how overwhelmingly beautiful the scenery was--almost too much so to truly be adequately appreciated: As I neared the car, it started to rain. To my disgustingly sweaty body, it felt like a profound act of mercy. Perhaps it was; God is in the details too, and the details are equally if not more important.
May 30: Day 5
Two women with a little girl, building a coral sand castle--it looked like three generations.
I had a yes! moment, where I felt utterly connected. While snorkeling (which is always awesome--solitary, exploratory, oh! there's a nifty fish so close I could about touch it!). There was a turtle, which was awesome in itself, but being me, I stayed a while, watching it emerge from its rock hideout, surface on and off, before returning. Just me, the turtle, and the vast ocean. It was incredible.
More to come! Thanks for listening :)
Beginning
Now that I'm back from Hawaii, I've finally begun the blog I promised. I promise to try my best to keep it updated so everyone can keep tabs on where in the world I am and how I'm doing there! Thanks for listening :)
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