Paul - Paul Nevin

Life Condensed:

• Withdrew from school in 2004 to take care of (ex)girlfriend who had bone cancer.
• Volunteered for 3 months in Costa Rica teaching English and planning/managing/constructing a new cafeteria.
• Spent 6 months leading vacations for groups of adults with developmental disabilities
• Spent 9 months in South America. Volunteered in an orphanage in Peru for 2 months. Spent 4 months establishing volunteer programs in Quito, Ecuador. Traveled alone through Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia.
• Spent 3 more months leading trips for adults with developmental disabilities and then moved to NYC

And Now…

Heading out on a year long adventure with my girlfriend Courtney. Spending the first 6 months volunteering on the construction of a hospital in rural western Ethiopia. Then heading towards SE Asia and spending the next 6 months doing whatever we please (Ideally, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines). Hopefully spending a few months in India and Nepal as well!

*UPDATE 3/30/09 Back in the US after 8 months in Ethiopia. Courtney has decided to go her own way so unfortunately I won't be going to SE Asia right now. Might even try and settle down for a couple of years and finish school... Haven't lived anywhere longer than a year for the last 6 years so it should be interesting! I'm sure I will throw some shorter traveling experiences into the mix though... I do get itchy feet!

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Joined on: March 8th 2005
Last Login: November 6th 2009

Blog Entries: 45
Photos: 369
Recommended by 4, Recommends 2

TB Code: [blogger=2296]
Status: BLOGGER

Blogs & Travel Journals

by Paul, order by Date newest first.

By Paul
October 6th 2008

A Lovely Week in an African Hospital Africa » Ethiopia » Benishangul-Gumuz Region

Bridge
I took this picture of a recently constructed bridge in order to present it to the owner of the construction company... maybe they will want to provide assistance for our project! ;)

Appendectomy African Style When I woke up in the middle of the night throwing up and having diarrhea, I must admit that I thought nothing of it. Let’s be honest, I have spent a majority of my time here in Ethiopia participating in such fun tourist activities. The pain, though, was unbearable. It could be likened to the excruciating discomfort of watching Sara Palin in an interview… and equally as nauseating I might add! After spending the rest of the night and following morning writhing in pain, Courtney finally convinced me to go to the ER. After blood, urine [View Full Entry]

By Paul
September 1st 2008

Suffering From Efficiency Deficiency Africa » Ethiopia » Benishangul-Gumuz Region

Ambo
Also on the way to Addis

Why I Love Home Depot I am suffering from efficiency deficiency. Symptoms include headache, frustration, and fatigue from constant trips back and forth in search of answers and solutions. Causes range from lack of infrastructure to general countrywide lack of desire to be productive. Building a hospital in one of the most remote parts of a country that still doesn’t have basic infrastructure has proven to be predictably difficult. But I wasn’t prepared for such extensive amounts of bureaucracy and run around from both government and private business. Even the m [View Full Entry]

By Paul
July 14th 2008

War... and War on Toilets Africa » Ethiopia » Benishangul-Gumuz Region

Local Coffee Shop

A Stool Sample Here? Building a hospital in a foreign country requires immense amounts of research, commitment and determination. Determined to show my commitment to research, I decided that the best way to explore the current healthcare situation in Ethiopia was to get a severe bacterial stomach infection after a few days in Addis. Fried fish at the hotel did the trick. Over a span of about 10 hours, I had diarrhea 12 times and threw up at least 10 times. I didn’t feel sufficiently prepared to explore the local clinic until I was unable to keep even water down. We [View Full Entry]

By Paul
May 28th 2008

Returning to your lives North America » United States » New York » New York

Manhattan Skyline

Mop up the tears. Put down the gallon of ice cream. Stop the prozac. I'm Back! I have finally returned to fill the empty feeling that all of my loyal followers have suffered through for the last 2 years. You will all be excited to know that more Paul Nevin blogs are headed your direction. I’m headed out on another adventure and this time I’m dragging my girlfriend Courtney with me. I’m uprooting her from her comfortable life and throwing her into the mix of chaos that I consider fun travel. We are planning to spend 6 months volunteering with the [View Full Entry]

By Paul
September 5th 2006

Is it an accident if it doesn't leak from the diaper? North America » United States » Connecticut

Ronnie!
He was on my New England Farm trip last year

In this Update, I will discuss one of the most esoterically profound questions in the history of man. This brain buster ranks right up there with some of the famously engrossing queries in history: If a tree falls in the forest, but no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Is George Bush the missing homo sapien link between chimps and humans? The question is: Is it an accident if it doesn’t leak from the diaper? Let me preface this thought that will be occupying your minds for the [View Full Entry]

By Paul
August 27th 2006

A Moose in the Poconos eh? North America » Canada » Ontario » Toronto

See, Maine isn't always cold

As you all easily deciphered from the title of this update, I spent the last few weeks leading Sprout trips to Maine, Toronto, and the Poconos. The first trip I went on was to Maine and it was quite memorable to say the least. If I had to give the trip a word for the week, inquisitive would finish a close second to irritation. This group of 7 men and 2 women joined forces to annoy us leaders to an unimaginable extent. Questions, questions, questions. I swear I felt like Alex Trebek after spending 30 minutes in the van. It’s as [View Full Entry]

By Paul
August 8th 2006

Grease, Mel Gibson, and Jesus...a great combination North America » United States » New York

The model returns
and you all thought (maybe hoped) my modeling career was going nowhere

As many of you may already know, loud and indiscreet eaters are the source of some serious personal vexation for me. Working with mentally and developmentally disabled people through Sprout forces me to work on controlling the aggravation and moving on with my meal. For those of you who have never eaten a meal with a large group of mentally disabled people, I will so kindly describe the enjoyable experience. First off, almost none of the participants chew with their mouth closed. (And to be honest, I am more worried about them keeping the hole at the other end closed at [View Full Entry]

By Paul
July 1st 2006

Disrobing before strangers Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica

Cloud forest hike in Costa Rica

I got ‘back-roomed’ in Ecuador’s airport trying to leave the country. It started out as a normal day at the airport... arriving a few hours early and waiting forever while the people behind the desk type away incessantly and most likely, unnecessarily. After waiting for about an hour and moving a total of 7 feet in the line, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was a short, round oompa loompa looking narcotics trafficking officer. “I’ve been watching you.” I didn’t really know how to respond so I stared at him and hummed the oompa loompa song to mys [View Full Entry]

Beautiful view from our hike to the mountain "Paraguas"

By Paul
May 21st 2006

A Night With Drug Lords South America » Colombia » Cali

Fences strong enough to keep out the Guerillas

The first inkling that it was going to be an interesting night was when I met Pablo at the entrance to the party and we started chatting and I told him I was from the US. “Oh, really?” he said. “I spent 3 years in the US.” “What part?” I asked. “Florida” he replied simply. “Right on, what did you do while you were there?” “I sat in jail. Apparently the states don’t like it when you bring 5 kilos of heroin into the country.” It was at this juncture that I realized the invitation-only party I was about to wa [View Full Entry]

By Paul
May 9th 2006

Beautiful beaches to beautiful cities South America » Colombia » Medellin

Great for relaxation

Parque Nacional Tayrona is an absolute utopia of stunning beaches. Tropical green mountains brimming with wildlife keep watch over deep Caribbean bays with pristine white-sand beaches littered only by massive boulders and shade-yielding palm trees. The hike in is like walking into the pages of a National Geographic. After a 3 hour hike, I eventually arrived to a camp site situated on the third beach from the entrance. The fascinating beauty of the hike was still distracting and added to the confusion as I arrived… I had missed the camp site and instead stumbled upon an Israeli re [View Full Entry]

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Life Condensed:

And Now…

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