Vegas baby! When Monty’s dad, Michael Goldman, told us he wanted to treat us to a trip to Vegas for working so hard this summer, we responded with a “Hell yes, thank you thank you!” & quickly started planning like anybody would. After packing for a kite trip, a Vegas trip & a backpack through SE Asia trip all at once (grueling as you can imagine), we happily departed on September 29th and stayed at Mandalay Bay for 3 nights. There was basking at the beach pool, hitting the strip at night, yards of margaritas, eating great food, rolling dice, seeing [View Full Entry]

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As much as I was excited about visiting a new place like Phoenix, I was also somewhat reluctant, especially after spending the last five days in Las Vegas. From Vegas’ wild night life of neons and alcohol to the sandy plains of the wild-west; or at least that is how I pictured it to be. For the most part I was right, but I have enjoyed it here none the less. Sitting at a higher altitude, with the desert heat of 100ish degrees (30ish Celsius for the metric folk) Phoenix has been a nice relaxing stop on the way to [View Full Entry]

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On our last few days in Vegas, all I kept hearing was about the temperature in Phoenix, “its been 120degrees in Phoenix….” Etc etc, upon hearing this and then converting this into Celsius I nearly cried, nearly 50degrees! So off we headed to Phoenix, a little cautious about the weather, and let me tell you, it is HOT! Although only in the high 30’s, thank god, I don’t think I could stand it any hotter. We’re staying in a small little motel about 20minutes from downtown Phoenix so all exploring has been done just around this area but I cant complain. [View Full Entry]

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Hi All! We have been home for a week now. We spent the last week of our trip in Santa Fe, New Mexcio, arriving in Northern Arizona on Sept. 2nd. We stayed in Flagstaff for 2 days so we could buy supplies to go camping over the Labor Day weekend with our friends and family at Hutch Mountain. To be honest, I was not all that impressed with Santa Fe. The weather was nice, and down town was nice to walk around and see shops, and the southwestern architecture, but New Mexico as a whole is pretty barren. I guess coming [View Full Entry]

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As most of you know, I'll be studying Mandarin Chinese language and Chinese culture as a foreign exchange student this fall at Sichuan University in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. I leave this monday. I'll miss y'all, but I'll return with novel, re-conceptualized thoughts and states of being to further mystify y'all with. It'll be good. Trust me. I know. I won't be able to celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, or my twenty-first birthday in America. But no worries: It doesn't concern me. Why let it concern you? It'll be cool. China's cool. Trust me. I've been asked a lot thi [View Full Entry]

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For a while after I decided to quit working in New Mexico I struggled with what I was going to do next. I pondered this while in the high mountains of Colorado for my friends’ Nagel and Julie’s wedding in Steamboat Springs. Traveling and spending time alone reminded me of what I enjoy and I began thinking about other things that I enjoy. I put myself in a paradox of places, because I love the openness and simpleness of the wild places, yet to study Aikido I must live in a town large enough to support a dojo. I relish in [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 We started today at 4:30. Thank you Oana for bringing us to the airport. After 14 hours we finally arrived at Doug and Lloyd's house in Mohave Valley. We landed in Phoenix and drove through Lake Havasau City and saw the famous London Bridge. After we got here we took a short boat ride with Bill and Carmen and Doug and Lloyd and of course Skypper. Cray and Skyper became fast friends and there was soon a competion to see who would wear out first. After thowing a ball in the river for Skypper to retrieve about a thousand [View Full Entry]

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I cannot believe it has been a whole month since arriving to Phoenix. Time has flown by and I am more than settled in. I have gone through my first weeks of Teach for America training and although it has been the hardest I have ever worked in my life, I have never been so empowered. A "typical day" would be alarm at 5:30am, bus at 6:14am, teach until 1pm, class till 5pm, bus home, hour break, meetings or classes, then finally the HUGE amount of homework till 11pm (that is approximately 16hrs of hard work!). I know that everyone’s TFA [View Full Entry]

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2 days before I leave for Hermosillo! Previously, I have traveled to Europe and South America. I have been to Italy and Uruguay. I have hosted and exchange student from Uruguay, South America for 6 months. I'm very comfortable traveling without my parents, so I'm not worried about being away from home for 3 weeks. While in Hermosillo, I expect life to be somewhat different from life in Phoenix. I am expecting a more relaxed lifestyle that centers around the family. This is different from life in the United States, where life is focused around the individual. I expect life to [View Full Entry]

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We leave today! Can't wait. First stop, Lake Powell at the Arizona/Utah boarder. [View Full Entry]

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