Blogs from Kansas, United States, North America - page 27

Being at home is busy. For the past two months I have been tour guide and tourist in my native land. My friend Mathurin, whom I call Mr. Know-it-All, traveled with me to Kansas. As he left his family, friends, and mother tongue for a month, longer than he has ever left them before, I returned from my version of a similar departure. I ended my Peace Corps Volunteer service and am officially looking for a job. But first I had to visit the most important people and places with Mathurin. Fortunately I was critically needed to translate as we traveled, so I didn’t have time to experience culture shock. Those surprises which I did encounter were more easily absorbed because I would translate the situation to Mathurin and talk about the differences. At the same ... read more

Day 7: Westward Hoe! Like a stubborn case of chlamydia, Kansas just won't go away. We capped off our enchanting stay in Junction City with a memorable breakfast gathered from the overflowing shelves at WalMart (irradiated apples, armageddon-ready Hostess Streusel cakes, and a 35-pound burlap sack of old carrots). There's nothing that quite compares with a meal eaten in the parking lot of a midwestern superstore. As many of you know, my most admirable character trait (and there are many) is my unflinching commitment to a progressive environmental politics. From the celebrated national campaign to get the Oklahoma State bird changed from the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher to the Thrice-Inebriated Titmouse, to the stirring protest songs I have penned for the "Plastic or Paper?" wars, I pride myself on being at the forefront of American environmentalism. It was ... read more

Hey Everyone! As most of you know I've spent the past year clerking for Judge Deanell Tacha in Lawrence, Kansas. Unfortunately my time there has come to an end and today I'm taking off for five weeks to backpack through Europe---one last attempt to avoid the inevitable arrival of the "real world." I start private practice in DC this fall. I'll be overseas until September 10 and my itinerary is pretty flexible at this point. Possible destinations include Krakow, Vienna, Budapest, Croatia, Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, French Riviera, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, London. I obviously won't have a cell phone so I will stay in touch with everyone through email. Hopefully this website will also help me keep you all updated during my travels! I'm not sure how often, and if, I'll be able to update this, ... read more

It was so good to see some messages from all of you!!! We had a change in plans since leaving Branson, MO. Chris had an epiphany on Sunday morning (so he says:) and mentioned that he thought that the Kansas City Royals were playing a home game that day...hmmm. I think that he might be going through some baseball/sports withdrawal while being on this trip. Sports radio doesn't seem to cut it. I checked on-line and sure enough the Royals were playing the Mariners at Kaufmann Field at 1:10. PERFECT!! We undid the RV and hit the road. We made it for 1pm and even had a nice man not take advantage of us by giving us a coupon that saved us $40.00. I guess our good karma has returned. We bought fantastic seats behind the ... read more

Editors note: I have one more travel blog entry from Vietnam to write called the” Library System of Vietnam. It will be a long blog probably done in several installments. I am not through writing it and I am home, enjoying my place in this wonderful land, Larned (my home town), Kansas in the good old USA. The following blog is on the 4th of July Celebration in Larned at the home of Clark and Judy Redding. These kinds of celebrations happen all over the United States. Family and friends get together in backyards and enjoy an evening of friendship and family. Clark in a very special way gives a speech every year at this event on what it means to be an American. Clark's speech, good food, special surroundings, family and friends make this a ... read more