We got a call from our Peace Corps recruiter last week that the DC office had requested us to move forward on university teaching positions in China. He told us to talk about it, research it, and get back to him in a few days. We talked it over at length, did some research on positions there and possibilities for placement and despite changing our minds every few hours, decided to go for it.
Next we do the medical checks and the background screenings, and if all goes well we'll be set for departure for our 27 month term of service in June 2010. I'm really looking forward to totally immersing myself and learning Mandarin to complete my goal of being fluent in a foreign language by the time I'm 30.
And some of you better start saving up to come visit us in China!
20.5.09
21.3.09
home again, home again, jiggity jig
We've been back home since March 3rd, the day before Richy's 25th birthday. We had an awesome time in Mexico and the Southwest US and are looking forward to our next chance for adventure. We made it to Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas and Reno on the way home!
In the meantime we're planting victory gardens and searching out non-exploitative ways to make livings. We're officially Peace Corps nominees now but they won't have positions open for us until spring/summer of 2010. We'll keep people posted.
There might be a cross-country road trip in the works with Korea friends for this fall... lookout midwest and east coast friends!
In the meantime we're planting victory gardens and searching out non-exploitative ways to make livings. We're officially Peace Corps nominees now but they won't have positions open for us until spring/summer of 2010. We'll keep people posted.
There might be a cross-country road trip in the works with Korea friends for this fall... lookout midwest and east coast friends!
19.2.09
Just a little update.
To our pleaseant surprise, we found a lovely place just north of
puerto angel called zipolite. It's a little hippy beach community with
a nicer spot for us to camp for only 10 pesos more than the last place.
puerto angel called zipolite. It's a little hippy beach community with
a nicer spot for us to camp for only 10 pesos more than the last place.
We're just basically getting tan, trying to cook authentic Mexican
dishes on the camp stove and relaxing. Probably heading out to Oaxaca
city on Friday for a few days then start the trek back northward.
Love,
Katie y Richy
14.2.09
Mechanical Misadventures and Simple Pleasures
Despite covering a few hundred kilometers with our drive shaft held in place with nothing more than a whittled stick, duct tape and glued together cardboard, we made it to Manzanillo with enough driving capacity to get directions to four different places which might have the necessary bolt. Of course when we found it, the guy spoke English and didn´t charge us since he didn´t want to break a 200 peso bill. Yo quiero Mexicanos! Other than that, the only mechanical misadventure despite the unpaved roads, unmarked speedbumps and numerous potholes was catching our battery before it nearly bounced out of our car. Glad we invested in that spiral core vibration proof one!
Yesterday we made it finally to the relatively untouristed section of the Pacific Coast of Mexico (thanks to long lingering rumors about drug operations and rip tides). Which is now thankfully occupied by abundant federale forces and the "ecotourism" crowd. We´re still pretty hesitant about going more than ankle deep in the water though. The village of Maruata is a beautiful, warm, relaxing and hammock swinging place where I had the best lobster dinner of my life last night with beer for less than 10 bucks.
We´re planning to head out toward Acapoulco tomorrow and will hopefully find a cheap relaxing beach near there, but not holding our breath after seeing the expensive resort wastelands north of here.
Besos!
Katie (y Richy)
6.10.08
Last Days
It's been some time since our last update since we haven't had much reliable access to the internet for a while. After leaving Hilvarenbeek we quickly discovered that driving the fastest and most direct route to your destination in Europe costs a lot more than just gas and car rental. Between Luxembourg and Paris we paid over 30 euros in toll fees. After camping for a few days with Kimmie in Paris we decided that our new navigation style would include avoiding toll roads (which were luckily marked on the handy road atlas Kimmie brought us from Powell's in Portland).
We spent too much time driving after an ill-fated night in Tours (which included the most disgusting pizza I think I have ever had in my life), and found ourselves without accommodation in Cap Ferret on the Atlantic coast of France. We ended up camping illegally in a park near some dunes and spent the evening drinking wine and eating boxed tiramisu while nestled in the sand. All in all not a bad evening.
After Luxembourg, Richy and I decided that we wanted to try to hit all the tiny random countries we could. So we spent the next long car day on our way down to Andorra. Turns out that was only useful for the cheap gas (only 1.01 euro a liter) and testing Richy's skills at taking sharp turns on steep hills.
Following a two hour dip into a corner of Spain, we raced to the city of Sete to try to find a place to stay for the night after 10pm. Luckily the guy at the hostel stayed open a little late for us and we were able to get in, although he mysteriously lost 10 euros of ours between Richy's hand and the cash register. Oh well.
We spent the day on Sete relaxing in the sun while Kimmie did laundry, but unfortunately we had some communication problems and made plans to meet at two different beaches. When we finally found each other, we chilled out on some rocks and watched an amazing sunset, followed by what seemed to be an intense sandstorm. To escape, we ducked into the first friendly restaurant and Richy did a lovely job of ordering our meals in French while awkwardly rubbing the sand out of his eyes. We dined on fresh whole fish and potatoes with the most amazing garlic butter ever.
After two nights in Sete we made our way through Italy and Switzerland (yet another big driving day) to Konstanz, Germany on the shores of the Bodensee. Again we arrived after 10, but luckily the college students working the hostel were still up getting drunk and after teasing us for a bit decided to let us have a place to stay. Konstanz was pretty boring since it was too cold for swimming and lake fun, but we had a nice couple of nights to relax before the pandemonium of Oktoberfest.
We then swung by Neuschwanstein (that's the storybook castle that the one in Disneyland is supposedly based on) in Bavaria, and ended up meeting Kimmie's boyfriend and friends at Oktoberfest which involved a lot of beer drinking, broken glass, prost-ing, standing on tables and singing and basically everything you would expect. Luckily it was cheaper and less annoying than we expected. It was basically a good time all around and Richy and I were able to avoid any major hangovers.
Following Oktoberfest, we spent three nights in Prague, which was amazing. We got a chance to see all the great tourist stuff, but I feel like I need to go back for more of the modern attractions. Now we're in the tiny and adorable town of Cesky Kromlov, which seems like it came right out of a picture book.
Tomorrow we head back into Germany to Kimmie's friends' place and after a couple nights it's off to Dusseldorf to catch our plane home! It's so weird to think we'll be home in just a few days...
See you all soon!
By Katie
We spent too much time driving after an ill-fated night in Tours (which included the most disgusting pizza I think I have ever had in my life), and found ourselves without accommodation in Cap Ferret on the Atlantic coast of France. We ended up camping illegally in a park near some dunes and spent the evening drinking wine and eating boxed tiramisu while nestled in the sand. All in all not a bad evening.
After Luxembourg, Richy and I decided that we wanted to try to hit all the tiny random countries we could. So we spent the next long car day on our way down to Andorra. Turns out that was only useful for the cheap gas (only 1.01 euro a liter) and testing Richy's skills at taking sharp turns on steep hills.
Following a two hour dip into a corner of Spain, we raced to the city of Sete to try to find a place to stay for the night after 10pm. Luckily the guy at the hostel stayed open a little late for us and we were able to get in, although he mysteriously lost 10 euros of ours between Richy's hand and the cash register. Oh well.
We spent the day on Sete relaxing in the sun while Kimmie did laundry, but unfortunately we had some communication problems and made plans to meet at two different beaches. When we finally found each other, we chilled out on some rocks and watched an amazing sunset, followed by what seemed to be an intense sandstorm. To escape, we ducked into the first friendly restaurant and Richy did a lovely job of ordering our meals in French while awkwardly rubbing the sand out of his eyes. We dined on fresh whole fish and potatoes with the most amazing garlic butter ever.
After two nights in Sete we made our way through Italy and Switzerland (yet another big driving day) to Konstanz, Germany on the shores of the Bodensee. Again we arrived after 10, but luckily the college students working the hostel were still up getting drunk and after teasing us for a bit decided to let us have a place to stay. Konstanz was pretty boring since it was too cold for swimming and lake fun, but we had a nice couple of nights to relax before the pandemonium of Oktoberfest.
We then swung by Neuschwanstein (that's the storybook castle that the one in Disneyland is supposedly based on) in Bavaria, and ended up meeting Kimmie's boyfriend and friends at Oktoberfest which involved a lot of beer drinking, broken glass, prost-ing, standing on tables and singing and basically everything you would expect. Luckily it was cheaper and less annoying than we expected. It was basically a good time all around and Richy and I were able to avoid any major hangovers.
Following Oktoberfest, we spent three nights in Prague, which was amazing. We got a chance to see all the great tourist stuff, but I feel like I need to go back for more of the modern attractions. Now we're in the tiny and adorable town of Cesky Kromlov, which seems like it came right out of a picture book.
Tomorrow we head back into Germany to Kimmie's friends' place and after a couple nights it's off to Dusseldorf to catch our plane home! It's so weird to think we'll be home in just a few days...
See you all soon!
By Katie
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