Zim

Hi guys! I am lucky enough to have the chance to take an amazing trip to Zimbabwe, so am resurrecting this little corner of the internet to share some of my experiences while I'm here. Wifi here is a little less reliable than the country-wide access in Korea, so posts are going to be a little more sparing, or might not be posted until I get back  :)

I'm spending three weeks near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe with an awesome organization called 2 Seconds or Less that partners with schools to build school in areas plagued with malnutrition. Our work will be centered at Matapos Primary school, and we'll be partnering with an organization in the community, Forgotten Voices, that helps families care for the large number of child orphans resulting from the AIDS epidemic.

In addition to being a great experience, this trip is doing double-duty fulfilling my practicum requirement for my master's program. My role will be to help collect data on the current state of nutrition and diet in the community, so the organization can measure if their program is making an impact later on.

 

After a long string of flights and car ride - Washington, DC to Accra, Ghana (10 hr), Ghana to Johannesburg, South Africa (7 hours), South Africa to Harare, Zimbabwe (3 hours) and another 7 hour drive - I'm here! Although not exactly where I planned to be.

 

Due to a communication error, the school in Bulawayo isn’t expecting us until this coming Monday, which means they weren’t ready for us. So we traveled to a small rural town called Doma instead. 2SOL has two established here and two members of our team have lived here since January so we were welcomed with open arms. There are 5 total in the team I’m with – 4 employees and 2 other interns. More on everything later! You can subscribe to this blog with your email on the right hand side if you're interested.

 

 

Escape to Outer Banks

About halfway through each semester of school and working full-time, I'm more than ready for a trip to somewhere new. Since I have some big money savings goals this year, anywhere too expensive was out of the question.

After a little searching, I landed on Kill Devil Hills, NC - a great Groupon deal on a pet-friendly(!) hotel and only 5 hours in the car away from DC. We went in Mid-March, so it was off season as well, and it was refreshing to be at the beach without the crowds.

The trip got off to an interesting start when, after an amazing birthday surprise party that was a little more wild than I expected, neither CJ and I could make our selves get out of bed for the 5am departure time we originally intended. So we bummed the day away while I struggled to work from home and set off for North Carolina in the evening.

After a Serial podcast marathon and eating dinner in the Chic-fil-a parking lot because we felt guilty leaving Max in the car, we made it to our hotel at about midnight. And then woke up to boxer pup whines at 6am. He's lucky he's cute.

We made no plans ahead of time, and just spent our two days exploring everything Trip Advisor told us to. Here are some highlights:

Wright Brothers National Memorial: Not much here except a hill and a few statues, but I guess it was cool to stand where history was made. Luckily we didn't have to pay since it was off-season, but there's usually a per-car entry fee.

Jockey's Ridge State Park: Sand dunes, sand dunes and more sand dunes. Max went a little buck wild and the views were pretty cool.

Bodie Island Lighthouse: The inside was closed, but was still a nice scenic walk.

While the sites were fun, by far the best part of being at the beach is the beach. Max loved running around, and I spent a decent amount of time reading on a hotel porch overlooking the water. For dinner one night, we had a picnic of cheese, crackers, wine, and salami outside. We also woke up to watch the sunrise, but ended up being an hour early after a daylight saving mix-up. I will say that shivering in the pitch black for an hour does make you appreciate the sunrise more :)

If the best part was the beach, Duck Donuts was a close second. They make every donut fresh as you order, and I've never had a better donut.

It's great to make memories with our little squad of three, and I'll take any vacation I can get, no matter how small!

Rooting DC Forum

This weekend I attended the 9th annual Rooting DC forum. It's an awesome free conference hosted each year covering all things food access and urban gardening. I don't know much about gardening (though I would like to!) but loved hearing about all the great things folks are doing to decrease hunger, connect people with healthy food, and grow the local food economy in the district.

Even more than the talks, just being around people who are so excited and passionate about their causes was energizing. And, there was a bunch of food trucks there too!

2.27 | Life Lately

It's finally starting to get nice out in DC, and I've been a little more motivated to leave my couch and Netflix :) This week I've been...

Starting my work days off with chia seed pudding. It's so easy to make ahead of time and delicious. (I use 1 cup of coconut milk and ~1/3 cup of chia seeds, and let sit in the fridge overnight). I added cinnamon and pear slices in this one.

Buddha Bowls, Part of a Prettier Dinner

I first heard of the "Buddha bowl" concept when browsing Pinterest for new recipe ideas. As far as I could tell, they didn't have much in common except for being chock full of veggies and extremely Instagram-worthy.

 Picture and recipe from: http://sweetpotatosoul.com/2015/05/everyday-buddha-bowl.html

I did some research quick Googling and came up with definitions all over the spectrum. A mindfulness blog described the term as a "bowl filled with simple pure food and enjoyed with deep gratitude" and I think Urban Dictionary was talking about a different kind of bowl...

DC Bucket List

 I've lived in the DC area for about a year and a half. Although, an Arlington resident, I'm not technically in DC, I'm more than close enough to take advantage of all the city has to offer.

Even though I've been here a while, most of my DC experiences have been running by or on the monuments during marathon training (all the pictures in this post are from my runs). I'm going to be moving away in a few short months, and want to make sure I visit everything I can while I'm still so close.

This DC bucket list is a combination of things I have already done and want to re-visit, as well as things I've been dying to experience for a while.

2.19 | Life Lately

With the combination of Valentine's Day, a 3-day weekend, and a surprise snowstorm, this week started off with a bang. The past few days have been crazy busy, so I'm excited that the weekend is just around the corner. Lately I've been:

Binge-Watching: The Office. Every episode is a classic, and Michael Scott's antics never get old.

 

Kentucky Wanderings

I spent two and a half days in Kentucky this past week for a work trip. I am committed to exploring little bits of the cities I'm in, but with a packed day of work obligations that can be pretty difficult. So I settled for (way to early) morning yoga, coffee breaks, and solo lunches.

I relied on Yelp reviews to build my itinerary, and for the most part it didn't disappoint.

First up was a 6am Yoga Flow class at Yoga on Baxter in Louisville. It was one of the friendliest studios I've been in, and the class was both challenging and relaxing. I loved the greenery and candles in the yoga room, and instructors' solo acoustic guitar solo during Savasana.

I followed up yoga with my first Spanish latte (a regular latte with condensed milk) and a cheddar chive biscuit at Please and Thank You. The part-coffee shop/part record store shop was adorable and completely embraced its hipster pretense.

2.12 | Life Lately

This week was a little hectic with a short work trip thrown in, I am definitely looking forward to the long weekend coming up! Here's what I've been up to this week.

Homebody-ing:  I spent Sunday night watching the Superbowl by myself while finishing up a few papers for school, and have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it! I cozied up with a Trader Joe's pizza and Yeungling and didn't have to leave my couch :)

Eating: Pretty crappy food while I was out of town (it's hard not to when you're on per diem!). I have been on a yogurt bowl kick lately - my favorite combo is peanut butter, jelly and any type of fruit. Here's what a bowl looks like when I try to make it pretty, and then the "real life" version.

Cabbage Anyone?

I volunteer once or twice a month with a great organization in the metro area called DC Central Kitchen. Their mission is to use food as a way to strengthen bodies, empower minds, and build communities, and their programs work towards this goal in a way that is sustainable and spurs lasting change. (If you're ever looking for an interesting read on the role of non-profits in our country, check out Begging for Change by DCK's founder, Robert Egger).

One aspect of DCK's work is community nutrition outreach, and I helped out last weekend at a Mobile Market organized by Capital Area Food Bank, another great DC non-profit. The event is set up like a farmer's market and provides fresh produce to attendees in high need areas at no charge. We held a cooking demo demonstrating healthy recipes that can be made using ingredients available at the market that day.

Places: Whitetail Resort

Although one of my New Year's resolutions was to have more lazy Sundays, I spent last Sunday tiring out my muscles and testing my nerves at Whitetail Ski Resort in Mercersburg, PA. Part of CJ's Christmas present was an "IOU" for a ski day, and when we realized we only had one free weekend day in the next month we had to take advantage of it. So we left this guy with my parents and hit the road.

2.5 | Life Lately

This past week was spent finally getting back into my routine after the snowstorm-that-never-ended. Back into a regular exercise routine, cooking food other than frozen Trader Joe pizzas, and working from somewhere other than my couch. It was nice to have a few days of forced relaxation, but I was eager to get back to normal. Not that having this as your office is all that bad :)

 

Other than the daily grind, I've been:

Run Talk

I enjoy running. My Type-A personality loves to set goals, create a plan to achieve them, and execute. I also like taking a break from my work/school/homework routine and having an hour to myself without a screen in front of me.

Which is all nice, but it doesn't necessarily make it easy to get out of bed before the sun rises on a weekday. Or to drag myself outside in the snow, rain, or when I'm not feeling 100%.

 

One thing I've learned over the past six years of keeping up my running without competition is that it's much easier to get out the door in the morning when I have goals in front of me.

Places | Surviving Jonas

After a full week of hype, Winter Storm Jonas hit the DC area this past weekend. We ended up getting a bit over 2 feet, and the entire region shut down for about four days. So this week's "place" is my own house :)

Following a very emotional few days dealing with a loss in the family, it was perfect timing to hunker down and spend a few days Netflix-binging and snuggling with CJ and two adorable doggies.

1.24 | Just Life

As I start to try to shape what I want this space to look like and what I want to write about, I settled on having a weekly recap with a dump of pictures and short musings. I'm thinking this will serve as a time capsule to look back on, and hopefully not too self indulgent.

This week was definitely an emotional one and although I experienced loss and sadness,there was plenty to be thankful for too. Like lots of snuggles, doggie kisses, and Netflix-binging.

Back to last weekend - CJ and I finally took the time to explore parts of Baltimore we haven't visited yet.

We went to the Baltimore Museum of Art - which was much larger and more interesting than I imagined. There was recreated rooms from old Maryland homes, an Andy Warhol exhibit, and a really cool collection called "Imagining Home".

This Blogging Thing

I've always been a pretty low-achiever when it comes to this blog. Or maybe more like someone with lofty goals who just doesn't want to put in the work. I spend way too much time reading blogs, but haven't really gone after making this space of mine something I'm proud of or worked to build it.

My main intention of starting this site was to chronicle my trips - mostly for myself, but also for a few of my family members (Hi Grandma!). To be able to look back in a year or two and remember all of the little things about each one.

In doing that, I've realized that even though trips are awesome, there are millions of little things in between each one that actually end up being the big things. Like studying at coffee shops, eating gyros in the park, and binging on Netflix with CJ and the pup.

Unfortunately, I don't get to travel all of the time (some day!), but do care a lot about a few other things that I'd like to write about: running, cooking, reading, and working through my MPH program.

Long story short, I want to make an effort to make this blog a priority. Not just another item on my insanely overambitious Type A to-do list, but something I actually enjoy. My goal is to post regularly and making an effort to:

• Enjoy the everyday moments between big trips
• Interact with other bloggers I "stalk" and learn from them
• Take time to make writing/journaling/listmaking, which I do constantly anyways, an actual hobby and stress reliever
• Hold myself accountable to take chances and do big things

Main Street USA Tour: Evansvlle, IN

Not sure where it came from, but I have a slight obsession with what I classify as  "Small Town America". I like walking through main streets that are slightly past their hey-day and imagining what they used to be like, and I love exploring all of the new stores and restaurants that have taken the place of businesses past. I have dreams of doing a "Main Street USA" road trip one day - this Travel & Leisure article showcases some great ones. Maybe with some bribery I could convince CJ or a sibling to come with...

 

Anyways - I'm not sure if it can be considered a small town, but  I've been traveling to Evansville, IN for work about every six weeks for the past year and have grown pretty affectionate towards it. This week was my last trip there for the foreseeable future, so I took some time to document my favorite parts of the city.

What I Learned from Korea

My trip to Korea was my first time in Northeast Asia. Even though we were only there for two weeks, I got to step out of my comfort zone and learned a lot from my short time there. Here are my top 15 lessons learned:

1. When you don't have a clue what you're doing, following the crowd is a great strategy.
Between my Lonely Planet guidebook and the wonders of Google and Trip Advisor, we generally had a good idea of where we wanted to go and how to get there. After that - the details of what to see at any given attraction or significance it were usually unknown. Not wanting to miss out on anything, Kim and I adopted the strategy of just following whatever the crowd seemed to be interested in.

Not sure where to go out at night? Just follow groups of well-dressed young people getting off the subway.

See a bunch of people taking pictures of someone in a restaurant? Take his picture too - he's probably important. (It was Noh Hong-Chul, if you were wondering)

Want to go to a sunrise festival on New Year's Day but don't know where the best view point is? Just walk with the largest crowd of people - you'll end up somewhere good.

Days 10 and 11: New Years in Seoul!

We arrived in Seoul early afternoon to spend our last full day in Korea with Ryan, but I quickly found out that my international cell phone plan was no longer working. Luckily, there is free WiFi almost everywhere in the city, so we were able to park at a coffee shop to get in touch with Ryan. After a few failed attempts, we finally found each other and grabbed some chicken, rice and egg for lunch.

We checked into our hotel near Namdemun market, a huge outdoor and indoor market selling everything from souvenirs, to clothes, to groceries, to fresh street food. It was a little overwhelming, but we managed to do some browsing and souvenir shopping.