MOVED

Having a site hosted by WordPress has its advantages, but its limitations weighed heavier for me. All posts and images have been imported into the new site. Come join me for more travel adventures at:

OtrasRutas.com

Uncertainty

Ever since my plane landed back in the States life has been, unsurprisingly, different. And by different, I mean boring. I have made a moderate effort to keep things interesting by taking up hobbies I always promised I’d get around to (learning to knit and play guitar) and doing random touristy things here in Atlanta. The recent warm weather put me in a slightly better mood, but school has really had it in for me this semester. I went in fired up to be productive, efficient, and organized about everything school related, especially since I don’t have a job right now, and it all went to hell in a hand bag by the second week of school and has continuously gone downhill from there.

I have no motivation to do the readings, write the papers, stay on top of email, keep my finances organized and up-to-date, you get the picture. You name it and I have neglected it. And most noticeably is this blog. I’m not suffering from any lack of inspiration–there’s plenty of that going on, just a lot of doubt and uncertainty about my ability to recognize my dreams and see them through to fruition.

No doubt my looming graduation date (December 2009) is doing nothing to help matters. I no longer have any idea of what I want to do with my life. Actually, I shouldn’t say that. I have lots of ideas, but none of them are “mainstream” (and thus, my family thinks I’m crazy). I recently took the first step towards moving to Israel next year, and that involved emailing the seminary program I want to attend about the program, admissions requirements, and how much it costs. Given that parents will not be supporting me financially once I graduate means I either need to get a job and save up the money I’ll need for the entire year I’ll be in the program (possibly a little less) or I need to create a somewhat passive form of income. Passive meaning not having to physically show up somewhere to have a little money deposited into my bank account once or a few times a month. Those options are few and far between, but short of a .com startup, it leaves me with selling photography or getting paid to write/edit. I would love to set up an Etsy shop and sell photography prints, but I currently only have a handful of worthy prints and (as mentioned above) a lack of belief in myself and my abilities. All Internet options require lots of time, effort, and dedication–not to mention marketing–before you ever really start to see money, much less the kind I’ll need to live off and pay the tuition for the program for a year.

However, I took the first step towards making one of these dreams come true, so expect a surprise in the next few days (possibly a couple of weeks depending on how much time I have).

“Take the first step, and your mind will mobilize all its forces to your aid. But the first essential is that you begin. Once the battle is startled, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance.” — Robert Collier

Wishful Thinking

Nothing hurts worse than a deep regret and wish that you had done things differently. That you had made more effort, found the time somewhere before they were gone.

Make the time. Make the effort. Do it before they’re gone and the person, the stories, and the memories all fade away.

“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” — Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.” — Henry David Thoreau

Be the Change

In the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day last… err, Monday, I decided to go ahead and make some progress on my goals for this year. I’ve set three in motion, but one in particular that I want to talk about tonight. In the following excerpt from President Obama’s speech about putting change in motion he asks us to give a little time for our country and fellow Americans:

“But I also know this: that however well government does its job; however hard we work to make good plans and policies and restore a sense of responsibility to Washington, our problems cannot be solved by government alone – or even mostly by government. It’s going to take all of us, putting our shoulder to the wheel, doing our part to remake this nation.

That’s why we’ve called on the American people to come together and devote their time and effort to work in their communities today. And that’s why we chose this particular day, when we honor a man who lived his life as a servant to his fellow citizens – and whose greatness can be measured not just in his own extraordinary contributions, but in how he inspired others to contribute.

So today, I am asking you to roll up your sleeves and join in the work of remaking this nation. I pledge to you that government will do its part to open up more opportunities for citizens to participate. And in return, I ask you to play your part – to not just pitch in today, but to make an ongoing commitment that lasts far beyond one day, or even one presidency.”

I signed the Declaration of Service to volunteer 50 hours of my time annually to my community. I attended two orientations at 2 hours each for a total of 4 completed hours so far this year. I will be teaching English to immigrants on Tuesday evenings through a local non-profit organization. I’m looking forward to meeting all my students on Tuesday and the opportunity to make some Spanish-speaking friends. It’s also a huge bonus that it allows me to get experience teaching English as a foreign language since I’m getting the TEFL certificate as part of my university studies.

Just to get you started there are several databases online you can search through to find a volunteer opportunity in your community:

USA Service
Idealist.org
Do Something
Network for Good

I hope that you all will help me to help our president bring change to the White House. Also, care to share some of your goals you plan on accomplishing this year?

“We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” — Mahatma Gandhi

No End in Sight

This blog is not dead, nor have I died, but life sure has been crazy since I left Buenos Aires. Today marks exactly one month that I have been back in the States and while I’m enjoying being back and living a full life, my heart aches to be back in South America or just traveling around every day. It’s an exhausting life but the also most fulfilling I’ve found.

I intended to make a post before the new year between being homeless in Atlanta for two days, moving into my apartment on the 1st, and school starting back up on the 5th, seeing everyone, and falling back into the folds of life in America I haven’t had very much free time. I have lots to tell you all about, including several posts about my final adventures in Argentina, as well as ones from Uruguay that never got put up. I thought for a while about what kind of content I would put on here once I was back living in the States because I don’t want to resort to rambling about my daily life, however amusing or uninteresting it may be at times. I did make a promise to myself before I left Argentina, though, that I would figure out whatever it was that made life so exciting for me there and incorporate it into my life here. That answer meant living more like a tourist: visiting museums, checking out special attractions, visiting theatres and cool restaurants, and the list just goes on. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that living like a tourist just means more of simply living. That could also be reversed to living simply. I intend to do both.

Since that New Year’s post never gotten written I figure I’ll give a basic outline of my “resolutions,” which are really just goals which I can measure based on the calendar year. I vowed to visit more cultural sights in Atlanta and do things that people visit Atlanta to do. Here is my list for the year and I will add it to the sidebar shortly so you all can keep track of my progress over the year:

- check out the Fernbank Museum
- visit the High
- learn to play guitar
- take a cooking class
- run a half-marathon
- go to the Bremen Jewish Museum
- see the Cyclorama
- ride Marta buses
- visit one place in the U.S. I have never been
- get an international driver’s license (with motorcycle class)
- read one book for pleasure every month
- volunteer at least once a month

Also, in order to keep things interesting on the travel front, I have one major trip in the works for this summer out of the country, several smaller trips I plan to take over the course of the year hiking, camping, and backpacking, as well as plans to visit New Orleans again along with one other U.S. city I have never been. Here’s an added catch: I decided it would be fun to incorporate Greyhound and Amtrak into my upcoming adventures, so I’m sure I’ll have stories to tell.

With that, I need to get some reading done before class, but know that I have many exciting posts coming soon!