April was a pretty awesome month. It started with white-water rafting and jungle hiking in northern Costa Rica, plus some really awesome news that made me jump up and down on the side of a Costa Rican highway. (Hopefully May will be the month that I feel certain enough about the news to talk about it.) I spent the next thirteen days bouncing around Costa Rica: Sarapiquí, Sarah's village, San Jose (twice) and Manuel Antonio National Park to see some monkeys.
After Costa Rica, I spent a week at home and my oldest youngest brother came home. He been building a log cabin in the woods of Arkansas since January, so this was the first time I had seen him since February of last year. Then, the next day, my other brother came home for Easter break and for the first time since Christmas 2009, the whole family was together under the same roof. It was... loud and my little sister, who was briefly an only child for the first time in February, informed us that she liked the idea of having siblings more than the reality.
The next day, my parents, sister and I set off for Mexico. For years, my parents' church has supported two orphanage (one in Colima and one outside of Puebla), but this was the first time I wasn't working or in school during the annual mission trip. This year we went to the orphanage outside of Puebla (about three hours southeast of Mexico City) and it was so lovely. I can't say I was thrilled with traveling in a group, but the orphanage was amazing and the kids were precious and hilarious and endlessly forgiving about my butchering of their language. Also, the food was amazing. (I ate everything put in front of me, including every bit of sketchy chili-doused roadside fruit and had no problems. Almost everyone else in the group, the people who avoided anything that could have possible come in contact with the water and totally missed out that time we went to a market in Acatzingo and I tried to eat everything in sight, was ill at least once, which just goes to show that chili powder and lime cures everything.)
While April is now over and I'm probably going to stop getting fresh avocados every time I turn around, my travels aren't quite done yet. I'm heading to Washington DC on Thursday to spend a week with Riah, one of my closest friends from Korea. I've only been gone from Korea for two months and I've already lost touch with so many people, and I'm really glad Riah and I have managed to keep in touch.
After Costa Rica, I spent a week at home and my oldest youngest brother came home. He been building a log cabin in the woods of Arkansas since January, so this was the first time I had seen him since February of last year. Then, the next day, my other brother came home for Easter break and for the first time since Christmas 2009, the whole family was together under the same roof. It was... loud and my little sister, who was briefly an only child for the first time in February, informed us that she liked the idea of having siblings more than the reality.
The next day, my parents, sister and I set off for Mexico. For years, my parents' church has supported two orphanage (one in Colima and one outside of Puebla), but this was the first time I wasn't working or in school during the annual mission trip. This year we went to the orphanage outside of Puebla (about three hours southeast of Mexico City) and it was so lovely. I can't say I was thrilled with traveling in a group, but the orphanage was amazing and the kids were precious and hilarious and endlessly forgiving about my butchering of their language. Also, the food was amazing. (I ate everything put in front of me, including every bit of sketchy chili-doused roadside fruit and had no problems. Almost everyone else in the group, the people who avoided anything that could have possible come in contact with the water and totally missed out that time we went to a market in Acatzingo and I tried to eat everything in sight, was ill at least once, which just goes to show that chili powder and lime cures everything.)
While April is now over and I'm probably going to stop getting fresh avocados every time I turn around, my travels aren't quite done yet. I'm heading to Washington DC on Thursday to spend a week with Riah, one of my closest friends from Korea. I've only been gone from Korea for two months and I've already lost touch with so many people, and I'm really glad Riah and I have managed to keep in touch.
