I enjoyed a 2 week trip to the USA in August, celebrating my one year of being in the country of Panama! That means the next year is going to go by really quickly! I'd like to share some stories and photos from the trip.
My first stop was in Portland to see my folks. With my parents, we attended two reunion potlucks for the extended family and enjoyed dinner with our cousins Bob, Mary, and Mindy. We also visited the family property near Corvallis to pick blackberries and apples. It's been a while since I've been in the Northwest for blackberry season. The smells of dry grass in the sun and fragrant blackberries are wonderful. We also visited friends Jon and Flip Anderson, who showed us a variety of wood-burning stoves at their house. The couple has promoted these stoves in Haiti as a way to reduce deforestation, as less wood is used to cook than on a campfire. They generously gave us blueberries as well!
Back in Portland, Mom, Dad, and I went shopping for new running and walking shoes together. I went on some bike rides with Dad and some walks around the neighborhood with Mom, their respective exercise routines. I also wandered around a huge grocery store with Mom, marveling at the size of the place, the dairy foods, and the bulk section. While in Portland I was happy to connect with a few college friends: Teal G. (on her way to U. Michigan for graduate studies in Statistics) and Tiffany and McKenzie S., and we went to see our friends Tommy and Jennifer H. and their band at a bar downtown! It was also good to see friends at the Presbyterian Church of Laurelhurst, who have actively been praying for me. And yes, I did get some rest time.
It was off to Boston next, where my boyfriend Ken A. was to receive me. He was preparing for a new year of studying Computer Science at Harvard and also getting ready to move to a new apartment. Lots of transitions! Ken met me at the airport. He rented a car and we drove up to Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire that evening for 2 days of rest and relaxation- a little hiking, a little canoeing, a lot of hanging out. While canoeing we saw a strange sight: a red squirrel swimming between 2 islands- maybe about 50 yards distance. I've never seen that before! Even though in Panama I live in the beautiful mountains and go on a small "hike" just about every day, New Hampshire is different- away from the responsibilities and hardships of my daily life. The only real difficulty was navigating traffic jams, which happened on both legs of our trip. Ken saw the traffic jams as a problem to solve with the help of Google maps, and I just got a bit stressed trying to figure out the phone to look at the maps. We realized that we can think differently in many situations; how can that be an asset?
We returned to Boston through rush hour traffic and attended a practice session that evening for Aikido, a Japanese martial art. Ken has been involved with the Harvard Aikido Club since last year. Back in 2003-05 I was practicing Aikido in the University of Oregon club, and while I'm very rusty it was fun to get on the mat and practice with Ken's new friends. Also at Harvard, Ken's research group (the professor and other graduate students he works and studies with) invited me to talk with them about my experiences. We went outside the building to sit at a picnic table under the shade of majestic campus trees and chat. It was good for me to learn more about the people and projects that form a great part of Ken's life, and also to share my experience with them! Many people in the research group are international students with broadly humanitarian interests. They had many questions about my work in Panama. The group's research projects have included creating computer programs that assist people in composing music or designing websites (Ken's project), land mine location software, and computer interfaces for the disabled. Much of this falls into the field of study known as "Human-Computer Interaction."
Over the weekend Ken and I prepared several dishes to share at a potluck with church friends. We enjoyed dessert on the rooftop of Latasha B.'s elegant Cambridge apartment building, overlooking the Boston skyline. We also tried out Disney songs on karaoke- "The Bear Necessities" and "I Just Can't Wait to be King" were hits. Psalm and Tasha are great at karaoke- I never knew. I also saw many friends at Citylife Presbyterian's Sunday service and enjoyed lunch at the Chinese Dumpling Cafe afterwards.
I was also glad to be able to catch up with former roommates Lessie T. and Minwah L. Lessie is living in a Christian house in the inner city neighborhood of Dorchester and among other things led a month-long theater camp for disadvantaged kids!
Minwah was suffering under a deluge of fruits and vegetables from her weekly farm-share distribution. Several weeks of tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, basil, dill, cucumbers, and peaches were awaiting attention. We delved in and made several dishes to stock Minwah's fridge including this delicious and simple Thai style eggplant. Yum. As usual Minwah is involved in many different outdoors activities, organizing efforts, and future plans for lengthy bike adventures and grad school. She said my backpack didn't weigh much, which just means she's really fit from hiking a bunch of winter gear around with the Outing Club.
All of the above was just 14 days, and it went by really quickly. I was honored by the reception and care that friends and family gave me during my stay. I know you (friends and family reading this blog) are sending me your well-wishes and your prayers and I appreciate it! When Mom and Dad, Ken and I parted, we began considering when they can visit Panama themselves. If you yourself are itching to visit Central America, drop me a line!
