It has been awhile (as always since I last posted) so instead of dwelling on this fact, I thought I would just get into the grits it.

As our past year has ended and the new one recently began, I started to pause a bit and think about the past few months. Jim and I still are a bit in shock that we have been married for a little over a year. We finally sent out Christmas cards this year. At first I really wanted to hand write each one, but as Christmas was fast approaching and I had only written around 10, and I still had around 100 more to write, I finally caved in and included the little insert on the year in review. Why had I never thought of this earlier?!? It's quick, easy and I can fit a crazy amount of details in anything ever written by hand. Now, I admit it was my first go at it, so they were really rough around the edges and not so pleasing on the eye. Next years' will be awesome!

Right after New Years we had some visitors come out. When I was in Samoa I lived on the school compound with another volunteer from Japan. In fact, when I finished my service, I visited him and his family in Japan. Well, he came out for a visit with his new wife. We had such a blast taking them around Annapolis. We introduced them to the Maryland Blue Crab in the form of crab cakes. They fell in love with Maryland crab cakes and cream of crab soup. His wife tried some local raw oysters and loved them as well. They enjoyed sitting in a local coffee shop drinking coffee and eating biscotti, and wandering around the town with it's brick roads and history.

One of the things we did when they were visiting was tour the Naval Academy. I had never toured the academy before their visit. If you have never been, it is amazing. There are so many amazing facts about the academy I never knew. Example, all the midshipmen live in the same dorm building which is the second largest dorm building in the world. The largest is in Russia. Our friends really enjoyed the tour as it was something quite unique to the US and Japan does not have military academies like the United States. After the official tour we wandered around the campus and found our way into the Naval Museum. As a history major I must recommend this museum to anyone ever visiting the academy. It displayed the naval history of the US from the beginning of the country until current day. It is a very well layer out museum. My friends enjoyed that museum very much. It was such a blessing having them visit. It even gave us an excuse to finish the bathroom in our basement. (which they referred to as a hotel bathroom).

Tonight is 12th night. Also known as Epiphany. It is supposedly the night that the Wise men reached the baby Jesus. I can't tell you if it's historically accurate or not, and to be truthful, I don't care. My family has been celebrating this since I was born. My grandparents on my dads side celebrated it. Maybe it was a family thing they brought with them from Germany, who knows. Either way, I love it. Traditionally my family gets together, eats stew, and has cake with 2 beans hidden inside of it. Whoever gets the piece of cake with the bean becomes the King or Queen of the family for the year. I never got the bean as a kid. I remember lamenting this fact to my grandma one year and that year I for the cake with the bean! Never mind there was a large hole where a finger most likely had inserted that bean. After the food has been eaten and king and queen determined, everyone cuts a branch from the Christmas tree and throws it into the fire while making a wish for the new year. Well, I have not been around my parents or my dads family in a long time, so my current version of 12th night has been somewhat modified. This year only my husband and I are celebrating. A cake seems somewhat ridiculous considering we know we would get the king and queen. So, no cake. Also, after Christmas my husband made turkey soup. It is amazing soup. Much better than most stews. Therefore, we are having the soup. And lastly, we have a fake tree. It is still up, but I had to go outside and cut twigs from our bush so we could throw them in the fire and make wishes for the new year. It was different, but it was special. And it's ours.

So, here's wishing everyone a very happy 12th night. Or epiphany if you will, and I trust that you will.

I admit it. I'm guilty, too. It seems like more and more these days the tools we use to "connect us together" actually separate us more. When was the last time you sent a friend a birthday card, instead of just wishing them a good one on their wall on Facebook? Sure, now we actually know when our friends birthdays are, but how special is it for them to read wishes, alone, from their phone or computer? When you think of that friend, do you call them? Or send them a message on their wall? The increased connection has lost the personalization. When you're sitting on the train or bus, do you veg your brain out by playing some useless game that in the end gets you no where farther in life? Do you chat it up with that stranger looking like they could use an ear? Or do you tune yourself out to you own little world? Just some thoughts. Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

So I've been married now for 2 1/2 months now and I get lots of comments when people find out I am a "newlywed." I am slighly amused by the questions and comments that always follow:

"You are still in the honeymoon phase, everything is easy right now."

"The first (fill in any amount of time, but usually 6 months to 7 years) is the hardest part. Once you get through that together, you can get through anything."

"Take time for yourself."

"Get to know your husband."

"Don't loose your own traditions."

"Establish new traditions together."

Etc... it's funny because a lot of them sometimes seem to contradict each other. We just smile at each other when we hear them and remind each other that no one's life is the same; really we are just trying to get used to each other.

I love the question, "What's marriage like?" How does one answer that? In all honesty, it's been difficult and humorous at times getting used to a roommate again. Also, the dog is old and VERY set in her ways. She's not used to me sitting on the right side of the couch, it's where she usually sleeps. Sometimes she just climbs up there and lays down right on top of me. I'm also not used to asking someone what we need foodwise before I head out shopping for groceries. Sometimes I'll come back from running a few errands and he'll ask me why I didn't ask him what we needed at the store since I had stopped there... But, "what's marriage like"?... It's fun. I like having someone to cuddle next to at night (if the dog doesn't try and wiggle her way in between us), and I love having to fight to get to the shower first so I can use it before the hot water runs out.

We haven't had to start deciding which family to visit for which holiday yet. That will be hard. I love Christmas at my parents. The branches hanging from the balcony, the extra large Christmas tree, the extra little German traditions, those have been hard to miss.

Alright, enough random ramblings for today. Maybe I will post a few random pictures later if we get that snow storm they are predicting... Until next time.

Ok, I guess I couldn't stay away. I tried to sign out of here until the next chapter in my life happened or until something new or exciting came along. I thought that the everyday day-to-day life really isn't exciting enough to blog about, but then I realized that my life isn't everyday. It isn't boring. We all live somewhere completely different from each other and what I think might be boring and mundane might be hilarious and exciting to someone else.

So, I am going to continue to blog. Since I posted not that long ago that I was done, I am sure that this will fall into the internet void of postings where those who read this will most likely be my father and one or two random people stumbling across it because they were googling for Samoa (and if that is you, read my posts about 2-3 years ago), but I am fine with that. In some ways these posts are for me as much as for you.

As you can probably tell from pictures in previous postings, I am engaged, and I am planning a wedding. If you have never planned a wedding before you might not realize ALL of the little tiny continuous never ending details and decisions that go into planning a wedding... I am growing weary of it all. I have a wedding planner (whom I love) and I am still tired of all of the decisions and meetings that wedding planning entails. My advice to prospective brides? Elope. Destination weddings might sound fun, but then you are making all of these tiny little decisions hundreds of miles away from the venue and the vendors, which will add to your stress in the end. Elope.

The other thing that you suddenly find yourself having to be as a bride-to-be is a Contract Officer. You find that you must be someone familiar with all contracting language, what words really mean, and what to really look for in those pages within the pages of contracts sent to you. LUCKY for me, not so lucky for my vendors, I happen to be a Contract Officer Representative. I read those contracts like they really are legally binding agreements between me and the vendors. (Which they ARE!) I can honestly say most vendors are not familiar with this and some really don't like it. The venue and I must have gone back and forth about 6 times over one sentence in the contract. I wouldn't sign it until they took the sentence out. They said the sentence was something brides had to to if they choose one particular wedding package option. I came back with, "Well I already know I am not choosing that option, so take it out of the contract." Add to the stress. I should have eloped. :)

I say elope, but I am excited to see all of my family; to see my two best friends all dressed up standing up there with me wearing sashes made of material I brought back from Samoa; excited to Jim surrounded by his brothers; excited to share this experience, excitement and joy with my friends and family; excited to have my old Young Life Leader marry us... you get the picture. It seems however, that all options (eloping, destination wedding, traditional wedding) seem to have their share of joys and stresses.

Alright. Enough sap and enough rants. Enjoy a random picture below.

Jim and I in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the Castillo de San Cristobal. He was there for work (while I was in Orlando for work) and I flew there after our separate reviews to visit and tour the city with him and some co-workers.

Until the next Chapter I am unofficially closing out this one... for now. If Jim and I move somewhere else exotic after we get married I will start another chapter in this blog, but until then the day to day life of living and working in the city don't seem worthy of keeping up the blog postings. I will keep up the blog because the postings from the years past while i lived in Samoa and my travels throughout the countries around seem worthy of keeping them up. They are crazy stories of Malaria, Methodists, papaya stealing students, computers glued to the desks, pig latin mishaps, and North Korea tales of fog and tourist attractions. Read at your own leisure. It has been wonderful sharing them all with you.

Until the next Chapter...

For those of you who have not heard... Jim proposed Christmas Eve. And I said yes. Plans are still in the making without a date set, but I am very excited.

Just wanted to let those of you know who still follow this blog (even though I am horrible at posting).

I know i haven't posted here in awhile, so I thought I would update those of you who still read this. Lately the biggest thing I have been struggling with are migraines. I have always gotten them, but lately they have been increasing to every other day. I am reading a book about migraines and am seeing a neurologist to help me figure out what is triggering them. In the meantime the waiting is painful and some days I don't feel like I can handle yet another migraine. I try to remember that Christ never gives us more than we can handle and I feel like lately He is pushing me to the edge of that. So, I am trying to remain patient during it all and trust in the doctors that we will minimize them. At least I am not taking Excedrin anymore like candy. Now they have me on a real migraine pain medicine (though not the best because it interferes with my heart medication)... Below is a picture of me I liked that looked like i was struggling with a migraine.I have been trying to get back into cooking. When I was in Samoa it seems that I had nothing but time on my hands to try different recipes. I baked a papaya pie for Thanksgiving and shared it with Meaalofa. I tried making fudge at one point, but the sugar available in country wasn't quite what fudge required. So, lately I have been trying to start up again. I used to have this book in Samoa passed on to me from another volunteer stuck out in another remote village. It was an amazing book, but we started the tradition of passing it on when we left to another volunteer out in kua (remote village area). I passed mine on to Dylan. Yesterday I broiled trout. All I added was butter and salt and pepper. Nothing fancy I know but it flaked and tasted like butter. I found an old cookbook I bought in Spain that I think I want to try cooking through. It is a Tapas cookbook with everything from frogs legs to paella. So, if any of you want to come visit me and try some tapas you are more than welcome! Saffron and paella will be staples this coming month.

I have been trying to get more into hiking. At church I announced I was looking for hiking partners and if anyone wanted to go hiking anywhere anytime to give me a call or shoot me an email. I was surprised by the amount of members who were really hardcore into hiking. I even put out there I was looking to get back into rock climbing and I had a couple of people say there is a group of rock climbers. Too bad I didn't start searching earlier in the summer. I feel like it is almost done. But, I was able to go on a few hikes myself this summer. The waterfall is from my hike around the Ptapsco River area. Lots of people at church have been giving me great ideas on places to hike and climb and now there are a ton of events in the planning including a kyacking trip. Too bad dad can't make it out here with his Pygmy Kyacks he built.

I am tired of traveling a bit. I went back to Vashon recently for Bethany's wedding, I have another wedding end of this month and fly back to Vashon for yet another wedding beginning of September. I am excited to see all of the people at these weddings, so it has been fun. The one end of this month is in Massachusetts, a state I have never been to. Holly and Ryan, from my group in the Peace Corps are getting married.

Bethany is the girl who was going to be my roommate when I moved out to DC, but she met the guy that she recently married. It was fun meeting him and being able to see them together. Bethany and I were getting into surfing when I moved to DC and he owns a surf shop! She has gotten a lot better than me since we moved. :)I also recently flew to Colorado for Adriane's wedding. I have known Adriane as long as I have been alive. She is like a sister to me and I could never imagine not being friends with her. It was fun being in the mountains and I also got to visit my uncle who lives near where she was married.

And that's really all I have been up to. Monday's are my day off and I have been trying to spend the time wandering around the city being a tourist. I might as well take advantage of living in such a culturally rich and historic city. I even got myself a library card to the Library of Congress. I have yet to wander around the bookshelves, but I love that every book ever published are available within those walls. Below are some more random pictures from the last few months...

Bethany and Zach

Bryan and I in West Seattle.

Linda and Julie and Julie's daughter Tesa at Bethany's wedding

Me on my hike. Lots of biking trails around too.

Wild raspberries.

Painting the molding above my door to look like a painting in my living room.

The end product.

A panoramic picture of the Valley at Gettysburg.

President Obama! Outside my office the other day. He waved at me from the car. How cool is that?

Jim and I at The Links golf course in Gettysburg.

Christi posing outside the National Zoo in DC.

When I think of Hackers I start thinking of Dante's Inferno and that last circle of hell reserved for only those who have committed crimes so heinous that they have their own place carved all out just for them. Once in my Senior English class my teacher had us read Dante's Inferno and create our own levels of hell with reasons for each level and those who inhabited them. Being a relatively easy person to get along with, at the time I couln't really think of something I thought really truly deserved it. The obvious answers came to mind like rapists and murders, but they can repent and be forgiven. I wanted someone truly ruthless. Well, Mr Ferris, 12 years later I have finally found a group to fit that description and it is the hacker.

If you know me at all and are reading this, you know exactly what I am referring to. For a good 24 hours or so I was fighting against a hacker who had seized control of my hotmail account and sent emails out to my entire contacts saying I was in Africa and needed help. If you know me at all, your first thought would be, "And why can't her parents or dad help her out?" Your second thought would be, "Either Julya suddenly lost all grammitcal sense of English or this is not her." Other than the feeling of loss or violation it really wasn't that bad in the grand scheme of identity theft, but I still felt the violation and was pissed off.

There was some good from it all though. In Samoa, the Methodist pastors were ready to rally together and send me some money. When they found out the person was not me they told this person to "Go to Hell." I felt a little honored they cared that much still about a volunteer who was only there for a short 2 years of their lives. And to be honest, the pastor who was upset the most wasn't even the principal from my school. He is the principal of my sister school on a totally different island. Also, when the email was first sent out, I must have had a good 20 phone calls every fifteen minutes from friends who were pretty sure I wasn't in Nigeria, but wanted to call just to be sure. Marques even got online and found the site I needed to report it.

So, thanks to everyone for your concerns and for the person who did it, enjoy that 10th level...

Dad was back out for a visit recently and this time it was for the Cherry Blossom Festival. And he didn't just come out for the Blossoms beautifully planted around the Tidal Basin, but for the actual Parade down Constitution. And not only did we attend the Parade, we had actual tickets in the Grandstand. Below are a few pictures from the parade. Unfortunately the one sad thing was that the Big Balloons weren't in the ceremony because the winds were too great.

The flags for the Parade.

Dad got to the stands a *bit* early to make sure we could find our seats.

Our favorite part of the parade...

The Grand Marshal of the parade, Alex Trebek.

The Capitol Building

The doors open to the Supreme Court and people huddle in the rain in a cluster to eagerly await going in.

The VERY new Visitors Center in the Capitol.

Inside the Dome of the Capitol

Inside the Dome of the Capitol

The paining on the top of the building

Even beautiful candlesticks.

The center of all roads in DC.

The Capitol

Dad insisted on going to the famous Ben's Chili Bowl for lunch while in town.

Jim and I outside of Ben's.

It's that time of year again. The Annual Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. It's this weekend, but a few coworkers and I headed on down to the Tidal Basin on our lunch break and wondered around and snapped a few shots. My dad is in town visiting specifically for the Festival among other events so I will post more after the weekend, but for now I thought these were some nice shots. Enjoy.

The Cherry Blossoms. There are 3 different types of trees the Japanese donated to DC years and years and years ago. The trees surround the entire Tidal Basin, most of the main monuments on the mall and sporadic trees within the District.

Cherry Tree Canopy.

The Monument across the water with the blossoms.

The Jefferson Memorial peaking up over the trees. They almost look like snow.

Jefferson Memorial.

Jefferson Memorial from across the Basin

Trees

Contrast of cherry trees and spring time in DC.

The Cherry Trees with the Tidal Basin behind.

Since the onset and popularity of Facebook, it has been difficult for me to continue to update here and there. I generally post lots of pictures from my day to day on Facebook instead of here. If you want a more detailed update, please find and befriend me. If you can't find me leave a comment here and I will find you!

In other news, things have been busy. It is the start of the travel season for work again and it has already taken me to the other side of the country. I was in California for nearly 2 weeks for work. Me and another co-worker were placed together in Long Beach (Los Angeles), Santa Rosa and Sacramento. The team was split up into 5 satellite teams so we were all on our own pretty much leading our own review. It was a lot of work, very tiring living in and out of suitcases and hotels, but a lot of fun. I do not want to EVER return to Long Beach again, but Santa Rosa was fun. For the weekend, Ms Mary flew in for a visit and some wine tasting. It was fun to see her again and have some time together just us for more than a few hours.

I am gearing up to leave yet again, but this time to the opposite in terms of climate. We are on our way to Michigan. Lansing and Detroit particularly. I haven't really spent much time in that area so at least it will be different. Though to be truthful when you travel for work most of the time is spent in meetings in buildings and then back at the hotel to pass out in the evenings... We will see.

Work is well, my church is great. I think it is one of the healthiest churches I have ever attended and feel very thankful and lucky to be a member. God is great for bringing me to it. I have met some wonderful members of all ages, and even grafted myself into a family with a dog and everything. Below are a few pictures from random things over the last few months, like Dylan's visit (he was another PC Samoa volunteer who was on the same island as me), Valentines Day and a few from the weekend in California with Mary. Enjoy.

The Federal Reserve. Looks very foreboding.

Me in my Obama Inauguration hat with my Obama Inauguration water in front of the Whitehouse. Very patriotic I think...

The Vietnam Memorial reflected

Dylan at the WW2 Memorial pointing to the closest we have to our PC country, American Samoa and him in front of his favorite statue in the Smithsonian Sculpture Gardens, the thinking bunny... The original thinking man statue...

I just found out there is an Ice skating rink on the mall! Right in front of the National Archives next to the Smithsonian Sculpture Gardens. Crazy. I am going next year.

Dylan and I attempt to show our affection to the Capitol by being creative..

Jim and I all dressed up for Valentine's Day. I bought that dress around 8 years ago and this was the first time I have ever worn it. Still fit! I think we look very classy. He took me to the Narrows, a really nice restaurant on the water of the Chesapeake Bay.

Me dressed up. Buena Vista Winery in California in Napa Valley.

Me and Ms Mary in Napa Valley

The vineyards were covered in yellow mustard flowers. The owners don't have them weeded out because they do not affect the taste or smell of the wine. I think they make the vineyards look beautiful.

Below are a few pictures from my week during Inauguration. Some of you know I am slightly terrified of insanely large crowds. Since I live in the District, I decided I did not want to fight the crowded metro, lack of parking, and just mass of people in general that was inevitable during Obama's swearing in...

SO, I headed out of town to Somerset, Pennsylvania to go skiing for the week at Seven Springs resort. I was a little hesitant about skiing on the east coast since mountains in Washington state are larger and filled with more powder than I find on the east coast. However, the week we headed out it snowed almost the entire week in Somerset. There was a ton of snow on the mountain and it just kept coming. Given, Monday was insane because it was MLK day and the crowds were somewhat large on the mountain that day too. And, because it was the first time in about 5 years I have snowboarded it took some time for me to get comfortable with being on the board again. I did fall pretty hard half way through the day and bruised my tail bone, but overall it was a fun day.

We headed back out to the mountain on Wednesday and it was amazing. Empty and lots of powder. Jim commented he had never skied in that much powder before and I felt right at home in some places. As the day wore on it got a bit icier and my muscles started to protest, so after a good long go on the mountain we called it quits. For an east coast mountain I do have to say it wasn't bad. There was an abundance of trails, a lot of trees and powdery areas and a fairly huge backside of skiing. Given there was probably about 10% of people there were snowboarders and I am more familiar with being surrounded by fellow boarders, so I did feel a little in the minority, but overall it was fun. I would go again...

I have to add that overall the weather hit a high of 13 degrees while we were in PA. The lows with the wind were in the negatives. It felt even worse on the ski lifts on the mountain. When we got back to Maryland with a high of 34, it felt downright balmy...

Below are a few pictures from the trip. Enjoy and until next time...

Well, the first one is of Maggie, but she looked so cute with her ripped up tennis ball. The lake is outside of Hagerstown, Maryland. We stopped for a leg breather on the way to PA, and this place looked like a fun place to wander around.

Jim testing the ice on the lake. It was pretty thick, but I don't think it was ice skating worthy...

The drive from where we were staying (Somerset, PA) to Seven Springs Ski Resort. Some of the roads were pretty icy and very heavily packed with snow. A beautiful drive.

The bottom of the slopes. The lodge is to my back. The second shot is at the top of one of the runs. The snow blowing in the background is actually a snow machine... first time I have ever experienced that.

Jim getting ready to head down the mountain for the first time in ages. And him at the lake with coffee in hand.

Jim and I outside the lodge at the top of the mountain, and another shot on the drive out to the ski area.

Icicles hanging from our hotel ledge... very sharp. (Not ice cycles)

More icicles and a bush near the hotel that was iced over and frozen to itself.

By popular demand I have decided to post a few more pictures of the cutest dog on the East coast. Maybe the picture posted of her wishing all a Happy New Years wasn't the cutest of poses and made her look slightly on the slow side... Sorry Maggie. So, I have posted a few more pictures of her where she really is as cute as she is in person. Enjoy! (and until next time)

From the cutest dog on the East coast and my cat on our last morning together.

Happy New Years.

For those of you who will be around the week of Christmas, so will I! I will be flying back to Vashon (weather permitting) today, December 23rd and will return back to DC the 29th. I know people are busy with the holidays and the snow makes it hard to travel around right now, but I will be on the island this week and would love to meet up with as many of you as possible.

Please feel free to stop by or give me a call. My transportation is limited since my own car is in DC, but I will do my best. Look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Until next time...

I thought I would add some pictures in honor of the coming holiday season. I am in the holiday preparation mode and am loving the lights and songs and preparations that remind us that Christmas is on its way. Maybe it's because this is the first time in 4 years I have been in the states while the holidays are building up, but I think every once in awhile we need reminding why the holidays used to feel so special to us when we were kids.

It could be the lights that people shamelessly decorate their houses and yards with, or it could be the trees. For some of us this includes memories of trudging through the mud with your dad and brother, axe in hand looking for that perfect tree, for others it's getting the tree out of the box and trying to remember which color order those branches are supposed to go in... The special feeling could be the hope we are reminded of with the birth of Christ, the substitutionary death He died on the cross in our place and the hope of eternal life that this leaves us with. Maybe it's getting the box of ornaments out of it's yearly resting place, dusting off the ornaments and remembering the stories behind which each one represents... It could be that Christmas song you love so much you can't help but sing to when it comes onto the radio yet AGAIN for the 1,oooth time... Who knows why we all used to get excited just for the word Christmas and the memories it instilled, but being out of the country for it years in a row, makes the month leading up to it seem that much more special.

In honor of this strange nostalgia that I am feeling, I thought it appropriate to include pictures of the first snow we had and decorating the tree. Enjoy.

Our first snow. East coasters will call this "flurries" but I say if it sticks to anything, it is officially a snow. So, there you go. The first snow of the season. Hopefully the next one to come will include an actual inch on the ground.

My Christmas tree in my house. I went out to Walmart and bought a fake one on sale. This way I don't have to worry about watering it or the fact that I have to keep it up at least 12 days after Christmas.

The artfull masterpiece of Jim's Christmas tree. Complete with colored lights, glass ball ornaments and tinsel. I love the star.

Within hours of returning back to Maryland and DC from my trip to Chicago to see the Bears play, I had to rush to the airport to pick up another friend who was coming to town for a visit. For those of you who have followed my blog throughout the years, Clair was an Australian volunteer placed near me my first year in Samoa. I visited her and her family in Australia for Christmas of 2006.

Well, while we were in Samoa we thought she should come out to visit me and Lala (the Peace Corps volunteer she worked with) in the states around October of 2008. We thought this time frame would be fun since both Clair and I turned 30 within a few days of each other. It would be partly to celebrate our 30th birthdays together.

It turned out to be easier for Clair to visit me and Laura (Lala is her Samoan name) since we both live on the east coast now; I in DC and Laura in New York. Clair flew in on Monday which I had taken off from work. Tuesday was a holiday and Friday was my day off. So, while I was at work Clair toured the city by herself. In the evenings we met up with other volunteers living in the area and had lunch with some of my coworkers and friends from church. On Friday we toured the National Archives (which is a blast, but I would recommend getting there early). The place crowds up fast and the archives aren't set up for proper flow so it can get very crowded. We visited it first thing in the morning so we avoided the crowds. Each document has a title above it on the wall stating what it is, but oddly enough people seem to miss this. One funny story: a young woman came in and asked the security guard standing next to the document, if that was the Constitution. He saw me glance up at the title while he said no in fact it was the Bill of Rights. After the lady left, he told me some people are oblivious to the titles and he could have said it was the Declaration and she wouldn't have known any better. I told him it would be even funnier if he told the next person it was the Louisiana Purchase... He laughed for a while at that one.

So, Friday afternoon Clair and I hopped on the Bus on our way up to New York to visit Laura, and Marques who also lives in New York. As an added bonus, Amos from California had flown out east to visit a few colleges he is checking out for grad school, and so he joined us for the mini Peace Corps Reunion.

I can't even attempt to recall at that we did in New York. Clair and I stayed with Laura and her boyfriend in Brooklyn and I can tell you we ate everything imaginable including fresh donuts, pizza, cheese cake at 1am, bagels... The list can go on for hours. We also saw Ground Zero which I had been wanting to see which was surreal, took the ferry to Staten Island, saw Rockafeller Square, the NBC studios, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, toured Chinatown, heard and saw the Mayor of New York City speak... and a lot more I can't remember... Below is a small sampling of pictures from that weekend. In conclusion, it was fun having so many visitors and seeing so many people, but I think I am enjoying a quite few weeks before the holiday craziness really begins...

Enjoy the pictures.

Fall colors on my street.

Clair and I outside the Spy Museum. It is one of the newer museums and not on the mall, but it was a really good museum and I would recommend it to anyone in town (as long as you have a few 3-4 hours to spare to see it all).

We met up with Bob who lived next to me in Samoa and was a good friend of Clair's. We met up in China town and went to a Chinese restaurant of all places. It was REALLY good food and crazy cheap. $5 for a heaping plate of noodles and veggies. I didn't even come close to finishing it all.

Clair waiting for the bus to take us to New York. It's a nice ride actually and it has free wireless on the bus so you can check emails on the way.

The Brooklyn Bridge at night.

Marques and I at the water with Manhattan in the background.

This is how all of us volunteers communicate with each other now that we are back states side. Laura, me and Amos all chatting on our phones while hanging out... sad I know.

Ground Zero.

Looking down into Ground Zero. The construction is actually progressing along pretty well.

The patches of all the different divisions who volunteered during the aftermath of 9/11. It is inside a nearby church that withstood the bombings. It served as the consolidation point for all volunteers during the cleanup.

I loved this! It was a sign on the ferry to Staten Island. It refers (randomly?) to Samoa!

Laura and I around midnight waiting for our giant cheesecakes. Clair ordered hers with icecream and I had mine with an egg cream. It was so good. This couple next to us was on a date and the girl ordered a slice and never touched it and then didn't take it home in the end. The waiter just tossed it. The guy on the date looked pretty annoyed. Who would order a slice and then not even take it with to eat later?! Obviously not Clair, Laura or I who all finished the gigantic piece they give you.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge

I liked this. These are old lamp posts with real burning fire in them. There are a few of these still in the city. It was really pretty. And that concludes another trip to New York and the end of my visitors for awhile. Until next time...

Yes, we found wheat free cupcakes. Although that is not actually the content of this blog post I was still so excited I wanted to include it in the title. Side note, some of you may not know that eating wheat has been found to give me some of the sinus infections I have been getting, so I have since cut wheat and all products processed with wheat out of my diet. It has been hard, but Whole Foods and a few loans later I am learning to live with it. I don't think the people who made these cupcakes realize just how happy they make those of us who can't usually eat it.

Ok, Mary came out to visit on the actual day and weekend of my 30th birthday. My parents had just left 2 days before from their visit. It was a very fun weekend seeing such a good friend and showing her around my new city and introducing her to the friends I have made since moving to the District. Since I picked her up late evening on Thursday and have Fridays off I didn't have to work while she was in town and had the entire weekend to hang out and catch up.

On Friday we went for a hike. I have never been on the trails of Rock Creek park and wanted to explore them while the weather was still nice. So, after a trip to the Zoo and seeing the Giant Pandas, Mary and I walked down towards part of the Park (it is huge) and started exploring the trails. We found ourselves on a trail that followed a creek that wound around heading south towards the Potomac. It was fun walking and catching up and seeing the fall leaves turn colors. At one point in the trail we noticed some huge slabs of rock and I mentioned they looked like good climbing or bouldering rocks. When we went closer to investigate we noticed 2 guys were geared up and climbing around the rocks. We stopped and chatted for awhile and they mentioned it was a good spot to go climbing. SO, I am now looking for climbing partners on the east coast... if you know of anyone... Along this hike we also ended up getting a bit lost and wandered upon a graveyard with a massive buck deer staring at us. He had HUGE antlers (strange for downtown DC) and a huge bushy white tale. Very beautiful buck.

After trying to wander out of the park we found ourselves in Georgetown area and decided to do some looking around. We went into a secondhand clothes store just out of curiosity and had a fun afternoon trying on clothes and exploring the slightly overpriced secondhand clothes store in Georgetown. But, we had to cut our evening short since I was meeting up with friends for dinner at a fun Mexican restaurant near DuPont Circle that evening.

Dinner was fun, we had some great food, good conversations and even debated some. We had thought about going out that night for a few drinks, but we were all fairly tired so Mary, Jim and I headed back to my apartment, had a glass of wine and just chatted into the late hours of the night. It was a good end to my 30th birthday.

Saturday Mary and I decided to do the touristy things of DC. That was also the day the weather decided to absolutely open up and down pour on us. We got soaked as we walked from the WW2 Memorial to the Lincoln Memorial, but as we sloshed around in our absolutely soaking wet clothes and selves, we were the only crazy people sightseeing at that point so we had the monuments and memorials almost entirely to ourselves. It was fun. Someone had suggested to Mary while she was in town to eat at Old Ebbots Grill which I guess is famous. So that night we had reservations there. It was good. A nice atmosphere and I had Maine Lobster for about $20. Not bad! And Mary had her first ever Oyster Shooter. After dinner, we walked to the White House and walked around it taking pictures of it all lit up at night. Then we headed back onto the Metro to meet another friend for drinks at a restaurant that used to be the old Post Office in the District. It was another fun evening.

Sunday we were tired of the city so we headed to Annapolis for the day and evening to wander around and have dinner. It is a cute town right on the water with lots of fun shops to explore. It reminded me slightly of Port Townsend for those of you back in Washington. The waiter at the place we ate lunch was infatuated with Mary and would not stop complimenting her and telling her how gorgeous she was. On a scale of 1-1o he rated her a 12,000. We think he was more looking for a big tip then trying to win her over. Mary and I had baked wheat free Samoan Cocoa brownies earlier in the morning to bring over to Jim's place because that evening he cooked us dinner. We had a nice evening of hanging out and watching movies. It was a fun evening and a really great weekend. Thanks for coming out to visit me Ms Mary!

I have added some pictures below. Enjoy!

The Fish Diving cat at the zoo. He was so pretty. He reminded me of a bigger version of my cat back at my parents.

The trails in Rock Creek Park.

We passed under a few bridges along the trails and over a few creeks. Very picturesque, not really what you would expect in the heart of the District.

We saw these berries and I wanted to take a picture. The color in them is so unusual. Dark purple, light purple, deep teal blue and baby blue all the same type of berry on the same plant. Now, so if I drink something teal blue and someone says they don't drink anything so unnatural of a color, I can say it IS a naturally occurring color in nature.... whatever these berries were. (And for those of you who think we are crazy, we did not sample the berries...)

Mary as we were trying to figure out how to cross the river. In the end we decided we would end up soaking wet (at least I would) and we would still be on this side of the river, so we ended our quest to cross.

Me trying to push open the doors of the Supreme Court... Unsuccessfully.

'The slogan in the World War 2 Memorial. 'Here we mark the price of Freedom.' It was also at this point that it began to start the downpour of rain.

Me and Mary having our Oyster Shooters at Old Ebbots Grill

The White House all lit up.

Me sampling some of the wheat free Samoan Cocoa brownie batter... mmm... Very good...

For my 30th birthday my parents, brother and his girlfriend all came out to DC to visit me. It also happened to be my dad's birthday the week before mine (the week they came out) so we had a joint celebration while they were in town.

For the weekend they were here, we thought it would be fun to go somewhere and do something no one in the family had done before... drive up to New York City. Yes, I said drive. Some of you might be thinking to yourselves, "but it's expensive to drive with all of the tolls. Why didn't you take a bus or a train?" Well, we had considered these options, but with 5 people, the cost of each person in those other 2 options adds up. In the end, the tolls and gas prices seemed to be the most cost efficient for getting the 5 of us up to NYC.

We stayed outside of the city itself in Jersey, near the Meadowlands, Lyndhurst. The first day we decided to take the train into the city that left from Secaucus station and ended near Times Square. That was a huge event in and of itself. First off, it is a relatively new train station so it was not in dad's GPS and most people asked couldn't say exactly how to get there. The directions given to us to get to the train station were wrong. We drove in circles for a good half hour until we stopped at a gas station and asked for directions. Vaguely we had a new idea. Those directions were also wrong, but they led us to some streets mentioned in the first set of directions. But, we were lost again since we were told to turn right at a fork in the road and we found out only much later, there was no fork in the road and at no point around that area should be have turned right.

We stopped at another hotel. They told us we should see signs pointing us to Secaucus. There were, none towards the train station. Eventually we stopped at yet another hotel. Dad and I went in this time. When we asked the lady if she could tell us how to get to the train station she said she could, but it would be useless since cars can't park there. Only buses and taxis. She offered if we were hotel guests to park for free and she would call a taxi, but I think after seeing our deject faces, she offered to let us park for free regardless and she called a taxi.

So, our first day experience of getting to the city was an adventure, but the rest of the time in the city was fun. We did a ton of the touristy things, Times Square, Central Park, the Met, the Empire State Building, Liberty Island with the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

It was a short whirlwind fun time in the city and I wish we had more time to explore and see a few more things. The wait to the top of the ESB was crazy long, though with line wrapping and many checkpoints you don't know just how long of a wait it really is. But, the view from the top was worth it. I have always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and it was worth it. We did the boat tour to the island and went into the base of the statue, since people aren't allowed to climb all up inside it anymore. Ellis island was fun, but we had originally thought we would have relatives listed until I read the first immigrant recorded there set foot in 1862. The Steyh family came into the States long before that.

Overall it was fun and I can't wait to go back and actually have time to explore the place. But I will end with the words of my brother as we were on top of the Empire State Building looking down onto the city, "I could never explore this city in 3 lifetimes."

Enjoy the pictures below.

Times Square. This is the first thing we saw coming up out of the subway into the city.

Central Park. I don't know these people, I just thought it was a nice picture in the park.

Playing softball and relaxing in the heart of the city in Central Park.

The family on top of the Empire State Building. Me, Mom, Bryan, dad

The view down the river and the Statue of Liberty from the top of the Building

Bryan and I.

Mom on the very windy boat we took to Liberty Island.

Bryan and Renee in front of the Statue. It looks warm this day, but it was freezing on this boat ride.

I just like this closer shot of the Statue.

Me in front of it. You can tell by my clothes it is cold... or at least I am.

On Liberty Island. There was screening to get onto the boat to go to the island, and even more screening to actually get inside the base of the statue. Worse than airport security, but worth it.

The view of the city from Liberty Island.

I loved this shot. Because it had a map of all the buildings in front of you and the skyline of the city, but it still had the Twin Towers in it. I hadn't realized (since I have never been to NYC before) that the towers really did dominate the sky.

I always thought that October was my favorite time of year. Fall colors, pumpkins, my birthday, crisp fall mornings... But, until I moved out to the east, I don't think I have ever experienced a color change in the leaves like they have out here. On the west coast, we have so many evergreens that the hillsides aren't entirely an array of oranges, reds, yellows and purples.

This last weekend I had a 4 day weekend (Friday was my day off and Monday was Columbus Day). For the weekend I headed out to Deep Creak, Maryland with a friend, which is in the western panhandle of MD. It was a gorgeous drive out there and the weather held up the entire weekend making for a very nice short vacation. On Saturday we went to go golfing, but because it was a nice weekend and there was a lot going on in town, the course was booked full and only had a few openings. I ended up just going along for the ride and watching the golf game. I am still learning and would have been intimidated playing along with 4 other golfers. But, it was still fun to watch the game and enjoy being outside in some beautiful scenery. It really is a gorgeous golf course and it was a nice day to be outside.

I have posted some pictures below that I took of the course and over the weekend. The camera doesn't really do the fall colors justice, but it's the best I can do.

This first picture is of a ski slope out here. Not bad actually, I bet they get some nice snow in the winter... The trees lining the golf course made for a very nice backdrop.

What can I say? Beautiful fall colors. I liked this red tree alot because it had all of the colors in just itself.

Water, grass, sun... A very nice day.

More beautiful scenic pictures of the course and the colors.

This little church was sitting sort of in the middle of the course. Up on a hillside. Pretty during the day, but I bet a bit spooky at night... in the middle of a lightning storm...

A little bridge in the middle of the course. And a very nice backdrop to some putting.

The entire hillside is full of these colors. The pic above with the lake is not at the golf course. On the way back we stopped at a lake and hiked around a bit and to give our legs some exercise from the long drive back.

Overall it was a really fun weekend away from the city and a nice change of pace. I am very glad we went.

Tomorrow my parents, Bryan and his girlfriend Renee are all flying out for my dads and my birthday next week as well as for a weekend drive trip up to New York City. Should be fun and crazy and exhausting. Until next time...

Hopefully this was the last of it for all of my sinus woes. For those of you who have been following my blog throughout Peace Corps I know the status of my health is always one that finds its way to the forefront of this blog, but hopefully that will start winding down. Yes, I do have a tendency to be accident prone, but hopefully my ongoing health problems that accrued while in Peace Corps are finally coming to an end.

Thursday I had a revision surgery on my sinuses. As I mentioned previously in this blog, the first surgery was good, but it didn't adequately open up my drainage holes and there was some scar tissue left behind. So, my new doc out here on the east coast, went back in Thursday morning and hopefully got everything cleaned, clipped, and back into shape in that area.

Dad flew out Wednesday afternoon to be with me while I recover. Very sweet of him I know, but he is also retired so he has an excuse to come and hang out with his daughter. I know at times I snapped at him (sorry dad), but overall I would like to think I am a good patient and wasn't too demanding on him. We also had our fair share of visitors over the weekend cooking food, or bringing us food, flowers and love. So, to my friends and family out there who have been praying for me or even stopped by for a visit this weekend, Thank you so much! Dad and I greatly appreciated all of it. Until next time!

The main reason I flew home this last Friday was for the wedding of friends since High School, Will Pruett and Anna Jones.

I have known both of them since age 15 when we used to hang out at Will's house playing play station and watching movies. We have stayed in touch over the years and I was thrilled to hear that him and Anna were finally getting married. I was lucky enough to get invited to the wedding. I decided to tell the story through pictures instead of narrative. Enjoy

3 of the 4 Bridesmaids. The maid of honor was Anna's younger sister Amanda. Will's Best Man was his older brother Glen. All of the groomsmen wore sneakers instead of dress shoes. It is very Will.

The pastor marrying them is Matt Shorack. He was Will and my Young Life leader when we were in High School and just recently finished a job as Youth Pastor at the same church Will and I grew up in.

Anna and her dad. Mr Jones was my 5th grade teacher.

Me and Julie Shorack. Her husband is Matt and she was also my Young Life leader. She is a huge part of what brought me to becoming a Christian. We have stayed in touch and remain good friends, even with her and family living in Uganda for 10 years. She is often the voice of reason for me when I need a slap in the face.

Yeah! Yummy cheese cake. They had 3 different types of cheesecakes... My kind of wedding cake.

Anna ripped her dress at one point and was trying to fix it. She found it in a consignment shop a few years ago for around $45. Some alterations were made, but that is definitely the way to go. Very cheap and it was a beautiful dress.

Will Pruett (the groom) and me.

Ok, for those of you who know me you know I HATE participating when the bride throws the bouquet. But, after much harassing from others in the crowd, I finally agreed to stand with the other girls while Anna threw the bouquet. I had NO intention of trying to catch it...

... And Anna threw it right in my face. So much so, that I would have had to duck or get hit in the eye than to catch the bouquet. I accepted it gracefully.

And this is the look of shear terror realizing I have caught the bouquet.

Good friends from church and Vashon, Kyle Hawkins and wife Richenda volunteered to cater the wedding. It was good to see them, but I wish we had had more time to chat. Kyle spent most of his time in front of the grill which was conveniently placed in the sun.

Will and Anna dancing to their first song together. I love that Will is still himself and not on any best behavior. He dipped her so low at one point she almost fell over.

And making it all complete, signing the marriage liscense... Congratulations to Will and Anna Pruett.

This past Friday I left work early, hopped on the subway and made my way to the airport to head back to Vashon for the weekend. The main reason I was flying back was for a friends wedding, but it was nice to see family and get a day on my parents deck around trees, grass, sun, mountains and no fences or other houses.

It wasn't really a lot of time to do anything but attend the wedding, but I was still able to squeeze a few small things in here and there. I had to see a doctor (surprise) because I burned my leg recently and it wasn't getting any better. I also met up with an old friend from High school whom I had not seen since graduation. Although we only had a few minutes it was still fun to chat with her and see what she has done with her life since VHS. Sunday involved packing back up again, having coffee with another friend and hopping back on the plane to head to DC. I arrive back at my apartment around 11pm Sunday night, so work today was fairly slow going.

I have included some fun random pictures I took from the visit home.

Ah. When Bryan came to visit me in Samoa, I greeted him in the airport with a sign. It said Dumb Ass. When I came up the stairs at the airport in Seattle he was standing at the top waiting for me with a like sign... I still think mine was better. (The one of me in a red dress)

Our dog Lizzy. Isn't she cute? And getting old finally. She has had the gray on her face since a puppy because she was hit by a car when she was 1 yr old and it caused some trauma like the gray hair and a permanent limp. She is a black lab, German Shepard mix.

Me and cousin Michelle. Apparently my parents threw a Myers Family Reunion (mom's side) same day as the wedding. It started after I left, but I called Michelle to come earlier since I wanted to see her and say hi.

My breakfast Sunday morning included (as you can see), a bowl of cereal, cheese cake, keylime pie and some fresh steamed crab Bryan had just caught that morning from his boat in Puget Sound. Breakfast of Champions.

For my friends on the east coast. THIS is a real mountain.

Real Mountains... see, snow year round. Not a real mountain if it doesn't have snow on it year round.

Sunrise view from my parents house. Those are the Cascade mountains as seen from the backyard.

Dad on the deck hanging a fake bees hive to keep hornets away.

The living room of my parents house. My old bedroom is the door to the right of the chimney.

My parents house from their front yard. I am standing in front of the hedge in which I cut off my finger... just in case you wanted that random bit of information...

While this week was long and busy, I did have some fun stories to share from it that I thought were worth including in this blog.

The first is earlier this week I received a phone call from someone from my group in the Peace Corps. Holly and Ryan (both from Group 75) were in town and wanted to know if I was available to meet up for lunch one day. (Holly this post is mostly for you). Even though I haven't seen either of them since leaving Peace Corps, it was like we picked up right where we left off. Chatting about the same things as if no time had really passed at all. It was refreshing to see that some things never change (except maybe now we are dressed in unfaded clothes and aren't living off of the taro anymore) and it was really good to catch up. They are getting ready to head off on another adventure to South Korea (which I would go back to in a heartbeat if I get enough vacation days off) to teach English. It was good to catch up and to see some familiar faces. Peace Corps friendships are different and it really doesn't matter where you are or what you went through no one else knows you like another volunteer does... I realized after meeting up with them that I hadn't taken any pictures (though Ryan was snapping away), so I included one I liked from while we were still in Samoa. I apologize ahead of time Holly, but I thought it was a fun picture...

At the Chinese Restaurant on one of Holly's last nights in country. (Candice is the other one poking her).

I also was asked by another PC Samoa volunteer, Julia, at the last minute this week if I would be interested in dogsitting her dog Maile (Samoan for dog) while she went out of town for a cousins wedding. My first response was no, but after thinking about it I realized, her dog is pretty easy to take care of and I know the dog from when it was in Samoa with us. So, I agreed. She lives in Virginia and since my apartment doesn't accept dogs for a few days I am living in Arlington, VA area. It's actually slightly closer to a few of my friends, church, and where I work, although the commute itself is longer... I thought i would blog about this, just because I wanted to post some pictures of Maile.

He is a Samoan mut, but still a cutie!

Maile, enjoying the fact he can still be in the sun, but not in Samoa anymore...

I am not sure if this is really worth a blog update, but I find it entertaining and frustrating so I thought I would share it with all who read this blog.

Last night I went out with some friends from church. We had dinner after the evening service and started making our way back to our respective homes and cars around 10:30pm. We were eating near the Orange Line, but I live off of the Red Line. It's not too hard to transfer and it is actually what I do every day during my work commute. In the evenings however, the metro trains are few and far between. So, instead of getting on the orange and transferring, one of the guys we ate with offered to drive me to a stop along the red line.

I made my way down into the underground metro stop around 10:45 that night and boarded the train almost immediately. The train was running slightly delayed for a few stops. Instead of boarding and unboarding in a timely manner we would sit at each stop for a few minutes. But, I had my music and I wasn't in too much of a hurry. I did however have to pee fairly urgently.

Then, 1 stop away from where I get off, the train stopped. The announcer said, "We will be leaving momentarily." That was it. We continued to sit. The announcer got back on the speaker and repeated what he said the first time... in fact he continued to repeat it in 5 minute intervals for a good half hour. If he had just said, "We will be here a crazy long amount of time, buckle down and get used to it" then I would have got off the metro, found a bathroom and walked home. Instead I stayed on, thinking "we will be leaving momentarily." When we did finally start to move again, everyone cheered. It was exciting. It was preemptive. We stopped yet again, this time in the middle of nowhere between the previous stop and the next one which was mine. We continued to sit here for yet another 45 minutes all the time being assured "we will be leaving momentarily." By the time we did finally start to inch forward and saw the exit approaching I was scared my bladder was going to burst. It was horrible. I got off of the train and tried to hurry as fast as my bladder allowed. The bus that I usually take once I get off of the metro wasn't swinging by our way for another 45 minutes so I elected to walk home. It was a brutal grueling trudge the 6 blocks I live away from the metro stop. No restaurants were open and there aren't really any bushes I could hide behind...

So, a hour an half after leaving dinner (usually a 20 minute commute) I arrived at my house. Exhausted and very upset it was a Sunday night.

I must add simply because I am on the subject that the Metro in DC doesn't even hold a candle to the Tokyo and Seoul metros. Although I have never been to NYC, I am sure that their metro also blows ours out of the water. Someone recently mentioned to me they think the DC Metro runs more effectively in the cold weather and seems to break down more in the heat... could be. Who knows? It's jerky as all get up, is always delayed and isn't designed to efficiently hold the most amount of people possible.

So, from Samoan buses and sitting on laps to the inner workings of the DC Metro, I hope this post finds you all well. Until next time...

So, I just said goodbye to yet another visitor this afternoon. For those of you who didn't know my cousin Elizabeth came out for a brief visit this week. She flew into Pittsburgh earlier in the week to visit an old friend from India and then rented a car and headed my way Monday afternoon. Trying to get out to where she had dropped off the car on Monday was tricky since I don't get off work until 5:30 and the metro (subway) had massive malfunctions that afternoon and were literally stopped in the middle of the track. But, we eventually met up and headed back to my place.

The first few days she chilled. Her weekend was pretty busy visiting Lori so we relaxed and didn't do a whole heck of a lot. Which, actually I am grateful for. Not that I don't want to see the Capitol again, but it's nice when someone has been here before and doesn't want to do all of the sightseeing known to man in one week. (I am not ripping on you Marques).

Wednesday we went and saw The Dark Knight. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it was pretty dark. Liz mentioned after the movie that she was a bit confused and confessed she had never seen Batman Begins. SO, if you are planning on watching it... see the first one! It makes a whole heck of a lot more sense if you do. Don't want to spoil anything though for those of you who haven't seen it yet, so that is all I will say. Thursday night we headed out to an Indian restaurant near me that I have never been to. It didn't have Southern Indian cuisine, just northern. However, I didn't hear any complaints from Liz so it must have been decent. She also went into town one of her days here and made her way to one of the Smithsonian's that was having a special exhibit on Afghan art. She highly recommends it to anyone who is in town, including me. She also mentioned she would blog about it, so check out her blog here. I still had to work this past week, so we didn't do a whole heck of a lot together during the day.

Health update: eye is all better... But, if I left it at that then I wouldn't be me. SO, last week I went back to visit my sinus doc and it turns out I have a massive sinus infection. He put me on some crazy nasty antibiotics to try and kill it. However, one thing he did mention is that my sinuses aren't draining properly because of some problems with my surgery. He said that my previous doc had opened up a new drainage hole instead of widening the current one. Doctors do this often, but occasionally the patients sinuses continue to drain to the original hole and not the new one. So everything just cycles around and around your sinus cavity getting worse and creating infections. This is what happened to me. (Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less). What does this mean? I have to have another surgery to open up the original hole. It's no where near as bad as the first and it's a pretty quick recovery, but it's still yet more surgery. (I think that puts the count at 9 for those of you counting). It won't be for awhile still, but that still sucks. At least I have a great doctor now. We also discovered that wheat is a major factor in my sinus problems. So, I am going to cut all wheat out of the diet. Not too thrilled with this new dietary restriction since I do enjoy beer, but sinus infections vs beer? No brainer.

Brief update on living here in the District. Still love it. I know that shocks some of you back home who know me well, but it's true. I still love my job and what I do and I really enjoy my coworkers. I am slowly getting to know them. I still have yet to play a game of softball or kickball, hopefully next week. This weekend I am going out with a few friends seeing the movie for a second time. Might have dinner here and there with a few friends too. So, it's good. I love it. Love the church, my job and my place. Couldn't really ask for more.

So, until next time...

Yeah, you read the title right. Saturday evening I headed to the E.R. You are probably thinking, "Oh Julya. WHAT in the world did you do now?" Well, this time it had nothing to do with my intense clumsiness or being a sicky. I woke up Saturday morning with a swollen, intensely painful, itchy right eye. After freaking out on the phone with my parents, my mom suggested I head to the local pharmacy and buy some eye wash stuff. I did. It didn't work. Later that day I called my parents again, still a little freaked out because it was getting worse. My other eye was starting to swell, the right eye pain had increased and my throat and head were hurting too. Dad suggested since it was a Saturday evening and no eye doctors were open (let alone the fact that I haven't found a local eye doctor yet), that maybe I should head to the hospital.

So, no protruding bones, just a swollen eye led me through the doors of the local emergency room. I felt sort of silly saying my eye hurt when other people walking in had blood dripping, broken bones and life threatening injuries. Since I spent a good part of the 3 hours I was at the hospital in the waiting room, I did hear some fabulous injuries. One lady shattered a bone in her leg and broke her foot because her motorcycle fell on her while she was trying to get onto it... that sounds like something I would do. I love it! Though I would make it sound more fantastic than that.

Anyways, they finally saw me and the doctor told me I had conjunctivitis in my eye. No IDEA what that meant until I got home and read the information about conjunctivitis. I have pink eye. So, there you go. All those years as a kid when my friends got it and I never had it... pink eye has finally made it's way to me. Let me tell you for those of you wondering, pink eye is NO fun! It hurts, my eye is swollen, and it makes my head hurt. My eye isn't all red like you would think, just swollen.

So, that is my weekend story. While other people were out watching movies, at BBQs or entertaining friends, I was in the hospital for pink eye. In fact just the other day a friend of mine was mentioning which hospital she would head to if she ever needed to go to one. I am glad I paid attention. Knowing me, I will need to head to the hospital at some point within the first few months of living somewhere. (Samoa, Portland, and DC).

Hope this post finds you all well and I hope you enjoyed your weekends a bit more than I did. Until next time...

So, for the anniversary of our country's birthday, I celebrated in the capitol of our nation. A friend from Peace Corps Samoa, Marques who lives in NYC, called and asked if I was going to be in town. If so, would it be ok if he came down for a visit and to enjoy the festivities.

I must say that the weekend of the 4th must have been the most crowded 2 days the city has ever seen. It didn't help that the 4th fell on a Friday AND we did the whole tourist thing seeing all of the sights. From watching the fireworks from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to the Library of Congress (with the Gutenberg Bible) and the Natural History Museum, we did it all. Crowds, sheep like movements, intense heat, elbow to elbow pathways and all... Bob joined us for awhile, but headed out before the insanity ensued.

Despite this insanity, it was fun to see a few things I hadn't yet done. The fireworks display was the single most amazing fireworks show I have ever seen. But, I would expect nothing less from the Nation's Capitol. It was like a 25 minute long grand finale. Since it was raining off and on all day long, forcing Marques and I to share an already tiny umbrella thus soaking ourselves on numerous occasions, there were a few clouds in the sky when the fireworks commenced. But, it was still worth the wait and the crowds. That Saturday we wandered around and saw the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, the Capitol, the White House, the Natural Museum of History and the Peace Corps Headquarters. I was spent by the time we got back to the apartment. That Sunday I took Marques out to my new church (pictures below) and we stopped by another volunteers house so he could say goodbye before heading back to NYC.

In other news, things are going well. Job wise I am getting pretty busy. Loads of work to do always due within the next few hours. Lots of challenges with SQL which I am still getting used to, but I love that it is a constant learning experience. My coworkers really make work easy since they are pretty fun people. At a meeting yesterday we were laughing so hard at one point one of the members had tears literally streaming down his face. Yeah, it's a tough job.

I am starting to enjoy living in the city. I have officially joined the softball team I was debating joining (since i can't throw), but they said catchers were always needed too... and I have kickball starting up in a few weeks. Been hanging out with a few friends pretty regularly, so I am starting to get to know some great people. One girl asked me if I wanted to take a cooking class with her and learn Mediterranean cooking. That would be fun! So make sure to check back here every now and then because I will be posting often. Though, not during the week probably. I spend all day on the computer at work, the last thing I want to do when I get home is type out blogs... that's what weekends are for!

So, here are a few pictures depicting the weekend festivities

Bob and I in front of the Washington Monument

The Capitol Hill parade on the morning of the 4th. We were having brunch in a cafe on the street when the parade went by. It wasn't even close to being as big as the Strawberry Festival, but each neighborhood has it's own parade.

I played the tourist for awhile.

Me just after getting candy from the parade. Some things are ageless...

Marques getting interviewed by the Japanese equivalent of Public Access.

Me, Bob and Marques waiting in the security line to get into The Mall which was fenced off on the day of the 4th.

A mini Peace Corps Samoa reunion with Bob, Marques and me from Group 75, and Nela from Group 72.

Nela (real name Danielle, but it's sometimes hard to drop Samoan names) and I showcasing our city off for Marques.

3 hours before the fireworks display, this is where we sat to watch them...

Same spot 2 and a half hours later... can you find me?

Fireworks

More fireworks

They were so close it felt like an earthquake at times.

This display was definitely worth the crowds and the wait.

The next day Marques and I wandered around the city seeing the sights. This is the back side of the Capitol Building

Marques outside of the Supreme Court. I knocked on the door, but no one answered... it was locked.

This is only the beginning of the crowds in the museums on the 5th...

Capitol Hill Baptist Church

Sunday morning services are usually a lot bigger due to all of the tourists. The evening service is usually about a fourth of this size (there is also a west section you can't see in this shot...)

*The first picture is of the Washington Monument reflecting in the Vietnam War Wall Memorial

Ok, so I know I promised everyone pics of my new place and it's been a long time coming. So I had the day off from work today and thought I would be productive on something other than work. Quick update: Loving my job. My coworkers are really funny and it makes working there easy. I like problem solving and working with Access and Excel (which is what I do), which also makes it easy. I am finally starting to get plugged into a church. A GREAT church called Capitol Hill Baptist. It has solid teaching and a great group of believers. I am finally starting to feel settled in my new place and I have even joined a kickball league. So, the pictures below aren't in the fun style I wanted to do them in (sorry Miranda) but they are a good representation of where I am living... enjoy!

Ok, first and foremost I LOVE their plates here. In Washington State the slogan is "The Evergreen State." I love in the District how they sort of poke fun at and include the truth, "Taxation without Representation." Very funny, very DC.

The Capitol. I work near here and see it everyday on my way to work. The church is near here too.

Dad with the Washington Monument in the background

Yeah, the White House. I had to include the obvious touristy spots on the blog. Actually the day dad and I did the tourist sites the streets in and around the White House were all blocked off because Bush decided to go for a bike ride...

Me all dressed up for work, with my ID badge. No more faded puletasi's for me!

My apartment complex

The street outside the apartment

My complex. My window is somewhere there.

The lobby. Very nice. :)

My hallway entry. (Got the rug out Liz!).

My kitchen. Finally get to display my Spanish pottery again. (And I have a dishwasher!)

My living room

The living room.

Looking back towards the entry and the kitchen.

My work area (part of the living room)

I had to have a room that was all Samoan, so I made it my bathroom. (Thanks for the idea Sara). I even have shells I brought back on the back of the toilet.

My bedroom

And finally looking from my bedroom back to the living room and entry way.

Ok, so I know I promised pictures, but that will have to wait just a few more days... Until then I thought I would post a brief update for those of you who still claim to check out my blog on occasion.

I officially swore in yesterday w the Department of Education... didn't actually start work until today though. I was pretty excited to be done w the paperwork step and to move onto actually doing something. Yesterday consisted of 8 hours of paperwork and information sessions on the DOE. Interesting, but it got tiring pretty fast. They cram everything into the first day and then send us on our merry way the next morning. So, for those of you who don't know my official title is Management and Program Analyst for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services... I have to dress business professional. No more holey jeans and t-shirts... Today was pretty nuts. It was a TON of information I had to process and I even started working on a project. I am still not 100% sure what I will be doing since the lady I work with is currently on vacation, but from what I have been hearing the Data Unit is busy! Lots of hours and hard work. Like I said, it was a bit overwhelming today but then again the first days usually are of new jobs. Trying to learn terms and acronyms used can be confusing, but I am sure i will get it eventually! Everyone I work with is pretty cool and there are even a few from the west coast. One lady knows Bob who I went to Peace Corps Samoa with and one guy knows an old friend from Seattle. Small world.

As to my new place and the drive out here, everything went relatively well. Dad and I drove cross country in a Uhaul trailing my car behind. We seemed to miss all of the nasty weather and flooding by a day or two each leg of the trip. The day before we drove through Illinois we heard there was massive flooding, but the day we actually went through Chicago it was beautiful and sunny without a cloud in the sky. We made it to DC in 4 days. Pretty impressive (and tiring) if you ask me. Dad stayed until Sunday helping me officially become a DC resident including license and car plates. I live in the NW area of DC off of Connecticut for those of you familiar w the area. It's a REALLY nice neighborhood lined w big trees and lots of brick buildings. My apartment complex has a pool (incentive for my friends to come visit!) and a gym... which I swear I will use... eventually. I got invited to play on a softball team, which I am not sure I will do yet or not. Good chance to meet people and I am good at hitting, but I SUCK at throwing the ball. When people ask what does throwing a ball like a girl mean, they should watch me throw it. Pretty pathetic. (Dad I blame you for not playing catch w me enough)... just teasing.

My actual apartment is pretty nice. I have a large layout with a decent sized kitchen. I have an extra bed in my couch and an air mattress (another incentive for you to come visit!). Dad has already tried out the air mattress and I don't think there were any complaints. I now have about 4 friends out here, so slowly I am meeting some new and cool people to spend the afternoons and weekends with.

I promise I will post some pictures of a few things later in the week. So, until then hope this finds y'all well.

For those of you who don't know I have a few updates in my life. The biggest news is I was offered a job! Working for the Department of Education as a Data Analyst in Washington DC. I am pretty excited for the job; it sounds like a lot of work and always something different and new, which I am fond of. I start work on June 23rd officially and I head on out east June 14th with dad. We are renting a Uhaul and taking the long drive out with all of my stuff and towing my car behind. Should be a fun trip...

The other fun news is I just recently returned back from a trip to Norway and Sweden. I went with my parents and we visited a cousin of mom's who lives just outside of Oslo in the tiny village of Jessheim. Including our week and a half in Norway we spent 3 nights in Stockholm, which I loved! It is a very beautiful city right on the water and situated amongst 19 islands. Very picturesque. We also headed to the town of Bergen to celebrate Norway's Independence Day (May 17th). It is the biggest holiday of the year even more so than Christmas. The entire country seemed to be congregated in Bergen watching the longest parade I have ever seen. It lasted over 2 hours (as far as I know since I only lasted 2 hours) and was doubled up so that on one street the parade went both ways... It seemed like the entire city was in the actual parade so my guess is that the rest of the country was watching it. Independence Day is also the day they all dress up in traditional Norwegian wear and wave flags with the same vigor in which they enjoy their licorice candy.

We took a few side trips including "Norway in a nutshell" which involved 3 train rides, a boat and a bus through the mountains and fjords. We also took the Hurtigruten boat up the coast for a few days. Below is a sampling of pictures from my trip.

Linda's house in Trondheim ... Mom, dad and Linda at Frogner Park in Oslo

One of the many odd statues in Frogner Park ... Mom and I at the park

The new ski jump outside of Oslo ... Stockholm Waterfront

A guard at the palace in Stockholm ... Old city area in Stockholm

Mail boxes in Stockholm ... Pouring drinks at the Icebar in Stockholm in glasses of ice.

Me inside the Icebar in Stockholm ... Farts Dempere, hehe. (means Speed Bump)

House in Jessheim ... On the train ride near Gol.

Mountains on the train ride near Gol ... A house with a grass roof.

Fjords lands

Fjordlands ... Bird on the boat ride in the Sognefjord

Inside the Sognefjord

Sognefjord

The town of Gudvangen at the end of the Sognefjord... and another grass roof

Fjordlands

Traditional wear in Bergen on Independence Day.. and me

Bryggen old town in Bergen and a Viking ship band playing music

Outside of Molde on the coastal ferry the Hurtigruten

Coastal views of Norway

Coastal Norway

Norwegian Coast line

Houses in Trondheim

Gothic Cathedral in Trondheim and a Stave church in Oslo

Viking Ship! and the Stave Church in Notodden

The Stave Church in Notodden

It's official. Smart Beans "actually help you think." Now I can eat all of the candy I want and get smarter at the same time! Genius.

For those of you who occasionally look at my blog, I thought I would share a few fun stories with you and give an update on what I have been up to thus far. Quick reminder to everyone, cell phones came to Samoa half way through my service thanks to Digicel. They have been amazing in terms of keeping in touch and staying connected with my village and Samoan friends and family still in country. For example, text messages are amazing. For just 20 cene (about 15 cents USD) Samoans can send a text message to my phone here in the states. On at least a weekly basis I receive text messages from Laupama, Meaalofa or one of my students. I think it's wonderful. However, my most recent bit of fun didn't come from a text message it came from a phone call.

Around 12:45am a few weeks ago my cell phone rang. This is not uncommon. Most of my contacts in Samoa frequently send me text messages around this time, forgetting the time zones and time differences. I looked at the area code and it said 425 (local here). I didn't recognize the number, so I picked it up and said hello. On the other line I heard Samoan. Without even thinking about it, I instantly switched to Samoan and sort of woke up realizing I was talking to one of my students. Heseti Toloa. She was one of my Year 13 students last year. She had just graduated and since she was born in American Samoa, she has US Citizenship and cannot attend the local university in Samoa. So, her parents sent her to Kent, Washington of all places to live with family for a couple years, find a job and adapt to American life. Kent is not far from where I live; it's about a half hour away from the ferry dock.

Since I have been missing my students like crazy, I jumped on the chance to see her and catch up. We agreed to meet for lunch. When I arrived at her aunt's house, it was just like being back in Samoa. I was invited right in, offered food and spoken to in Samoan once they realized I spoke it. Since I was taking Heseti out for lunch, I passed on the chance to eat some Samoan food. While we were having lunch she asked if I could help her find a job and admitted the whole process was a little scary to her. We decided the best place to start looking was a temp agency since she knows Access, Excel and data entry. I love that I am still helping my students back in this country. It was good to get some new gossip, share some with her and just spend the day with one of my students getting to know her as more than the funny outspoken girl in my class.

Speaking of Samoan food, I have another strange tale to tell. Last month I was craving Samoan food … now before you crinkle your nose and start remembering I have never previously talked about liking the food, it was the simple things I missed. I missed breadfruit, mangos, vi, sasalapa, and yes taro. Knowing that Seattle and Tacoma have large Samoan populations I did a search online for Samoan stores. One came up in the Tacoma area, so the next weekend dad and I headed that way. The store was a little bigger than the one down from the compound in Satupaitea, but it sold all of the same things: canned corned beef and mackerel, keke saina, masi popo, koko samoa, and even Fanta (no Vailima though). I started talking to the store owner in Samoan (which she got a kick out of) and she told me they were having a BBQ the following weekend and did I want to buy a ticket? Of course I did! That following weekend when I walked in the door, the shop owner laughed and I heard her say to the gentleman standing next to her (in Samoan), don't say anything about that palagi (white person) because she understands it. I laughed. Well, unfortunately the BBQ was not a sit down thing. It was like any BBQ in Samoa, in plastic to-go boxes. So, dad and I each grabbed one and headed home. It included: boiled banana, taro, chop suey, eggs, sausage and canned corned beef. It was just as greasy as I remember it being.

Besides getting my fair share of Samoan things and friends, I have also had the chance to catch up with friends back home. I spent a very fun weekend with my friend Mary hiking and climbing around Bellingham (where I went to college), my grandpa had his 91st birthday, and I went to DC for a Peace Corps fair and visit with some PC Samoa friends. It has been fun to catch up with everyone again and really enjoy being back in the Northwest and developed countries in general. I forgot how much i loved hot showers, feeling clean and being ant free. I have added some pictures below from my last couple of months. Until something else warrants a posting… (Like a job)… enjoy.

View of the San Juan islands from Bellingham on the hike to the Bat Caves.

Cliffs at the bat caves... if it wasn't snowing and I had brought my climbing gear I would have loved to boulder around those rocks.

My grandpa blowing out his candles.

For those of you who still briefly glance at my blog, I wanted to let you know I have not forgotten about you or my blog. Being back in the states, I have had a hard time getting enough drive to post a blog update. Mostly because I feel like i don't have much to report on. There is the usual readjustment issues, but it's hard to describe what I am feeling and going through emotionally to someone who has not lived overseas for more than a year... so I won't try. Things are good.

I am enjoying doing not a whole heck of a lot. My favorite thing to do right now is curl up in a my mom's blanket (only hers, mine aren't soft enough) on my parents leather couch, next to the wood stove and watch a few movies. Not that this is all I have been doing. I went to a Seahawks Playoff Game with my brother (who has season tickets), went dancing and watched the sad excuse of a fireworks show in downtown Seattle on New Years Eve, spent some time in Portland visiting my cousin, FINALLY finished my malaria meds and all medication even remotely related to malaria, have been in and out of doctors appointments, met with a few NGOs, got back into rock climbing and trail biking again... AND am planning a trip to DC end of February for a Career Fair, and am planning a trip to Norway and Scandinavia with my parents in May.

The biggest part of being back is getting caught up again with friends. I have been driving around all of Washington and Oregon visiting people. It's not bad since I missed driving and the freedom to go where I want when I want to and not have to rely on buses that may or may not be coming that day.

Until then, if I haven't had the chance to meet up with you now that i am back, give me a call. I have nothing but time on my hands right now. I am a bit tired of driving everywhere and am starting to think I want people to come visit me... we'll see how well that one goes down. Until next time, I thought i would post a few pictures of what I have been up to. Enjoy.

A light speckling of snow at my parents house on Christmas Day.

In Mercer Arena getting ready for the fireworks display and freezing my butt off. I went with Aaron, an old friend from High school who was back in town for awhile.

A sampling of the fireworks display... when they were actually working.

Looking down on the field from my brother's season tickets seats. This was the playoff game we won, Washington vs Seahawks. Side Note: Seahawks fans are insane... in a good way.

A VERY cold me at the game. I have about 8 layers on including my dad's 10 sizes too big waterproof jacket.

Fia ai? Hungry? This is some sampling of roadside foods.

So, as I write this it is my last post before returning back to the states. I have now been done as a volunteer for a few weeks, but it hasn't really seemed final until today. So, everything is almost all done including my travels after PC (for now). Tomorrow i get on the plane and make my last trip back to the states. In some ways that prospect seems harder to me than actually leaving Samoa. Maybe because by heading somewhere else first, it didn't seem so permanent.

I know I have said it before, but I am nervous about going back... knots still form in my stomach when I think about it. It seems almost cliche to me to say I am not the person I was when I left, because everyone seems to understand that, but do they? Do they really understand that I am not excited or moved by some of the same things that once captured me? Somethings I used to be passionate about seem almost trivial to me at times and some of the things that seemed trivial before now seem huge, I have new passions and new goals... I am still me, but tweaked a bit. I ask my friends and family to be patient with me and forgive me if it takes me awhile to really feel comfortable back in the states... I know that everyone back home has changed too, almost all of my friends are married now. They have new goals and passions; it will take some getting used to. I think that is what sometimes overwhelms me. For the last 2 years I have lived with and around other volunteers who shared the same basic ideas, almost like we were in our own little world and it will take me awhile to let that world go. We all understand what it feels like to miss hot water, or what the other is struggling with on their compound... To not be surrounded by that common understanding is hard to let go of. I know that yesterday is dead and over, but that doesn't stop me from hanging on a bit longer. So, from my stomach, my nerves and my prayers, that's where i am coming from. Like I asked before, please be patient with me. I am so excited to see everyone again even if it might not seem like it at times... everything takes adjusting to.

That being said, I have one last set of pictures and posts of my life in and around Peace Corps. These last few days I have just been wandering around Seoul, seeing the sights (including some amazing palaces), and I met up with Mike. He was a volunteer in Samoa who finished last December. He, among numerous other returned volunteers from Samoa, has been living in Seoul teaching English. Tho, his time is up shortly. We got to reminisce and chatted a bit in Samoan.

Ok, so tomorrow I fly back... I will finally be the one on the other side of the pond. Until that day comes... here are some pictures to hold you over. Enjoy

Here are some shots from the Gyeonbokgung Palace. It used to be the main palace until the main area was burnt down. It was originally built in the 1400s.

The main entrance gate. Kings and Queens entered in the middle. Servants on the right and left.

Me outside the kings quarters. The rows of stones to the right are where the officers stood. Each stone is engraved with their ranking so they knew where to stand.

One of the entrance ways

Very delicately painted. It's protected with chicken wire and has been re-touched up.

Behind me was the main temple area, but most of the surrounding area was also destroyed by fire.

The Palace gardens are always my favorite parts.

Not part of the palace. Moving on, some more roadside eateries.

Below are pictures from Changdeokgung Palace. After Gyeongbokgung Palace was burnt down, Changdeokgung became the main one. It burnt down 200 years later. Because in this palace all rooms/buildings are connected together, when it caught on fire, it really burnt down fast.

Looking into the main palace area.

A closer look at where the officers stood. You can see the engravings on the stones.

I liked this building because it didn't look like any of the other ones. It has pillars in front.

The queens quarters.

This tree is in a lake.. it looks like stone because the lake is frozen. It was snowing most of the day i went to this palace.

Another temple on the water. They like combining all the elements together.

And that concludes a chapter in my life. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my life in Samoa and abroad as much as i have enjoyed writing it. I will occasionally post a few updates on my whereabouts once I start to get somewhat stable back in the states, so tune in occasionally. You never know where you will be called...

**Precursor. This is a long post, but I assure you its a great story. AND if you read it, the pictures will make a lot more sense even with my captions...**

A sign post I found somewhat disturbing. It points to: DMZ Pavillion, DMZ Theater, Walkway to the 3rd Tunnel, and the DMZ Souvenier Shop...

Ok, my trip to the DMZ... Please keep in mind that no matter which side of the DMZ you are touring from (North Korea or South Korea) you will still get a very one-sided version of everything. No matter what is going on on either side, keep in mind they still do air raid drills once a month in Seoul, and the North side does use a lot of propoganda...

That being said, I want to try and give you a very real picture of my experience to the DMZ... So, I got up early this morning (5:45am) because the USO office said to be there by 7am. I even set 3 alarms to make sure I woke up. I put on tights, pants, 4 shirts, my fleece jacket, 2 pairs of gloves (one of which was mohair wool), earmuffs and my wool scarf... I was still cold on this tour. There were so many people at the USO office, they split us into 2 buses. Almost everyone on the tour were Americans (teachers in Seoul at that). There were a few Canadians, UK, Australians, one Columbian and one very drunk very loud Irishman. The visibility on the bus ride north was terrible since it snowed last night and was still snowing. The main road heading north was flanked by barbed wire and water the entire way. The guide said the North Koreans tried to invade South Korea with tiny submaries off of the water way, so all water borders in the northern area are barbed... so the entire highway north had barbed wire and guard posts along the side (tho the posts aren't manned any more). As we got closer to Camp Bonifas, the guide said no pictures until further notice. Before we entered the camp, a US soldier boarded the bus and checked our passports. *Side note. US soldiers are placed here for 1 year with the option of extending up to 5 years total. Korean Soldiers have 2 years and every young Korean man has a mandatory 2 years service in the military... Since last year the number of Korean soldiers has increased while US have decreased.* On the bus the Irish dude flashed a female passport and the soldier was not impressed.

Then we got out of the bus and sat down in some building in the camp. We had to sign waivers saying if anything happened to us it wasn't their responsibility.. and we watched a slide show about relations within the DMZ. Some of the stories were about ongoing hostilities. One story: the JSA (Joint Security Area also known as Panmunjon) used to be an entirely neutral ground between the 2 countries, until the North Korean (NK from now on) soldiers put up guard posts literally surrounding a few South Korean (SK from now on) posts. At once crucial station, there was a very large tree blocking the SK view of the NK stations. So, SK decided to do a little tree trimming. But, when the guy showed up and started to chop down the tree, he was attacjed by NK guards. Apparently the battle was between 7 NK soldiers armed with axes and 2 unarmed SK soldiers and one American soldier. The US officer was killed and there's a monument to him now. So, they decided to split the JSA into 2 sides. One building S1 (the UN negotiations building) is located in the middle of the line. (We got to enter that building).

After the slide show we piled into a different bus with our soldier "tour guides" and left the camp for the JSA. Before we could get off of the bus we had another sort of debriefing. We were told not to try and communicate in ANY way verbal or non-verbal with a NK soldier if we saw any, no pointing, no picture taking unless posted, stay within the area of the SK soldiers or they would take you down. The SK soldiers do a sort of Taekwondo stance and wear Ray Burns to "intimidate" the other side. They wear ball bearings in their pants cuff to sound like more soldiers are there. Their slogan is "In Front of it All" because they are literally face to face with "their enemies" as one SK soldier said.

The drive up to the JSA passes through 3 DMZ border areas or 3 levels. The first is a line/road of barbed wire fencing. Followed next by mine fields and finally by a very tall wall (with barbed wire on top) and white stones placed so that if anyone "tampers" with the wall one can tell. This fortification runs from coast to coast. On the SK side there are signs in English and Korean saying DMZ - Restricted. On the NK side, the signs are in Korean and Chinese.

We arrived at the Freedom House and walked through it to the line and the UN house I mentioned above. SK soldiers are stationed everywhere. Across the line was te NK building like Freedom House. It used to be shorter, but an additional floor was added later to make it taller than the SK side (and the roof slants upwards to make the building appear even taller). It was crazy foggy so we could barely see the NK building. SK soldiers are stationed on the line looking north, they half face a wall on one of the buildings and half face the NK building. This is so they aren't an easy target.They stood perfectly still in the freezing weather facing the north. Our guide said 2 North Korean soldiers were in the building across they way, but we couldn't see them in the fog. He kept trying to point them out, but it was useless. Then we entered the UN building. I guess we are the first group in the last 2 weeks to be able to do so since they have been conducting joint talks between the Koreas for the last 2 weeks. (The first train to go between the 2 Korea's just started running for the first time ever on the 11th of December. It goes from Panmunjom to a small town on the NK side used for manufacturing of goods. It brings supplies; NK don't live there, they just work there). So that's why the talks. Inside the building our guide pointed out a few things:

1. The blue paint on one side of the room has been rubbed off in 2 places. Since the building is used by both sides for tours a soldier from SK must lock the door before tourists enter. A few years ago a soldier went to lock it and 2 NK soldiers on the other side grabbed him and pulled him over. He fought his way back and was ok. But now, 2 soldiers must do it. One places his hand on the wall (where the paint is now rubbed) and his other hand on his gun and the other soldier locks the door.

2. Our guide pointed out the flags of the countries on display who participated in the cease fire discussions. They were mounted on the wall in a plastic case. They all used to hang around the room, but once during a NK tour of the room, some NK men grabbed the American and SK flags and proceeded to blow their nose and wipe their shoes with them. So, now all of the flags are in a case.

Also in the building, we get to step over across the line between the 2 countries into occupied North Korea. At one point our guide was talking about something and then said in the middle of a sentence, "Woa! NK Soldiers! Wow, got distracted there, dont see that everyday. Take a picture while they're there." Apparently some NK soldiers were on a tour (on the NK side) and wandered by the building. It's rare, so lucky us.

Then we got back onto the bus and headed for the lookout. From this lookout spot one can see Freedom Village. Its the only SK village in the DMZ. If you lived there before the wars or are a direct desentant of someone who was born there before the wars then you could live there. Only a female can marry into the village, not a male. The villagers pay no fees or taxes to the SK government. They work their rice and ginseng fields which are claimed in SK as being the best in all of Korea. Their life is the fields, but they get certain exemptions, like I mentioned no taxes, and their sons don't have to do the mandatory 2 years of military service. NK also has 1 village inside the DMZ and one can also see this from the lookout. It's called Gijeong or Propoganda Villge. It was called that because NK used to have huge speakers everywhere broadcasting propoganda. It's an empty place; no one lives there. In Freedom Village they built a large flag pole with the SK flag on it. So, NK built an even larger flag pole (notice a trend here?) of 160 meters high, with the worlds largest flag on it of NK. It's so heavy in fact, 300kg, that they have to take it down in the rain or it would rip under its own weight. You can see the Bridge of no Return. A bridge between the 2 countries where captured SK soldiers were given one chance to cross the bridge back to the south, or stay, but no returning. There are a few more smaller sights one can see from there. WE, however could not see these sites. The fog and snow was so thick we couldn't make out anything at all. In fact, when we arrived at the lookout our guide said, "Everything I have to say right now has no relavance whatsoever for you today." He pointed to where these wonderful sights would be... and we all loaded back onto the bus.

As we were heading back down towards Camp Bonifas the fog cleared up a bit. We were able to see the Bridge and the NK flag floated into view (when we were in a no picture taking spot). And I mean it floated. It was eerie. I could see this massive flag and no pole really. Just this huge flag floating in the otherwise thick fog.

After leaving the DMZ our buses took us to a lookout view (Unification Observatory) outside looking towards NK. In fact, it's as close to the DMZ as S Koreans can get (not military). They aren't allowed on the tours to inside the DMZ. By the time we arrived at the Obs the fog had cleared up fairly well. The viewpoint looks down into a valley with the DMZ, the 2 villages inside of it on either side of the actual line, the new train line into NK, and farther down the valley we could see all the way to the city of Kaesong in NK. You could make out a fair amount of the buildings there, but not the massive statue of Kim Il Sung that stands atop a hill next to the city. You could see the massive radio towers however. These towers block all radio, cell and tv signals from SK into NK... hence no connections between the 2 countries really. We weren't really allowed to take pictures here. Overlooking this valley are tons of paying telescopes to we can get a close view of North Korea. The allowed area for taking pictures is a line way behind the telescopes. So, most pictures that you can take are partial views and 1/2 a telescope in the way. I think they do this so people don't put their cameras up to the telescopes and take shots of these NK cities.

Last, but not least we headed to the 3rd tunnel. The SK side discovered tunnels NK was digging unde neath the DMZ towards Seoul. There have been 5 tunnels all along the DMZ discovered thus far, but the 3rd tunnel is the widest and closest to Seoul. So, we drove the buses down to this DMZ park-like place. There is a gift shop and park benches. It was eerie. Like, they discovered this tunnel from NK so they dug another tunnel to it for tourists to enter, and they built a bus parking lot, gift stores and a park area... really strange. Before we could see the tunnel we had to watch a video about the DMZ. That was the strangest part. Here we have walking in the JSA, seen the hostilities and prejudice between both sides... and the video talked about how it used to be so horrible and tensions ran high, but now they've had talks forever and everything is peaceful again. That the DMZ is really like a park full of animals and wildlife and everyone can go there and Krea is unified once again, no more hostilities. They kept showing a picture of this girl wandering around. In the beginning she was crying and bombing was happening all around her, and at the end she was playing with butterflies and sitting on park benches... I know that the goal of the future is unification and they are making progress (look at the train running for example), but after the JSA it didn't seem very accurate compared to what we just experienced... But, whatever. We had to wear helmets and we walked down to the tunnel. Its low and we had to stoop a long way. The tunnel walls are all black. SK said NK claims they were just old cold mines. You walk aways in the tunnel until you get to the first barricaded wall. You can see through a window in the wall to further barricades... and that's it. Turn around, hike back up and done with the tour.

Overall it was a strange visit. As a military history major I am estactic that I got to go, but it gave a very interesting view of what SK thinks and the goals for the future. Even our bus guide to the DMZ (not the soldier guide inside the DMZ) was telling us about NK and what he thinks. Overall it was a very sobering experience. And we were very lucky to see the NK soldiers, see the DMZ in the snow and see a bit of fun too: The bus drivers and a few off duty SK soldiers kepy throwing snowballs at each other. All the time, everytime we stopped. Off duty soldiers, lunch ladies on a smoke break, bus drivers, tour guides, almost every Korean or off duty soldier we saw outside were throwing snowballs at each other and laughing up a storm. That was fun and unique I think...

Ok, enough talk. The pictures below are of some of the experiences I wrote about above. Again, some of the pictures really make a lot more sense if you read my story. Enjoy...

The entrance to Fort Bonifas

From the south, looking towards the NK building. Its the foggy one. You can see the line in the middle, and the soldier half looking at the building half at the wall. (The fog makes this shot mysterious I think)

Me inside the JSA, our soldier guide is behind me.

Inside the UN building. The table in the middle is where the talks are held.

Me sort of nervous next to a SK soldier. They told us not to get too close. Notice the stance and the sunglasses. Also, on the left of the picture, you can see where the paint has been rubbed away to yellow, and behind the soldier, the door they must lock with 2 people now.

North Korean Soldiers. See how close the soldier on the right is to the actual line. The SK soldiers said this wasn't really allowed, so they are pushing it. It would suck to be that soldier if he tripped...

A North Korea Soldier.

You can see again how close they are to the line, and the SK soldier is still watching...

The crazy drunk Irish boy on the trip and his Bog Bilberry liqueour he brought with him and was trying to share with everyone...

The lookout area where we couldn't see anything.

The Bridge of No Return. I think the fog actually made this one look cooler.

This is the only shot I could take of the flag in Gijeong (Propaganda Village) since I couldn't take pictures when it was floating. Notice the wonderful telescopes in the picture.

Ok. Above the telescope on the right is the city of Kaesong. Maybe if you save this picture and zoom in, you can see the radio towers. The white spot in between the 2 telescopes is the Manufacturing Village.

And thus concludes my trip to the DMZ. I hope you enjoyed your trip and please visit again...

So, today warrants another update... (I'm sad; free internet and I go nuts... what am I going to be like back in the states?) Anyways, today I wanted to see how long it would take me on the subway system to get to the USO office (about an hour). While I was wandering around the area trying to find it, I noticed the Korean War Memorial & Museum was across the road. I must have spent the entire day there, but it was worth it... a nice pre-cursor to tomorrow. It was a very nicely organized museum. They had everything organized into wars and eras in history, then special rooms and displays for each area of the military: Airforce, Marine... ect. It was really cool. I could have spent more time there, but my legs were getting tired. And just as I was getting ready to leave, I saw the special Exhibition room.. the Dead Sea Scrolls! I got an extra burst of energy I was so excited to see them. They came to Seattle while i was away in the Peace Corps and I was so jealous of my parents for getting to see them, but I sure lucked out. They arrived in Seoul on the 12th of Dec and leave the 8th of January. Good timing on my part. So, I took lots of pictures in the War Memorial & Museum, but of course couldn't take any in the Special Exhibit, so below are some fun pictures I took... and one of me because Marques said I haven't posted any of me, so he can't really tell for sure I am here (that's the one downfall of travelling by yourself...)

Ok, enough rambling, enjoy the pictures below...

The Seoul tower. (It was in the distance as I was wandering around).

From the entrance of the Memorial looking out towards the road.

A traditional style war ship.

This one is for Brian and Dan.

The picture of me in my room... Notice the wool sweater... it's freezing here!

Here are some pictures from my day in Seoul thus far. (The previous post is of Toyko) Enjoy.

Outside Tapgol Park, Insadong.

This pagoda was inside the park. This is what the sign next to it said:

Designation: National Treasure No. 2. Period: Joseon Dynasty, 1467

This 12-meter high stone pagoda once stood during the early Joseon era temple, Wongaksa. This marble pagoda is unique in form... and more like that.

Where I am staying. This is traditional Hanok, heated by ondol (underfloor heating). A hanok is a traditional Korean one story wood and tile house. There are few left since most were destroyed by fire or war. Each room has a set of sliding doors and you leave your shoes outside. It's a bit drafty and the floor heating doesn't do the best of jobs, but it's a beautiful cosy place and the owner is really helpful (speaks English)...

Typical street in Seoul. Traditional and modern right next to each other.

And I found a Starbucks...

Another building inside the park.

This building was also inside the park. Its nice to have open beautiful parks right in the heart of the city.

Now that I have my computer up and running, I have wireless internet at the place I am staying, I can post pictures from my computer. Moving up in the world of technology...

Today I wandered around the more cultural area of Seoul, Insadong. It's the closest to where I am staying. I am still freezing cold and getting colder, but hopefully I will start to get a little more used to it. Tomorrow I will brave the subway and go out to meet the old Peace Corps volunteer. In fact, there are a few from Samoa living here now, so we are going out... Should be fun. Below are some pictures from Tokyo, in no order. Next, pictures of Seoul.

The Imperial Palace in Tokyo. It was the original where the Shogun stayed, but most of it was destroyed in fires and wars. There are only 3 original buildings standing. This is one.

A typical busy street in Shinagawa area.

I took this one for mom. This is how i was served wasabi at one restaurant. You scrape the wasabi root and the mash like stuff is then used. It was so crazy fresh this way it stung...

The view at night from Anna and Will's apartment

On a clear day (one of 2 while I was visiting) you can see Mt Fuji from Anna and Will's apartment. (Not their window, this was taken from the hallway).

The Shinkansen, bullet train we took to Okayama.

This picture was taken in Shibuya in the most crowded intersection in Tokyo. Its like Times Square in New York

...and having a bit of a culture shock. I thought coming from Tokyo would help ease me into the life of Seoul, but apparently it did not. I guess I got too dependent hanging out with Anna and her husband and now I am feeling the culture shock from Samoa... I think I just have to force myself to get out there and be among the insanity and the crowds and the foreign language.

Had a few hangups getting here. I had a close connection from Fukuoka to Seoul and had to switch airports from Domestic to International. I made it on the right bus to my hostel, but got a bit lost trying to find the place. With directions like, turn left down the small alley with the pole in front, wasn't exact enough. However some locals saw me standing at the small alley with the pole in front with a very large backpack on my back and a very confused look on my face and offered to help me find it. The place is really beautiful, a traditional Hanok style place (traditional Korean type houses), only a few left around the area. It had a heated floor for warmth, so I have been curling up on the floor reading. I am pretty cold, it's around 35-40 degrees here, so my body has yet to get used to it... I miss the heat of Samoa. It's dry here too and after the humidity of Samoa I think my body forgot to produce its own oil. :) Oh the joys of travelling.

After my last post I did make it to the Imperial Palace and wandered around a few areas in Tokyo by myself, so that is my plan today. I heard there is a beautiful temple nearby I am going to find and then I'll just explore my area. Most places in Seoul don't open until at least 10am so it's nice to get a late start on the day... I'll get over the culture shock, I just need to get out there and get lost in the crowds and shops. I am meeting up with a former volunteer from Samoa tomorrow night for dinner, so hopefully he will have some good suggestions. Then on Saturday I am heading to the DMZ, should be fun... well, interesting. I don't think fun is the correct word. :)

Until next time...