I'm in room #5. My roommate decided to leave the Peace Corps today, so now I live alone.

Interesting tropical leaf I found.

The beach near our training location.

Me messing around in language class.

I think this is a sea urchin shell, but I'm not sure.

Fellow Volunteers (Leah is looking back)

The houses we are staying in currently.

The view from my house, an 'intracoastal' sort of, which goes out to the ocean.

We were greeted at the airport with lavalavas, suvasuvas (the necklace and skirt) and coconut water.

Hello all,

I’ll try to summarize my experience thus far with bullets:

-Flight was long and arduous. I was completely happy to have arrived here and have a safe place to drop my bags and not be sitting in an airline seat. Our Country Director said that its one of the longest transit times of any country that the Peace Corps serves.

-I had no anxiety whatsoever until the plane landed in Port Vila. It was a passing moment where I said to myself “This is your home now” as I looked at the airport, which is one rectangular, two-story building which you can walk from one side to the other in about 1 minute or less. The anxiety quickly passed (in about 2 seconds) and I feel totally at home here.

-Currently I am considered a Peace Corps Trainee, and at the end of eight weeks, I will be sworn in as a full-fledged Peace Corps Volunteer. If you are wondering how things are going now, I can sum it up in one sentence: I am exactly where I am supposed to be.

-This week we are staying at a resort which has sharks and coral reefs and some simple brick buildings where we sleep. Water is usually cold, electricity goes in and out, and our toilet does not flush, but it is still paradise. There have also been some reports of spiders that are as large as one’s hand which have managed to somehow ‘disappear’ as one of the trainees was trying to kill it. My roommate says he can hear a rat too, at night. This, and a few unfortunate run-ins with UNUSUALLY large webs which coat my face as I try to leave my room in the morning, cause me to shake the sh** out of any towel or piece of clothing I am about to put near my face. Keep in mind these large webs are INSIDE my room, not outside, which means there are spiders, I just haven’t managed to see them yet.

-I get up at 6:30a, do yoga with my friend Amy, eat breakfast, and have class from 7:30a-5:30p, including lunch and tea breaks. We follow it up with some snorkeling or kayaking before dinner in the evening. Classes taught include Bislama language (which I love), medical classes about how everything here will infect us and make us sick, and cultural training.

-The food can be hit or miss. For some reason taro root makes me gag. But aside from that most of the food is excellent if only a little bland, and the fruit is easily the best I’ve eaten in my life.

-Tonight we are watching a Vanuatu movie called “Sorry Sally” about Sexually Transmitted Infections. Sorry indeed.

-It turns out that Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands have the highest incidence of malaria in the world. This hopefully won’t affect me, as I’ll be taking Mefloquine on a weekly basis. However, the World Health Organization asked that Peace Corps to assist in their new project for Vanuatu: malaria eradication. This won’t just be for health volunteers; I too will be assisting in ending malaria in Vanuatu. They asked us to help because we have a huge presence here in Vanuatu, and decided we would be easier to use than to try and install their own people in the villages. I’m really excited to be a part of this legacy.

-This Friday, I am moving off to my training village, which is on the north coast of Efate Island (I am not allowed to say the specific location for safety reasons). Here I will be staying with a host family (Helen and Taman) with about 4-5 other volunteers near me, staying with other families. I’m really excited to meet my new “mama” as they are called.

All in all, everything is perfect. I don’t feel homesick at all, I love my training group, and I’m really excited to get my technical training started so I start to hammer out my actual job. For now, I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. Don’t be too jealous, this one week is just to get us all of the critical information before we get put out into malaria zones and have to communicate with Ni-Vanuatu (the term for people from Vanuatu). You probably won’t hear from me until November, so for now, I will say goodbye in Bislama: “Ale, lukim yu bageken!” (Alright, see you again!)

-Joseph

At a wedding, Gainesville.

Acting like an idiot, Las Vegas.

Com meu irmão, Rio de Janeiro.

DeSoto Parade Weekend at Rani's, Bradenton.

Biking the Hawthorne Trail, Gainesville.

"The map says it should be right here." HAR HAR HAR.

Tian Tan Buddha, Hong Kong.

Subway, Seoul City.

(photo credit: Alex Kwon)

Carving mildly racist pumpkins, Gainesville.

The number one question that I am asked on a daily basis is "Are you excited (and/or) scared?" The answer is “not really.” I’ve spent the last couple of weeks with old friends (thanks Keshia, Leigh, Katie), drinking a couple of beers, eating pizza, burgers, sushi, more sushi, more pizza, more beer, and then running. Yes, I have gained weight, but I’ll probably lose it quickly. While working everyday helped me to feel accomplished, just having a hiatus from life as I knew it has given me the opportunity to reflect a bit on my life. I re-read this pathetic blog and relived a lot of incredible moments from Asia (thanks Becky, Alex, Matt, Jessica, Erin & Mr. G). I usually think of blogging and photography as incredibly narcissistic (I know I know, the blog is presumptuously named “Your Favorite Joe…”), but reflecting on my prior entries really brought me back to where I was over a year ago, and reminded me how much can happen in a single year. That is to say, in an effort to give these same feelings of nostalgia to the “Joe-of-the-future,” and to let my friends know that I genuinely appreciate them, I am going to brazenly and publicly display some very personal thoughts and pictures, thus providing a snapshot of my life, before I go through another year of inevitable change. This past year has been the most emotionally challenging year of my life. It feels silly to say that, considering the challenges that many of my friends have been through. But while my problems pale in comparison to those of some of my friends, that doesn’t mean I don’t have problems, and it doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything to learn from them. I made a huge mistake in trusting people that I should not have trusted. And when the problems began showing up in my life, I blamed everyone but the responsible party. I almost lost my best friend, I got into fights with my parents and my brother, and ultimately, it was my fault. It is my responsibility who I allow into my life, and who I let affect me, and I should have been a man and bared that responsibility instead of shifting it to other people. That said, I have since corrected my life, and while I still have problems understanding what happened, I am learning to say “it doesn’t matter, because I am happier and hopefully smarter now.” The lesson learned is that I am an impressionable person, and while good people have a huge positive impact on me, bad people have an equally negative impact on me. I should be more critical of the people that I allow close to me. That aside, I have had an incredible life and I can’t possibly see how it could get any better. I am genuinely thankful to the universe for bestowing an unusual amount of high quality people in my life, which is includes family, friends and coworkers (thanks Renee, Patrice). As I said this was the most emotionally challenging year of my life, but at the same time, I’ve never dealt with it better, which is certainly greatly in part to the people that I still have in my life today. Unfortunately for you guys, you are real gems in my life, and there is no way you will escape now.So if you're wondering if I'm excited/scared, well at this point I'm downright invincible. I hope you enjoyed the embarrassing picture potpourri. Much love, Joseph

So the more I watch videos about Vanuatu (music videos) the more I come to terms with the fact that I'm going to a really kick-@$$ place. Check out the two short videos below to get a more accurate idea of what Vanuatu might look like (the second features Bret McKenzie of 'Flight of the Conchords' fame).

A group of about 30 people were gathered near the structure, located across from Lake Alice, when it happened, said Joe Murphy, a UF employee who was part of the group. They were waiting to watch bats leave for the night when the interior of the bat house collapsed without warning shortly after 8 p.m., he said, sending bats flying away.

"It was like a wave of bats. ... A lot of people were wondering if they should run or not," he said.

See the full article here.

I'm leaving Gainesville on September 10 for Los Angeles. After that we're flying out of LA on the evening of September 11 to Auckland, and then quickly changing planes to fly to Vanuatu.

Luckily, my friend in LA is probably going to come meet up with me and take me out to dinner, so I don't have to spend the evening alone in a hotel room brooding about my impending departure. That's all for now.

With not a whole lot to do this weekend, I've finally had to face the fact that in less than two months, I will pretty much say goodbye to the internet, video games, my family & friends, hot water, and electricity in general. Don't forget, this doesn't only apply to such frivolous uses of electricity like video games and dish washers, this also includes incandescent lighting, and his more shameful unattractive brother, fluorescent lighting.

On the other hand, I will be saying hello to coral reefs, sharks, sea snakes, kava, crystalline blue waters, beaches, Melanesian people, and yams. Lots and lots of yams. For those of you asking yourself, "Joe, where exactly in Africa is Vanuatu located?" The answer is, it's not. Neither is Tuvalu or Kiribati.

Vanuatu Fun Facts

Where is it?: The Pacific Islands, near Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.

How big is it?: Not very.

How many people are there?: Not many (approx. 215,000).

Do they speak a lot of languages?: Funny you would ask that. Yes, they do. Fortunately they mainly concentrate on Bislama, French and English, so I'll be okay.

Can I come visit you and bask in the tropical paradise, with you as my guide?: Of course, contact me for more details.

If you have any other questions, ask me! I don't know very much now, aside from reading Getting Stoned with Savages, a travel/humor book that is partially about the island. But, I hope to have a few more points-of-interest down before I go, and then I'll learn everything else from there.

PS. If you send me a care package while I'm there, particularly well packaged candies, I will be forever indebted to you.

Today at lunch, Amy B. suggested that I am, in fact, going to Gilligan's Island and should consider the following goals:

1. Make a coconut radio.

2. Start a banana cream pie business.

3. And the rest.

I'll just hollow out a coconut and put a shortwave radio inside. Also, I believe they have quite a lot of bananas, and coconut milk might substitute for cream, though I doubt it sets up. You can forget about topping it with a meringue.

In other news, I've decided that since I have a salaried position and I am in need of supplies for the next 2+ years, I'm going to outfit myself like the biggest 'DB-frat-boy-on-vacay' that ever washed up on the shores of Vanuatu. Everyone agrees that my mirrored aviators, DSLR, board shorts and baseball cap are fit for the finest kegger.

I received an invitation today to serve in Vanuatu from November 2009 - November 2011 working for the United States Peace Corps as well as a host country entity. The specific program is titled REACH: Resource Stewardship, Enterprise Promotion, Agriculture and Community Health and my position is Small Enterprise Development Advisor. From here I have ten days to review the information and call and confirm that I am still interested in serving.

Orientation is in Los Angeles on September 12, 2009. This means Alex and Becky in California need to be on high alert in case I have some spare time. I hear LA has a good Korea town. I'd eat samgyopssal and not even complain about it's likely contribution to an early death.

I just heard this morning that Cocoa Murphy, the little lhasa apso that has consistently rejected my love for the last 14 or so years, is no longer with us. Since the family is geographically dispersed I figured here is as good a place as any to put up a memorial. For Cocoa, I decided to let her star in her very own episode of "animals, close up, with a wide angle lens."

She was a good dog. I will miss you, little baby girl...

Erin and her dad are here right now, and the trip has gone splendidly. The timing couldn't have worked out better, and I've finally gotten to see all the major sights of the city. I will dedicate a post just to her visit when I get all the pictures.

After years of putting it off, I finally got a Buddha for my bedside. This was after hours upon hours of going in and out of antique shops looking for the right color, weight, hand position, etc. I knew if I couldn't find it in the bronze Buddha district in Seoul, then there was never going to be a bedside Buddha for Joe. The street salesman told me "its from Tibet, original not copy, bring you love love, good spirit good love." DEAL.

Also, I had to give a speech in Korean class this week. In my defense, I accidentally left my notebook at home before I went to deliver it, so I had to scrawl some notes on my day-planner before I went up and rely on my poor memory, hence all the "ums." They are laughing, because I said that my teacher is the best, beautiful, and smart.

God bless you, Christian Siriano. Tonight I went to a fashion show... Who ever said sustainability couldn't be sexy?

John Lee in action!

Posing with John after the show

This week has been 'festivals' week at Korea University, which means that the students drink on campus all week long and they have concerts. I went to Ipselenti with Wonguk (which we have given an English name... doesn't he look like a Danny Kim?)

Ipselenti is a cheering celebration, and by cheering I mean a bunch of dudes dressed up like wizards stand on stage and dance around like they were bad guys from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Meanwhile, the audience has linked arms and are completing dances in unison to songs played by a live band that sound like the intro song to Pokemon. It's hard to imagine but here is a video I found on youtube:

"Cheerleaders"

Here, here, and here are closeups of their costumes. The whole thing was crazy, and LITERALLY people did these same cheers (about 10-15 songs total) over and over again for a sum total of about 4 hours.

In between cheering they inserted live performances by pop stars/comedians, fireworks, and smack-talking of their rival, Yonsei University. So basically it was KU's version of Gator Growl. The final pop group to play was Epik High, which I actually enjoyed. It's hard to tell if having been here has made me crazy, and so I will find their pop songs appealing (even though I can only understand the lyrics "you. can. fly." and "can't stop... love, love, love") or if there is actually something good about these two Korean dudes. Well, I'll let you see and decide for yourself.

Love, Love, Love

Fly

After that, me and Danny went and drank beer, ate fried chick (fried chicken places here only serve fried chicken and beer), and drank soju on the grass in front of the University's Memorial Hall with his classmates until 4am.

I was so inspired by the Daily Puppy widget on Jessica's blog that I just had to add it myself. Reminds me of "Animals, close up, with a wide angle lens."

So the trip was successful. I will let you peruse the photos on your own, but highlights of Japan include:

-Sleeping in a 'capsule bed'

-Vending machines that sold Coke tall-boys and Asahi beer tall-boys

-The 100 Yen menu at McDonalds (get off my back, Japan is f*ing expensive)

-Heated toilet seats with bidets and/or toilets that allow you to wash your hands with the water that is refilling the toilet tank (how clever!)

-Went to the largest metropolitan area in the world (Tokyo) to see the largest pedestrian crossing in the world and get lost in the busiest metro station in the world (Shinjuku station, which I have AKA'd as 'the nightmare zone' and 'the halls of Mordor')

-Went to a hot spring theme park and wore a sweet Japanese robe

-Kill Bill restaurant (Gonpachi)

-Shrines, shrines, shrines...

-Did I mention that Japan is f*ing expensive?

-Sushi

-A tattoo parlor and a tattoo artist named Hara (don't worry, mom, I didn't get a tattoo)

-Leaving Beckie alone for literally 15 minutes and her getting sexually harassed by a really old toothless/homeless man which she had no way of communicating except to slap his hand and run away (don't worry, once it was over we had a good laugh)

Well, that is really my last trip out of Seoul, and I really enjoyed it. Tokyo was very modern and seemed at times to be just mall on top of mall on top of underground city. I think I saw some crab people. It is the only city that I've ever felt really lost in, so I humble myself before it.

That is to say "Tomorrow, I go to Japan with my friend!" We have a 5 day weekend that mustn't go to waste, so we are seizing the day and going to Tokyo. I won't be able to go while my sister is there because it overlaps with my final exams so now is the time. I'll take lots of pictures and report back when I return next Monday.

It has been a busy few weeks. Finished exams and went on a trip to the southern portion of South Korea (Kwangju and Hampyeong) for a famous "Butterfly Expo." I didn't plan this one, my RA Alex did, but after exams I was anxious to get out of the city.

These are his photographs from the trip (I didn't bring my camera). The big things of note are that, in Seoul, some people say "hello" and "how are you!" when they see me because I am white. But in Kwangju and Hampyeong, me and Becky were the only white people, and probably about half of the thousands of people we saw insisted on saying hello and practicing their English. This made it really easy to accost all of the mascots and get pictures taken with them.

Also, we slept overnight at a sauna. Yes, on the floor with a little square cushion. $6 for the whole night. It was strange, but I sort of liked it (except that I only got 1 hour of sleep because of the whole floor thing). They call it chimchilbang, which I think means "heated compress room." Regardless it's pretty fun to go to, and you can get massages and stuff if you feel like.

I may be traveling to Osaka or Tokyo next week because we have school off for Buddha's Birthday. They string up paper lanterns on the streets... its like Christmas! Anyway, good luck to all my pals back home that are probably having finals right now. Shouldn't be much longer before I'm back in Gainesville!

Last night, I took two of my classmates to Seoul North Tower, which is on top of a mountain that used to be a fortress. The tower was initially used as a transmission tower, and was in use during the Korean War. But now they have lit it up beautifully at night, and you can tour the observation deck, which gives a 360 degree view of Seoul.

View from the ground

The City!

Bridges crossing the Han River

Padlocks put on by couples!

Becky, in the subway with our favorite Korean soap opera star, Yoon Eun Hye of "The First Shop of Coffee Prince."

And as a side note, K-pop is really getting to me. I must have heard about the same three songs over and over and now I know some of the lyrics, and can sing along. Here are some links to their associated videos. With some notes about what I find hilarious about each one.

-Mighty Mouth's "Sarang Hae" ("I Love You"): the opening line in this song is "This song goes out to my so SPECIAL lady."

-Big Bang's "Lies": Korean rap artists like to roller skate! (See 1m:25s) They are an unruly, slightly threatening roller skating gang.

-The Wonder Girls' "Tell Me": the Korean response to Soulja Boy's "Superman;" pure delight.

And if you are wondering if people actually dress the way they do in these videos, a. they do and b. I've seen much crazier clothing in the subway than on these videos.

Peace.

So I have to give you a brief rundown of last week:

April 8th: After class, board the airport bus and depart for Hong Kong. Arrive to see Matt Oxner's smiling face. Head back to his apartment and stay up all night talking.

April 9th: Jessica makes banana pancakes for breakfast. Head to street markets to get some Nintendo accessories for my cellphone and backpack. Get a tour of central Hong Kong/Victoria Harbour. Go shopping at H&M. Dinner at sushi restaurant.

April 10th: Walk around Tai Po with Matt for most of the morning doing low-impact exercises designed for the elderly. I'm not joking. See the local temples and catch up on old times. Later that evening we go out for my BIRTHDAY! How many people can say they've spent a birthday being drunk with a bunch of English teachers in downtown Hong Kong?

April 11th: All three of us are groggy, so we sleep in a bit, and then head up to see the Tian Tan Buddha. Simply beautiful. Perfect cloudy weather. Then we watch a few South Parks.

April 12th: Get up and get some dimsum with Jessica for breakfast. She takes me to the bus stop where we part ways. :'-(

Basically, it was the best birthday I've ever had. Matt and Jessica got me an Indiana Jones lego action playset (see video below) and were being ridiculous and buying me drinks and transit cards all week. It was definitely a week I will never forget, so a big thanks to the both of them.

If you want to see pictures from the trip, just click here. They are in reverse order.

Watch these two kids screw around outside my window and subsequently get reamed out by their mother. My window was closed so you'll just have to imagine her yelling in Korean.

My birthday is fast approaching and I think I'm going to try to fly to Hong Kong next week to see Matt and Jessica. They just got back from a vacation themselves so I have yet to solidify any plans, but I found out that my Visa allows me to come and go from Korea as much as I want without any additional charges or harassment. Yay for being American! There is a travel agency in the room next to my Korean class so I'm going to stop and see how much a round-trip ticket will cost me.

If I can pull this off, and Matt/Jessica are available, it will mean I will probably spend my birthday playing video games. Anybody who knows me even just a little knows that this would a good thing.

And check out this awesome panorama of Seoul! [click to see larger] I've placed a red circle where I think I am. I say think, because it is difficult to orient myself in that picture, and this place is notably huge and confusing. 11 million citizens! (24 million if you include the whole metropolitan area).