on-the-woah

[on-the-woah]

Ocean Isle Beach, NC:

Dear Sonny—Yes, I suppose I will take you on a beach walk if you bark like a mad man at 6:30 in the morning (not as a reward, but because you woke me up and now I might as well do something with my life). However, I will stop to sit to watch the sun rise whether you like it or not. In the future, please refrain from going into attack mode and getting sand up my nose when I’m attempting to enjoy a peaceful moment. Sincerely, the one who walks you

What I’ve learned: I can be persuaded

[on-the-woah]

Denver, CO (Day 4):

For my final full day in Denver, I hit the town on my own. I started by scoring a pretty cool shirt thrift shopping, then I went through the capitol building and the library. After a bit of fruitful souvenir (aka pin) hunting, I grabbed a great sandwich at Yampa Sandwich Company. Next I went through the Contemporary Art Museum of Denver, Confluence Park, and Centennial Gardens before stopping in the Federal Reserve. There was a pretty cool geometric exhibit with work by Clark Richert at the art museum that I enjoyed. After, I headed to a different area of town near City Park and perused the area, stopping in a coffee shop to take a break from the heat. After a lovely last dinner with the homies, I went to bed fairly early in preparation for my 6:00 AM flight.

What I’ve learned: Denver is HOT in the summers. Wow.

[on-the-woah]

Denver, CO (Day 3):

City day! My brother’s girlfriend had the day off so she showed me around Denver. We went to the Denver Art Museum, had lunch at Union Station, and stumbled in to a really cool western store.

What I’ve learned: this city is pretty dope.

[on-the-woah]

Denver, CO (Day 2):

Mountain day! We summited Mt. Evans (mostly by car on the highest paved road in North America, but then a little bit by foot) and it was stunning. Elevation is INTENSE, though. We had a really nice picnic near some awesome trees and finished our hike right as it was starting to rain. We ended the day at City Park listening to “jazz”.

What I’ve learned: our timing skills are impeccable (and my brother is a pretty good photographer as well).

[on-the-woah]

Denver, CO (Day 1):

To celebrate being finished with work and classes for the summer, I took a trip to Denver to visit my brother and his girlfriend! I got in around 8:30 AM and the three of us hit up the Denver Botanic Gardens after breakfast. We played some games indoors during the peak of the heat and then went to a Rapids game. Our seats were great and the Rapids beat Montreal 6-3. We got to see a few fireworks after the game but the main fireworks show was cancelled because the prarie dogs in the area had the Bubonic Plague.

What I’ve learned: the plague is alive and well.

[on-the-woah]

Belize, Day 8:

Our final full day in Belize was spent driving up from my wonderful hotel room to the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. It’s on a jaguar reserve, but it also has several campsites and cabins. On the way there, we stopped at a butterfly farm. Once we got on the reserve, we took a wonderful tubing trip down the nearby river. The water was shallow and fairly slow but I had an awesome time linking up with a few friends and subsequently struggling to stay connected through the very few obstacles we encountered. Good way to end an incredible trip.

What I’ve learned: leaf cutter ants go HARD, day and night.

[on-the-woah]

Belize, Day 7:

A pretty incredible day. After breakfast we took a (very small) boat out to a tiny island and snorkeled parts of the belizian coral reef, the second largest coral reef in the world. I saw a jellyfish and several kinds of fish I don’t remember seeing in Australia. Afterwards we swam around the shallow shore to a tiny island off of the coast of our island, tried to break open some coconuts, and had a bbq lunch. When we got back to the mainland, we took a tour of a local chocolate factory as well as a local creole museum. We also got to partake in music playing, which I really enjoyed. I played the “jackass jaw bone”.

What I’ve learned: certain jellyfish in Belize are called sea lice

[on-the-woah]

Belize, Day 6:

Last work day. We went back to the Chiquin farm and I washed yellow ginger for the entire work day. The intense scrubbing required stained my hands yellow. Later we went on a hike through a cave. Saw an ancient bowl, a sacrificial altar, and wayyyy too many bats.

What I’ve learned: I’m always down for deep late night conversations (but not for journaling/updating this blog, apparently)

[on-the-woah]

Belize, Day 5:

I am the most physically exhausted I have been in a while. We worked on the Chiquin family farm, which involved a 30-minute hike up a mountain just to get there. We were greeted very warmly with traditional incense and loads of fruit. I actually enjoyed my first coconut, despite not liking artificial coconut, along with other fruits. Then, a small group of us split off to prune 1800 cacao trees. Lunch was absolutely delicious, especially the lime juice and plaintain chips. After lunch I joined in with the coffee harvesting group. I had no idea they grew as berries on trees! Once all of that was done, I dug up some yellow ginger. After the work day was done, we were given some sugar cane to chew on, hiked back down, and took the van (followed closely by one of the workers on his bike) to see the shop where our bounty would later be sold. I really appreciated the variety of work I got to do today and the conversations I got to have with the workers (even if one of them consisted of talking about how common and painful scorpions are). This trip has taught me so much about a field I know so little about, and it’s kind of hard to process everything while being so exhausted. I’m just very happy and grateful for the opportunities I have.

What I’ve learned: being mindful about your food choices (whether it be going vegan or just trying to buy more fair trade foods) really does make a difference.

[on-the-woah]

Belize, Day 4:

It was a grand day. Today was our last day working with the first family. I worked on the drying shed again this time, and we got pretty close to finishing. Did a lot of hammering and sawing. Saw some scorpions, which I HATED. After a late lunch we went to Rio Blanco, a national park, and swam around in the quarry-like lake. I jumped off of a giant rock into the water a few times (it was a four-story drop or so) which was pretty fun. Swam under a waterfall. Saw some GIANT spiders on the rocks that were the size of my entire hand and I think they might have been fishing spiders and I’m probably going to have nightmares!! After that adventure we had dinner in a straw hut in the middle of the woods and took drum lessons / played in a drum circle. That was really really fun, I’d forgotten how much I like playing music.

What I’ve learned: itches itch more after you scratch them because of the serotonin release that comes from the pain incurred by scratching. Shout out to hydrocortisone for helping to mitigate the immense discomfort from those 12 ant bites I got on my ankles two days ago 🙃

[on-the-woah]

Belize, Day 3:

Today was spent packing 1300 bags of soil (in the shade!!) in the middle of a corn field. Much less strenuous/stressful than yesterday, but as you can see the other half of the team that worked on the drying shed today got a lot done! The best part of the day was definitely when we were waiting around after work watching the dogs play and eating random fruit that was being handed to us (bananas, “plums” with chili seasoning). The littlest puppy (not pictured) rolled over and fell into the creek which was equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, but luckily the dog is fine and apparently makes that mistake a lot.

What I’ve learned: you can have some really deep conversations while bagging soil for 6 hours

[on-the-woah]

Belize, Day 2:

Today was our first day of work. The plan is to build another shed for drying cacao, but as you can see it took our half of the team the entire day to get those six posts in and leveled. For lunch we ate at a local residence and had some great corn tortillas (the superior tortilla, might I add). We also went to Lubaantun, the nearby Mayan ruins. Hiked through the jungle a bit. Had dinner. Reflected. Went out for ice cream. Talked some more. Now I need to write and go to bed so I’ll be rested for a full day of work tomorrow.

What I’ve learned: cacao tastes NOTHING like cocoa, but it is still quite good

[on-the-woah]

Belize, Day 1:

Today held some of the wildest experiences of my life. Highlights include riding in a 12 passenger plane and experiencing a country-wide power outage. I’m far too tired to go into detail, but the gist of it is this: good food, good views, good people. Very happy.

What I’ve learned: mosquitoes are attracted to fragrant things, which is why I will be showering using only unscented hand soap and unscented deodarent.

[on-the-woah]

This is the first (of hopefully many) videos I made about my Aussie experience this past summer! It focuses on the adventures and experiences that my NC State friends and I had.

[on-the-woah]

My housemates woke up at 6:30 this morning to say goodbye (again, even though we’d already said our farewells last night circa 1 AM!!). Let’s just pretend I didn’t cry 5+ times on the plane ride to the U.S. thinking about them.

[on-the-woah]

A Final Day in Sydney, Australia: My last day couldn’t have been better. I spent the morning sleeping in, packing, and cleaning in preparation for my departure. For lunch, my American friend and I found the closest Outback Steakhouse and took the 30 minute train ride out there for an iconic bloomin’ onion and some tasty burgers. Then we went back to the city, sipped coffee (I tried a Nutella macchiato!) and walked around the botanic gardens. We watched the sun set one last time over Sydney while reminiscing the incredible past few months. After that, I returned home to a farewell dinner of authentic risotto (the perks of having Italian friends!) and a surprise goodbye gift and card signed by my housemates that nearly made me cry even though I promised I wouldn’t. Man, I’m gonna miss this place... though I think I’ll miss the people just a bit more. What I’ve learned: People are good. Australia is good. Life is good.

[on-the-woah]

Bondi Beach, Sydney: Saturday was beautiful and warm (upper 20s!) so some of my housemates and I decided to spend the day at the beach! The water was absolutely freezing but I was glad to have one final swim in the Tasman Sea before my departure. We also played some volleyball and soccer and buried our friend in sand before enjoying some gourmet gelato. What I’ve learned: kinder bueno is an INCREDIBLE gelato flavor