I have a bad habit of
mentally building up trips beforehand so that they are unable to realistically
meet the high expectations that I have set.
Well, I just want to say that not only did my trip meet my unrealistically
high expectations… it exceeded them!
There were a few hiccups here and there, but overall I had an amazing
time! Here are a few highlights:
·
WENT TO SAWBILL!!!!!!!!! My time was filled with
foosball, hanging out, stargazing, a trip to Grand Marais, hiking, canoeing,
sauna-ing, a bit of swimming, and even got a bit of work in. It felt like I had never left. My sister who is in the States visiting from
Vietnam even went up with us! Thanks to
my Mom and Dad for making that trip possible! The new crew is great by the way!!
·
Met up (at Sawbill) with the uncle of a
supervisor/friend that I had from a college internship. Not only was he incredibly friendly and
enthusiastic, but also brought me a nice Peace Corps Association shirt and
shared some cool stories about his time in the Peace Corps in the 60s! He is even thinking of coming to visit
Nicaragua with his wife!
·
Hung out with several family members and friends. I just wish that I had had time to see
everyone!
·
Rekindled an old friendship
·
Went downtown and made it to the Taste of Chicago
for the first time in over 5 years
·
Got an essentially free hour and half full body deep
tissue massage
·
Was able to get breakfast with a future Peace Corps
volunteer that will be heading to Nicaragua in less than a month!
·
Got new music!
·
Good Beer!
·
FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!
It may have been a short trip, but I can’t believe how much fun I had
and just how much that I was able to fit in.
Everyone made me feel so special, and I just want to say thanks to
everyone who went out of their way to make my week what it was*! The reverse culture shock definitely helped
me realize just how much I had taken advantage of growing up, and being home
was quite a reality check.
*A shout out to ‘Crusher,’ one of my high school youth group
leaders! My watch was still set on
Nicaragua time and I showed up to dinner over an hour late. He waited patiently until I finally showed up, even
when his daughter was getting in from out of town. It really meant a lot!
And here are several
pictures if you have any more time to scroll through!
I got to hang out with Kira in Grand Marais! She’s actually from
Brookfield too but just got a job at another Boundary Waters canoe
outfitters. She just got back from
Tanzania, so we had plenty to catch up on!
Hammer! Jessica is genuinely one of
the nicest people I know and someone I try and keep in semi-regular contact
with from Nicaragua. I worked with her
at Sawbill for all four of my summers there, and she has always been someone I
can count on!
Lindsay is one of the new crewmembers at Sawbill, and pretty much sums
up how I feel about all the new crew there…. You’re all great!! Keep up the good work J
Not only is Mark a new Sawbill crewmember, but he was also my roommate
senior year of college. It was fun
having someone to fill me in on IWU stuff.
I’m so glad that we were able to catch up!
Mark, Denny (my former supervisor’s uncle), and I. I still think it’s so cool that he drove over
an hour to Sawbill for a quick conversation and to give me a shirt. Thanks again!
I had no idea these girls were in town, but am so excited I was able to
meet up with them! It was like junior year all over again!
Abbey!!! We actually became close friends in Central America during our
Costa Rica Mayterm course in 2012. Still
trying to get her to come back down here!
