Adventuresam

A guest blog by Patrick

Our daily routine on the Mystery Trip was as follows:

1. Wake Up
2. Receive Detailed Instructions for How to Be Prepared for the Day from Sammi ‘I Planned This’ Travis
   1. Example: We’re going to go to a cafe for breakfast, then go on an adventure where we’ll be walking for 3-4 hours, then eat lunch, then have a couple of hours to rest, then get ready to go out for 4-6 hours
3. Have an Amazing Day Full of Adventure and Surprises
4. Return Home
5. Get a Teaser of Tomorrow from Sammi ‘I Planned This’ Travis
   1. Example: Tomorrow we’re going to wake up at 7:00am sharp, eat breakfast here, and then go on a road trip for the whole day
6. Go to Bed

For the most part, Team ‘I Planned This’ was about as generous as Silas Marner when it came to sharing hints about our upcoming adventures. However, one evening I was able to coax out a little more information.

Patrick: “Where we are we going tomorrow?”

Sammi: “Moldova. Well, kind of.”

Patrick: “Kind of? Are we going there or not?”

Sammi: “Well, it’s complicated.”

Now my interest was piqued. To the best of my knowledge, we weren’t entering into a Facebook relationship with Moldova. So how could it be complicated?

Sammi: “Well, it’s technically Moldova according to the U.N., but we’re actually going to be in Transnistria.”

Patrick: “Trans-what? Where is that? Is that a country?”

Sammi: “Kind of.”

A quick visit to Wikipedia returned the following:

“Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, is a landlocked self-proclaimed state situated in the geographical region Transnistria between Ukraine and the River Dniester, recognised only by three other non-United Nations (UN) states: Abkhazia, Republic of Artsakh and South Ossetia.[6] The region is considered by the UN to be part of Moldova. The PMR controls a narrow strip of territory to the east of the River Dniester, and also the city of Bender and its surrounding localities on the west bank, in the historical region of Bessarabia.

Unrecognised by any United Nations member state, Transnistria is designated by the Republic of Moldova as the Transnistria autonomous territorial unit with special legal status.”

Whoa! This is the thing about traveling with AdventureSam. She doesn’t just take you to countries you’ve never heard of; she takes you to COUNTRIES THAT DON’T ACTUALLY EXIST. She’s the ultimate hipster traveler, getting to nations before they’re on the map. Literally.

Moldova: ‘It’s Complicated’ with Transnistria

We set out from Odesa the next morning in our trusty low rider, quickly disappearing into the grey, rainy countryside. We spotted a colorful oasis just off the road and pulled over in excitement. It was a graveyard.

Ukraine: Where the brightest part of your day is the graveyard!

We made it to the Moldovian Transnistrian border and discovered that we didn’t have all of the car paperwork with us. We parked the car amidst a stream of people who had come to Ukraine to buy Christmas Trees. Apparently pines are cheaper in whatstheukrainiancurrencycalledagain.

We had our passports stamped to show that we were leaving Ukraine, then walked across a river and into Transnistria. Or Moldova. Depends on who you’re asking. Transnistria had its own border patrol. We handed over our passports and were given a visa on a slip of paper that allowed us to stay in the ‘self-proclaimed state’ for 14 hours. We requested an official stamp in our passport, but they couldn’t give us one. Apparently, stamping passports is for UN-recognized countries.

We exchanged some money (yes, Transnistria has its own currency) and caught a bus to Tiraspol. We were immediately impressed with the generosity of Transnistrians, who provided Ira and Marta with all kinds of valuable suggestions for what to do in Russian. #trans(nistria)lators

Getting our Lenin on. Note the Russian flag and Soviet star.

Transnistria is a pro-Russian state, which quickly became evident by the abundance of Russian flags, Soviet symbols, and Lenin Statues. It was like a Soviet museum: there were hammer and sickle street decorations, religious monuments canonizing Soviet leaders, and even Soviet tanks. It was SO fascinating to learn about this little slice of the world.

Does this look like a crew that would order too much food?

This cheese-stuffed bread is a pie chart of how much of our overindulgent lunch we ate.

Following lunch we found the post office, where we splurged on Soviet postcards from the 80s. Ira and Marta remembered many of the designs from their childhood, and we Americans took an opportunity to send some messages home.

We spent the rest of day roaming the streets of Tiraspol. We immediately regretted taking a photo with the I ❤ Tiraspol sign, found a Christmas market where we stocked up for the Furries, saw the newest addition to the Official Transnistrian Christmas tree (a giant red Soviet star), filmed some interviews on our travels, and watched swarms of birds swirl around another statue of (you guessed it!) Lenin.

Whoops.

Ira needs to fix the tinsel on her house.

“You have got to check out the new Soviet star we got for our official Christmas tree!”

We stumbled upon a Soviet Christmas tradition: a children’s party where kids could have their picture taken with Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost) and Snegurochka (his granddaughter). It was adorable to watch the Transnistrian children, all dressed up for Christmas, smile or sob as they posed for photos. Then, we were introduced to the famed Baba Yaga, a witch-like woman who eats little children. She was equally as popular as Grandfather Frost, which made us wonder if we were still in Ukraine.

This pretty much sums up Patrick’s relationship with women.

With all of our hearts racing after meeting Baba Yaga, we made our way back towards the bus station. Conveniently, the fancy restaurant from lunch was on the way and we still had money to spend. How do you say “We’d like five pieces of cake in Transnistrian?”

Full of cake, Christmas, and new knowledge, we ambled back to catch our bus and return to Ukraine. Still trying to wrap my head around everything we had learned, I engaged Ira one last time.

Patrick: “So, wait, are we in Moldova right now?”

Ira: “Technically, yes. But no.”

Patrick: “What?”

Ira: “It’s complicated.”

And so it goes.

If you’re interested in learning more about this complicated place, I’d recommend you check out this article: https://www.wired.com/2016/03/meet-people-transnistria-stuck-time-soviet-country-doesnt-exist/

As for us, we couldn’t be more grateful to have had the opportunity to explore this self-declared state. We learned so much and left overwhelmed with what we had just experienced. We departed with more questions than answers, which is definitely the beauty of visiting a nation that’s so hipster it doesn’t even exist.

Goodbye, Transnistria.

A guest blog by Patrick

We stepped off the plane into a foreign land, not knowing where we were, where we were going, or what time it was. Sammi had taunted us with the extra boarding passes she had been carrying since we checked in, so despite reading signs that welcomed us to Kiev, Ukraine, our final destination was still a mystery. We walked up to the fork in the road: go left through security for connecting flights or go right through immigration and enter Ukraine. After a dramatic pause, Sammi ripped up our connecting tickets and handed us our passports: WE WERE STAYING IN UKRAINE!!!

We rocked our Mystery Trip hats as we passed through immigration and customs to find a slew of non-smiling Ukrainians waiting at the airport exit. I noticed something strange in the crowd; I was almost positive one women had slightly raised the corner of her lip. Did she just smile at us? Only seconds later the same women surfaced through the throngs of people, excitedly rushing to hug Sammi. It was Mystery Trip Surprise #2: a WELCOME PARTY!!!

Iryna ‘Nothing but Positive Things to Say About Ukraine’ Kolotylo

We met our new friend/best friend Iryna and she immediately started fueling our excitement for our grand adventure.

Iryna: “Welcome to Ukraine. This is the worst time of the year to visit. The weather is awful and everything is dark and gray.”

Patrick & Colleen: “Oh. I’m sure it will be amazing anyway – we like snowy weather.”

Iryna: “Did you know that there’s a war going on here? It’s pretty awful.”

Patrick & Colleen: “Merry Christmas?”

We found the car rental counter and Sammi went to work sorting out our new low rider. Sammi came over to ask who wanted to be the second driver.

Iryna: “Ukraine has the worst roads in Europe. I know how to drive but I never drive here because it’s so horrible.”

Her positivity was absolutely palpable.

We made our way to Iryna’s flat to discover that our Welcome Party had grown to three! Iryna has sisters!!! Marta and Yanina welcomed us with a DELICIOUS home-cooked Christmas Eve dinner – shout out to the local white mushrooms from Western Ukraine and cheese dipped in honey (Sammi, write that down!). We were informed that Christmas is traditionally celebrated on January 6th in Ukraine, but this year was the first year that December 25th was a national holiday. Let the ETERNAL CHRISTMAS begin…

♭I’m dreaming of a white Christmas (tree).♭

We woke up the next day to the excitement of a Christmas gift exchange. Ira, Marta, and Yana collect ornaments from friends around the world, and just like that one of our puzzling instructions made sense. We gifted our hosts an ornament from each of our states (Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Colorado) and they quickly found a new home on the tree.

I’ll bet you can’t guess which one Sammi brought!

Then it was time to exchange gifts, which was incredibly fun! Highlights included chocolate from Ukraine’s very own Willy Wonka President (https://www.roshen.com/), amazing magnets from a famous Ukrainian painter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl2HneKpW_4), and Pittsburgh Penguins socks. #Pittsfurgh

Following breakfast we were informed to get ready for a day exploring Kiev. We boarded a cute yellow bus, paid 10 whatstheukrainiancurrencycalledagain for the ride, and headed to the subway station.

Whatever you do, do not smile.

The official ‘Ukrainian on Public Transport’ face.

After crowding onto our first subway car, we started to notice some themes. Namely, it quickly became abundantly clear that no one was smiling. We looked around at hundreds of faces, all looking serious. In fact, when we finally spotted a smile we had to take a picture of it…it was on an advertisement.

This guys is THRILLED to be carrying a bag of rubber duckies.

We took the fastest escalators ever out of the subway station and set off to explore the town. We perused a beautiful market, ate Georgian bread, saw a musical performance at a Roshen candy store, ate some healthy candy purely for the nutritional value, drank cherry liqueur with monkeys, wandered through the Gapchinska art gallery, frolicked in a trippy Alice in Wonderland-themed playground, marveled at some murals, ate chicken KIEV, ordered coffee way too late into the evening to think that Sammi was going to sleep, reproduced an epic pedestrian bridge jump photo because we thought it looked cool, drank mulled wine at the Christmas market, danced while a symphony played the Christmas Classic ‘Another One Bites the Dust’, visited a monastery, failed to stick coins against a fountain and therefore were granted no wishes, drank at a hipster bar, posed with the cutest hedgehog statue in the world, visited the ‘oldest cafe’ in Kiev (we checked, it’s 50 years old), and laughed all day long.

Um, why does the fruit smell like caviar?

Ukrainian church.

Amazing street mural.

Sammi stopped listening at “This candy is the healthiest…” and immediately bought several. #healthychoices

Alice in Wonder…Kiev.

What do you mean I get to count the money?!?

So pedestrian.

Q: How do you choose which Ukrainian Christmas market to go to? A: Learn that the other one wasn’t finished in time.

The cutest hedgehog statue in the whole world!

Was that guy taking a photo of that manhole cover?

***

Iryna continued to delight us with her enthusiasm and national pride. Her positivity was endless.

Iryna: “This is the Office of Foreign Affairs. When I came to Kiev it was my dream to work there.”

Patrick: “Oh, that’s awesome! Did you get to work there?”

Iryna: “Yeah. It was the worst place ever to work.”

Iryna: “Welcome to the shortest main street in Europe.”

Iryna: “This is the stupidest statue in Kiev. It’s supposed to be of a Cossack warrior, but the horse is small and looks like a dog and the warrior’s feet are pushing on imaginary stirrups.”

***

Finally, on a serious note, I’d be remiss if I didn’t share the most powerful part of the experience. In 2014, Ukrainian citizens staged a three month long protest after their then president abandoned plans to join the European Union in favor of a trade agreement with Russia. People took to the main square, Maidan, and created a living community in protest. The government responded with violence, and many people died in the name of democracy and freedom. After several months of unrest, the president eventually resigned and fled the country, setting the stage for a new election and government.

We would HIGHLY recommend that everyone watch the documentary Winter On Fire (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RibAQHeDia8). It is skillfully made and incredibly moving. It serves as a powerful reminder that there are people all over this world who are willing to stand up for what they believe in and what is right for their country. It’s inspiring.

After watching Winter On Fire, we had the chance to visit a memorial to the people who died during the revolution. We heard their stories and listened to Iryna’s description of what it was like inside the protests – she volunteered to serve food to those involved. Walking the streets where such a powerful display of courage had occurred, we couldn’t help but feel grateful for everything that we take for granted.

Maidan: The site of the revolution.

We arrived home overflowing with new knowledge, delicious food, and Christmas merriment. What a wonderful Christmas in Kiev! But, in true Mystery Trip fashion, the adventure was only beginning. Sammi told us to have our bags packed and be ready to go at 8:00am sharp – we were heading off on a road trip the next day…

Merry Christmas from Kiev!

A guest blog by Patrick.

With exactly one week to go before Mystery Trip 2018, I sat down to wrap my head around everything that had happened since we received the following text from Sammi on Monday, August 14:

I can’t tell you which is more intriguing:  an EPIC, personalized travel-ganza or the though to my passport’s exoneration.

I scoured every last text message for hints, clues, and instructions. This was the result:

Sammi recommends duel-purpose undies.  #is13pairstoomany?

For months Colleen and I had organized clandestine FaceTime chats to try to prepare ourselves for what would surely be an EPIC adventure. But how do you properly prepare for a Mystery Trip? Do you read into every single clue and try to figure out your exact destination (there are a lot of places with an average temperature of 31℉ in December)? Or do you try your hardest to not think about it despite the fact that EVERY SINGLE PERSON you mention it to immediately starts throwing their guesses at you? How many times do I have to tell you, we’re not going to Canada!

We chose Option C: obsess over packing. Countless hours led to two carefully packed bags, each less than 55x20x40cm, with everything we could possibly need to be able to go out on New Year’s Eve (and possibly other times) in public during the 60% of the trip we’d be in a city and largely inside, and still be prepared for the possibility of snow/rain and for weather that feels colder than the 17℉ low during the 40% of the trip we’d be not sleeping outside. We obviously wore LAYERS onto the plane.

Colleen obsessed took care of the snacks. I convinced her to bring a curling iron so we could use it as a microphone.

We put together a Mystery Trip Playlist: you should check it out! Sammi requested the first song, and we curated the rest…

Our planes from Chicago and Denver converged at LaGuardia in New York, where we turned on our phones to find instructions from Sammi to meet her at JFK. We left a trail of candy cane crumbs in our Lyft on the way to the airport. We scoured Terminal 7 far and wide before finally spotting Sammi – she was hard to find because of her camouflaged hat.

Headline: Savvy American tourists prepare to integrate into local culture.

We immediately handed over our passports to Sammi who worked her incredible magic to get us through the check-in counter and security clearances without a glitch. All that stood between us and a true mystery was getting on the plane.

We were a hit at the airport – people couldn’t believe what we were up to and went out of their way to talk to us. #AdventureSam

Colleen and I synced our music, turned it up to full blast, pulled our hats over our eyes, and stumbled down the long hallway to our gate.

3-2-1: Board!

Sammi guided us expertly onto the plane – we only ran into her like 17 times. We got to our seats, where she quickly scoured the area for anything that might give our destination away. Nothing. Then she looked up and saw a giant map of our flight broadcast on a massive TV 6 feet in front of our seat. Whoops! We resolved to keep our eyes to our row. : )

WE HAVE NO IDEA WHERE WE ARE GOING!

The thrill of successfully getting on a plane without knowing where we were going was powerful. Colleen and I were pumped! Sammi immediately fell asleep. Her loss: she missed out on two awful meals (“What if the place where we are going isn’t known for its food?”), a bootlegged version of iRobot with Chinese subtitles, and discovering that our overhead reading lamps were controlled by the wrong seats.

How could she possibly sleep with a  delicious meal of overcooked noodles and mystery strawberry foam nearby?

One of the aspects of the trip Colleen and I hadn’t prepared for was the fact that we had no idea how long the flight was. Here we were, wedged into seats on a low-cost airline with our heads down to avoid looking at the giant map in front of us, with no freaking idea where we were going or when we would get there! Luckily, I had put together a Funtivity packet that allowed Colleen to win an EPIC game of dots and squares.

#HowLongIsThisFlight?

And then, finally we landed! We had no idea what time it was, where we were, or what was waiting for us once we stepped off of the airplane. But, as we were soon to find out, you can always count on an amazing experience when AdventureSam is wearing her ‘I Planned This!’ hat…

— Patrick

PRESENT DAY: ‘Tis finally time, my friends, for Mystery Trip 2018, where I choose your choice. We’ve got our tickets in hand, our bags packed, and our passports ready for the stamping. But you still don’t get to know where we’re headed just yet … This is the flashback episode; the part of the blog where I relay to you the events leading up to this very moment—the moment we step onto the plane without looking back. Ready?

*Cue the rewind sound effect*

AUGUST: It all began on one, long flight to Peru where I thought about how fun it would be to plan a trip for some adventurous travelers who would agree to get on a plane without knowing where they were going or what they’d be doing. But where, oh where, was I supposed to find a couple of crazy kids like that?

ENTER…

Colleen

And Patrick!

Colleen took my initial idea and ran with it. She called me in August with specific dates and a budget. After a 3-way Skype call with Patrick, we all agreed to some pretty basic rules:

1.   Safety first – The destination could not be one of the five most dangerous places in the world (because we’re crazy, but not that crazy). Ask me about the sixth most dangerous place in the world, and maybe I’ll consider.

2.   Variety– We’re all well-traveled and love our new experiences, so we agreed that the destination should be somewhere none of us had gone before.

 
3.   The Benjamins, baby – Of course, you can’t plan a trip without talking money. We came up with a solid budget of $2,500 per person.

So, I started planning. We’ve all been traveling for quite some time, so the rules really narrowed down my search. But the process didn’t come without its challenges. I had to navigate around the fact that:

1.   Patrick, Colleen, and yours truly are all from separate places. I would have to figure out how to get Patrick from Denver and Colleen from Chicago, while I of course, would be leaving from Pittsburgh.

   AND

2. We were going to be spending Christmas and New Years abroad, which is automatically going to drive ticket prices up, up, and far away.

But hey, haven’t you learned by now? I’m a pro. So after much research, price shopping, and city-to-country matrixes, I booked the flights and sent my brave souls a fun little confirmation.

And so it begins! Muhaha!

NOVEMBER:  By November, we were all getting really into it. My teasing text messages were at an all-time high, and Colleen started working on the official Mystery Trip 2018 uniforms.

Which of these hats is not like the others?

Official uniform of Mystery Trip 2018!

I should’ve had them make blindfolds, but hopefully the caps will shield them from any indicators or clues at the airport.

What makes this whole thing extra fun is that both Colleen and Patrick have been eager from the start to maintain the surprise element of this trip, so I gave them another little assignment: They needed to create a combined playlist so that they won’t be able to hear any announcements from the terminal or on the plane.

As the month passed by, and with the spirit of giving among us, I finally gave them a few morsels of information about our destination:

Climate = bring a really warm jacket…like, really, really warm.

Activities = bring some hiking boots, your adventure pants, and something to swim in, because plot twist! We’re getting in some water! (Might I recommend some extra warm, long underwear for this occasion?)

 
Festivities = bring a Secret Santa gift, and make it fancy (just kidding, just something around $20).

But as I giveth, so do I also taketh away. You knew there’d be a catch right? And in this case, it was that they were only allowed to pack one carry-on. They’re traveling with AdventureSam, and when you travel with AdventureSam, you need to step up to the challenge. It’s all part of the fun!

DECEMBER: Can you imagine being two weeks away from a trip and not knowing where you’re going or when you’re even getting on the plane? Colleen and Patrick can. Colleen and Patrick definitely can, because two weeks away, and they still hadn’t received any information from their dear pal AdventureSam. I sent them this little text to ease their anxieties:

“We will be going out for New Years (remember the temperature). It won’t be fancy, of course, but it will be out in public. Also, I don’t think we’ll need snow shoes. But if we do, at least we won’t have them together! #Solidarity”

So finally, one week before the trip, I decided to throw them a bone and let them know they’re departure times. I mean, the suspense was just killing me; I couldn’t stand it. But I still kept the itinerary a secret—I was only going to give them that info 24-hrs in advance.

NOW: So, we’re back where we started. I hope you’ve enjoyed this trip down memory lane. And now, as a quick little game, I’d like to know where you think we’re going. The polls are now open for educated guesses. For a recap:

1.   It’s cold
2.   We will be swimming at some point
3.   We’re going out for New Year’s Eve and a few other nights
4.   40% outdoors, 60% city

I let Colleen and Patrick play, too. So here are the final results

Colleen: Iceland
Patrick: Norway
You, my lovely blog reader: [Insert your guess here]
And the winner is…

’misterious

Ok, here’s the deal:

We all know I’m just a little behind on my blogging. And by “a little behind,” I mean 5 months behind—okay, maybe 6. But I have some good news and some extra good news for my party sized readership, which is growing.  Welcome new people!!  The good news is that there aren’t many rules when it comes to blogging, which means the blog police can’t revoke my license to spill if I fall behind on a posting or two. Life gets in the way; writing can (and will) get a little bothersome. It happens!

I was so busy this year, I even had to brush my teeth in airport bathrooms! How could anyone expect me to blog, am I right?

Now for the extra good news… drumroll, please… I’m getting back in the game! To finish updating AdventureSam, I’ll be playing catch-up and posting on Thursdays* in 2018, as a “Throwback to 2017” travel tribute. Ultimately, my goal (my pre-New Year’s resolution, if you will) is to both get back to posting in real time AND to catch up on the second half of this year.

*The fine print: I might not post a back blog every week, but when I do, it’ll be on Thursdays.

The birdseye view from a plane window—a favorite view from this year.

So without further ado, here’s a quick summary of my 2017 travels and a lil’ sneak peek of some posts you can look forward to on upcoming TBTs (“Throwback Thursdays” for those who don’t speak Internet):

• Nine weeks exploring Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand)
• Several weeks groovin’ out West (California, Colorado… and let’s generously throw in Ithaca, NY)
• A month living it up in Peru  (the Amazon, hiking around the Andes, and visiting Machu Picchu).  It felt like the end of an era era era when I finished writing about that.
• One long, joyous weekend spent in New Orleans
• Two weeks hanging out with the fam in Israel, Jordan, and Palestine (feat. a long layover in Iceland)
• Living, laughing, and loving in the great outdoors of New York and West Virginia
• Four days catching up with my Peace Corps Momma in Jamaica
• One Thanksgiving weekend, partying with the Amish in Litiz, the coolest small town in America
• An action-packed week schmoozing with Berlin

That moment when you start thinking about your 2018 travel plans.

And for those curious about my upcoming travels, get ready for:

MYSTERY TRIP 2018. Pack your bikinis, pack your snow coats, pack your surfboard and your skis, because there’s no knowing where we’re going! Okay, so maybe it’s not a complete mystery. After all, I’m in on the secret, but our destination, well, that’s for me to know…and you to find out!  😉

En route to endless adventures

The sky’s the limit,
‘mi

Throwback Thursday…

The blog post title is to be read to the tune of “Mambo Number 5.”  And now that we have the same song in out heads,I can begin telling you all about the amazing Chanukah season (last December — yay for getting caught up!)  which began with a chance encounter. I reread the blog from last year’s Chanukah party and saw a good tip – the basketball dreidel is the one who gives out all the gimmels.

That first night of Chanukah, I found a different dreidel on the street. Now, if that isn’t a good sign then I don’t know what is. A sign of what, you might ask? Who knows… maybe just a good omen that Chanukah December 2017 was going to be a blast.

And blast, it was. It was a white Chanukah, and unexpectedly so. While Ben and I were out one night, it started pouring snow… Can you use “pouring” for snow, or just rain? I’m just gonna go with it. It was pouring snow, and since Ben is from California, it was actually the first time he had seen it fall from the sky quite like this. He said he didn’t know it was going to happen all of a sudden.  “It’s snowing!!!! Help, what do I do?!” – Ben He asked if he should use an umbrella, and since he lives by a school he watched lots of children and their mothers do it. He thought he should. Before I could answer him he had walked to work but by the time he got there he had realized that umbrellas are for children under the age of five and grownups don’t use them in the snow.

Goin’ to a shindig.

So along with the snow and the good-omen dreidel, another wonderful standout from Chanukah 2017 was going to Ben’s office Christmas party. You know how in TV shows, the office Christmas party gets a little wild? I was expecting a couple of employees scandalously making out in a bathroom stall, the intern puking on the carpet because he drank too much eggnog, and someone (potentially the boss) walking around with a lampshade on her head. Well, it wasn’t that extreme, but it was a ton of fun. I met his co-workers, who were really great. We talked about their work, inside jokes that I wasn’t apart of, and dynamics I didn’t understand (I promise, it was a lot more fun that I’m making it out to be), and it was incredibly entertaining. There was great food, free drinks, and by the end of the night, I was even in on the office gossip. I think that counts as a success.

Later that week, I met up with one of my friends from the Peace Corps, Andy.  It had been so long (too long!) since we had seen each other, so it was really great to catch up and learn about all of the life events that had happened since we last met. We did some sightseeing and ended up going to an art gallery opening for a professor at CMU.  We also went to go see improv, (her first time!), so I was really excited to share that with her.

Taking a break from catching up to snap a pic.

Of course, taking her to a comedy show just made me crave even more comedy. So I when Ben’s brother Noah visited for the holidays we took him to see a show, too.

Chanukah season — although only 8 days — was very eventful.   I’m going to stretch it and call it most of December, actually. For the first time (out of the rest of forever), I got to use the use the menorah from the kibbutz my family and I bought together in Israel.  Very special.

I think finding that dreidel on the first day was definitely a good sign because without even playing (okay, Bel and I did play), I felt like I got a gimmel (should out to Jimmy Gimmel!) because I got everything I needed this Chanukah.

Festive friends.

Burning all the candles,
‘mi

Throwback Wednesday…

December (2017) is not traditionally the time to visit Berlin, Germany but when Wow Airline offered a $350 roundtrip (!!!!) ticket from Pittsburgh to Berlin it was just too good to pass up — Rachel and I bought tickets.  (Also, yay to me for not letting myself get a full year behind with blogging!)  Rachel and I have known each other for years.  Here are a couple of a refreshers from that time we were in Asia; Vietnam, and Thailand.

We spent over a week in Germany and oh, Berlin…what can I say about Berlin?  My mind is drawing a blank; my thoughts have hit a wall. Haha — get it? Too soon? Ok, just kidding. In reality, there’s almost too much to say about Berlin because it is FANTASTIC. A week wasn’t long enough, there was so much to do and soooo much history.  In fact, even someone who isn’t into history (*cough*) would be convinced to get passionate about it here; an armchair historian, if you will (and I will).  As Rick Steves, my idol, has said: “Germany is beloved by armchair historians, including people who never cared about history before coming to Berlin (a common affliction).” If I’m reading that correctly, Rick Steves thinks I’m normal.

Berlin came highly recommended to me and I can see why, quite simply, it’s the best; The energy of the city is incredible; live music in the subways, everyone spoke English, lots of people are expats and from all over the world, incredible street art, adorable cross-walking signs, gorgeous architecture, and long names for everything like Reichsluftfahrtministerium, which was the former air ministry.   I loved it all.

One of the first things we did was visit the parliament building; the tours are free, but you have to sign up in advance.

Beautiful architecture!

The idea behind the neat glass globe is that government will remain transparent to the citizens and regular people who can look down on the politicians and monitor them from above.

Looks pretty transparent to me…Maybe we can learn a thing or two and make the White House the Glass House…

Damn, check out the syllables on that strasse! Also pictured here is a way to display billboards…  This method we learned about on one of our many walking tours, thanks Rick Steves.

Because there was so much to see, I’m essentially breaking this trip up into three sections: The Holocaust, The Wall, and Modern Berlin.

And in this current climate of anti-semitic rhetoric, and since this Friday will mark two weeks since the Pittsburgh Synagogue shooting, I’m going to start this post with…

T H E    H O L O C A U S T

One thing I noticed about Berlin, which I really loved, was that they handle their history with dignity and respect. That is, they acknowledge it. They don’t try to hide it, but they also don’t wallow in it or capitalize/exploit the tragedy by setting up tourist traps. Their memorials are tasteful and subtle, they aren’t in your face, though you know they’re there. For example, the “Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe” is extremely powerful and moving yet simplistic in nature.

Jewish memorial; the pillars vary in height as you get deeper into the maze-like structure.

They also have these literal stumbling stones placed throughout the city so that as you walk, you’ll remember the Jews who were forced to move from these spots.  Back in the 1930’s there was an expression that, if you tripped, a Jew did it do you – which is why these stumbling stones, designed to actually trip you today, are so powerful.  Tripping, changing your foot pattern, brings you back to reality, back to the present moment and forces you to remember these people who used to live in these buildings and then were mercilessly murdered.

Some of the stumbling stones. This was a family of four.

Between the memorials — the book burning memorial in Bebelplatz was one of the most powerful, a room full of empty bookshelves — Hitler’s bunker (denoted by a simple sign and definitely not a tourist site because they don’t want it to become a real attraction), and the museums, we learned about Berlin’s Holocaust history.  Rachel also ended up going to one of the former concentration camps, but I couldn’t bring myself to go. It was too painful.   

In a bit of a more uplifting lens, we decided to visit the Otto Weidt blind museum where we learned about heroes of the Holocaust — the survivors and their advocates.

This guy & his amazing mustache brought us some much-needed cheer while at the Otto Weidt museum.

Another interesting thing we noticed was that the government seems to be still making up for its wrongs from years ago. In addition to all of the memorials, they also still protect Jewish structures; synagogues, Jewish schools, etc. all have barriers in front of them with armed guards standing in front for “protection”. They also have made these buildings blend in with the other houses on the street to help ensure their safety.

A subtle, powerful entryway.

Noteworthy, was an international event that happened while we were there. The United States acknowledged Jerusalem as the capital of Israel (because…a different country can just decide that for another one…?) and announced that the government would be building the U.S. embassy there. There were protests and police presence in the streets — it got pretty loud and aggressive as we hurried to get off of the streets.

Although somber, this part of our Berlin tour was really important, and I think that you can’t really understand Berlin unless you learn about its dark past.

And so now, in true systematic fashion, we’re moving on to…

T H E     W A L L      (1961 – 1989)

Gettin’ nice and cuddly.

Explaining, in any sort of depth, the situation with the Berlin Wall is way above my paygrade.  I’m just going to touch on that it’s an amazing sight to see in person. Rachel and I did an incredible Rick Steves tour, got a history lesson about the wall and learned how the allies (France, Britain, USA, and the Soviet Union) all got parts of Germany — Berlin itself was divided (thus the erection of the Wall). We got to see Checkpoint Charlie, which was a famous crossing point between the Eastern and Western sides of the wall.

At Checkpoint Charlie, a lot had changed since it was an actual checkpoint.  Today, capitalism prevails; there was a McDonalds and plenty of souvenir shops.  Rick Steves told us that even the larger than life poster of the famous (so-called) “Soviet” soldier is actually a Dutch model, photographed years after the fall of the USSR, wearing a nonsensical uniform of random medals, with a Russian (not Soviet) flag on his shoulder.

WARNING: DO NOT get your passport stamped here…; it will invalidate the document.

Famous picture of a soldier crossing over.

A cool thing about the wall, besides the history, is that is has become a haven for some really awesome graffiti (in this way it’s similar to the Palestinian wall).  After taking an in-depth tour of the museum and grounds (thank you so much, Rick) we had a lot of fun looking at all of the art on the parts of the wall still standing.

A piece of history.

The Wall… somebody get Pink Floyd over here.

Jokes about Trabi, cars made in East Germany.  Courtesy of Rick Steves.

I N T E R M I S S I O N:

Ok, so I know I said I was going to separate this trip into 3 sections, but…food!!  The food in Berlin consists of sausages, spaetzle, kebabs(!), AND MORE.  Some of it is seriously delicious; like the Turkish food, for example. One night, for 3 euros, Rachel and I ate the best kebab I have ever had and so, the next day, we headed back to try another one in order to see if it was really that good (it was!).  So, think of this as a commercial break where I advertise (or rather, make you jealous of) the food that I got to put into my mouth.

The most memorable spot was a restaurant that Rick Steves recommended; old world style food that was incredible.

Get into my belly, please.

Or, in contrast, was it this insanely delicious Vietnamese vegan meal with Couchsurfers and friends?!

Vietnamese and vegan! I’m salivating.

Some more dreamy food:

Homemade candy at a traditional sweet shop.

We went out to a breakfast and ordered the Hansel and Gretel. I think it means that the restaurant staff could’ve fattened us up and eaten us if they had wanted to. This food was mesmerizing.

Another breakfast (not pictured) was at a place so cute it’s name is worth mentioning — Romeo and Romeo — in the specifically gay area of Berlin.

Spaetzle is special.

We had to go to this famous biergarten, it’s in the Berlin rulebook (and also there’s a branch in Pittsburgh!).

This was a former men’s bathroom turned restaurant. Can somebody say sausage fest?! Just kidding, they serve burgers.

M O D E R N      D A Y      B E R L I N

Rick, if you’re reading this blog please know that your book and your tours completely influenced our time in this city for the better. We used all of your walking tours (and I mean all of them) to take us around… Having you in our ears and in our hands (in book form) was a fantastic idea because Rachel and I learned a ton that I won’t bore this blog with trying to convey but I will show off some of our pictures.  I HIGHLY suggest the Rick Steves Berlin book for anyone heading to this marvelous city.  

Of course we saw the main sights like Brandenburg Gate (or Unter den Linden).

Come in December, you’ll beat the tourist crowds.

And also the hotel where the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, held his kid over the balcony.

Where’s a baby and a blanket when you need one?

One day we went for a hike in the Bavarian forest to an old spy station but we had to turn around after several hours of not finding what we were looking for because we didn’t want to get lost in the dark.

Into the woods.

Are we still in Berlin?!  (yes!)

Rachel and I continued to see lots of street art, went to the Monster Gallery (a loud moving art exhibit), and saw A TON of graffiti. No seriously, the graffiti is everywhere:

Most definitely not a crack den. Don’t let the walls fool you.

Moritzplatz (not pictured below) is a train station where we spent most of our time.

Can you see the Christmas? WELL CAN YOU?

And because it was December, we went to many Christmas Markets, which are just about the most European thing to happen and are popping up all over Berlin. This year (2017, reminder), the security was on high alert with a lot of added barriers and extra protection since last year (2016 because, math) there was a terrorist attack involving a horrible man driving his truck through the market and killing people.  So sad. But this year everything was safe and they all served delicious, warm mulled wine to keep us warm.

An adorable Christmas market.

Okay, okay. Get to the WILD stuff, you’re saying…I hear you.

Welcome to the nightlife.

If you’ve heard anything about Berlin’s nightlife, you’re probably waiting to hear about the crazy sex dungeon clubs that are scattered all throughout the city. So I’ll tell you from my experience, I’ll tell you about the INSANEEE club we went to where we saw some REALLY INTENSE…

..live jazz, sans BDSM, at Zig Zag Jazz Club. Okay, okay. I’ll get to the real stuff. To the gritty and raunchy…

…comedy show we saw at the Cosmic Cat. It was in English, how wild is that?

English comedy in Germany? That’s funny.

Ok, but really. We did go to a club on a random Tuesday night (because Berliners party throughout the week. Going out here is a marathon, not a race). We went to The Suicide Circus (and no, no one was hanging from the rafters in assless chap clown suits). We had a good time, but the music wasn’t our cup o’ mulled wine, and the crowd was not one we would normally find ourselves in.

Graffiti bathroom, typical Berlin.

Flaming absinthe shots. Drink responsibly. We only had one, thanks.

The most fun I had the whole trip was hanging out with Rachel (of course!) and Sofia (introduced below, thank you, Paula!), and a variety of Couchsurfers, both hosts and new friends, who showed us around. Life is about the people you meet (and about the Rick Steves tours you take :)) We stayed with a Turkish guy, Mehmet, for the first part of our trip — he was super nice, and we really enjoyed our stay.  We switched it up in the middle of our trip (because no one wants long-term guests who don’t pay rent except, I guess, for children) and stayed with Silver, a cool Frenchman turned Berliner and his dog, Nacho.

This is Nacho dog ❤

We had so much fun with each of our hosts!  One particular night we decided to go to a Couchsurfer party at a cozy bar. We made sooo many new friends, it was a blast! I really do love Couchsurfing.  And later, we took all of our new friends to a bar on the rooftop of a parking garage where we continued to bond.

Mehmet, our gracious host, with Rachel.

To the couchsurfing party we go!

Everyone we met in Berlin was lovely, especially darling Sofia.  Here’s her introduction 🙂 We met her by chance because Helen had wanted to order some perfume that she could only get delivered to her in Germany and I graciously told her that I would “figure out a way to pick it up for you!”.  Luckily, Paula – whom I love – introduced me to Sofia who said we could use her address (thank you!!!!)  It was through this interaction with Sofia that I learned how WEIRD mail in Germany can be.   If you’re not home, the mail people (that’s what they’re called, right?) leave your mail with the neighbors. Any neighbor depending on who is home when mail gets delivered.  …That means it’s potentially a different neighbor every single day.  CrAzY!  Long story short, Sofia tracked down the perfume (thank you again!) and chatted to us in the courtyard, telling us mail horror stories.  Rachel and I LOVED talking to Sofia and convinced her to “please continue hanging out with us”.  Sofia agreed! And came on a walking tour with Silver where she, too, fell in love with either Rick Steves or us because after that, she was a regular on all of our outings.

On the train heading towards adventure!

We did try to visit this garden in the cold and rain but it was too expensive to enter and was only open for another 30 minutes. We had spent hours on the S-bahn but it turned into a classic tale… more about the journey (and the company!) than the destination 🙂

Berlin was one of the most amazing cities I’ve ever been to – There was so much to do both day and night and everyone, everyone spoke English.   Rachel and I found endless learning, seeing, and eating.  We made lots of good friends from all over the world.  Berlin was SO international AND SO FREAKING WONDERFUL!!  The energy was incredible, we never wanted to leave. I HIGHLY recommend visiting.  It rivals New York as the “City That Never Sleeps.”  Although, I don’t think Berlin is competing.  It doesn’t need a title.  It’s THAT cool.

Ich liebe dich, Berlin.

Rachel and Sammi say: GO TO BERLIN

Throwback Thursday….

Thanksgiving is a great American holiday…you get to stuff your face without judgement and exchange “I’m thankful for you” sentiments with your close family and friends.

I kicked my Thanksgiving weekend off with some pre-festivities (yay for friendship!) — girls I’m extremely thankful for: Helen and Katie. We started off the night as scientists, rationing out gummy bears between the three of us for the next day, then heading to a restaurant named Cantina, which apparently, is pretty basic because “it just can’t even.” When we arrived, the sign (which I’m assuming was supposed to scroll and say “Cantina”) just kept flashing in big, bold letters “CANT CANT CANT CANT” Pretty hilarious…and somehow discouraging.   Helen and I really acknowledged that we were overstayers.  Even with our bladders, waiting until really have to pee.  “You could say we’re mind over bladder.” – Bella

The next day, Katie and I were headed to Findley Lake to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Why separate a friendsgiving and a family Thanksgiving when you can have both at the same time.  Genius.

In true holiday fashion, Katie and I were half an hour late for her rental car pick-up appointment, and the guy working at the counter told us that they had a whopping 75 reservations for the weekend and that ours was probably canceled due to our tardiness. Now, if this had been during Christmas, I would’ve expected a Hallmark movie situation where our reservation got canceled, we had to flag down some unrealistically attractive trucker who would haul us to Findley Lake, and despite initially hating each other, we would somehow fall in love on the road and he would show me the true meaning of Christmas. Sorry Ben.  Well, it was Thanksgiving, so luckily our reservation wasn’t canceled, and also I’m more of a Hanukkah girl myself, so joke’s on Hallmark.

So we get her a rental car (she was driving up later) and as I’m speeding down the highway (I mean…driving the speed limit down the highway), I realize the passenger door of my car is slightly open. I signal to Katie (which is just the regular way you signal to another car) that I’m going to pull over, and she pulls up right beside me. Without saying one word she just rolls down her window, and opens and shuts my door for me. Talk about being aware of your surroundings, am I right?

Holiday pics from my old phone…#NoFilter

Findley Lake extravaganza

So Katie and I part ways and Ben joins me and, instead of laughing until I cry which is what had just been happening, we fight literally the entire way there until we walk in the door.  Would it be an American Thanksgiving without tension?  Anyway, we arrive at Findley Lake, and the decor is superb as usual. My parents’ decorations were so well thought out that there was even a bouquet of flowers in the shower. So beautiful.

As people started filtering in, it was really great to see everyone, especially my aunt Betsy and Uncle Marvin. Not all of my family was there, but one of the highlights was most definitely talking to my 13-year-old cousin on the phone who told me that I was really fun to talk to. Yes, that’s right.  I’m hip. I’m cool. That was a major point of conversation that night…although I was the only one talking about it.

And what’s a family/friendsgiving without games? Because someone was going to be left with dish duty (and it was probably going to be me), my aunt Betsy and I decided that everyone should use the same glass pretty much all weekend to cut down on the amount of dishes that were going to inevitably pile up. In order to designate people’s glasses, my aunt and I decided to put colored rubber bands on the glasses to distinguish glasses. But our need for functionality soon took a turn for the weird, because we made it into a game and went a little overboard with the rubber bands. We got really into matching the colors, twisting rubber bands together, putting way too many rubber bands on each glass until was it more rubber than glass?! Is this what the pilgrims used to do for fun?

Another great game we started playing was “Name 5,” to which Alex, when told the name of the game, responded with “Name 5?! I’ll name 10!” Truly, Alex should have won the game with just that statement.

Beyond laughing until I cried all night with friends and family, I also enjoyed our dinner table conversations. Since I had my friends at the dinner, my family was complimenting them (or rather…me on choosing them), saying that I have really good taste when it comes to picking friends. I credited my mom because she would always tell me how great I was at picking friends (shoutout to all my peeps!!). I thought that because she encouraged me in picking friends, I eventually just became really great at it (because my friends are cream of the crop, as you all know). My mom, however, dispelled my theory saying that she thinks I became good at picking friends because she taught me how to make good choices in general.

She told stories of how she would always make me practice making choices by letting me choose between a few things whenever I needed to make a decision. She said it was really important that I had things to choose from from the start so that I would eventually grow into making good choices. Once she offered that theory, I thought hey…that makes a lot of sense. Either way, I’m going to go ahead and credit my mom. Thanks mom! You’re the original pal.

Games, dinner, laughter…all that was missing was a movie. By the end of the night, we sat down to watch the movie Gifted. There was one scene where the characters were depressed so they went to a hospital to watch parents’ reactions once their babies were born, and it was the first time Ben had laughed until he cried (it wasn’t supposed to be funny but I was beaming anyway).

One of the best Thanksgivings to go down in history. I wouldn’t be surprised if they teach about it in school, kids.

Leftovers-giving.

The next day, Andrew and Brian stopped by for leftovers. We finished the “weekend” off with a wonderful yoga class led by my mom, so it was one of the best leftovers-givings I’ve ever had. With the Thanksgiving weekend becoming nothing but a memory and a food baby in my stomach, Ben’s birthday weekend officially commenced. We headed to Harrisburg, but stopped in Penn State for dinner first where Bens motor skills cracked me up.

Because he wasn’t really sure where he wanted to go and didn’t really have a preference, I took the lead on the trip destination and combined his birthday trip with a dream trip of mine, which was to visit Harrisburg– or as no one calls it: The Burg. But they should call it that. They really should.

Anyways, I had never been to Harrisburg even though it’s the state capital of Pennsylvania so I was really excited to go for the very first time. It was everything I dreamt it would be. It has amazing wide streets, it’s super clean…they even have multi-tiered street lamps… It almost kind of felt like we were in DC. The capitol building was lit up purple at night; the moon was huge and hanging beautifully above the purple capitol, and it was so beautiful. The senators have parking spots right in front of the capital building.

The ‘burgh.

There was also a restaurant named Sammy’s, so it seemed like fate that I we ended up there. Of course we were too full from leftover-giving to eat anything but it was still neat.  The city also had one of the cutest train stations I’ve ever seen. It was pretty empty–there was no one selling tickets, no homeless people…it was just so quaint. It was an adorable piece of Americana. It was super clean and well taken care of.  I was only there for 5 hours, but I would love to go again….hint hint

So even though we got to stop in one of my dream destinations, the main event was Lititz.   As some of you may know, Lititz is Amish country, so we had a great time experiencing the culture. It was also really funny because this was Ben’s first time in Amish country (he’s from California), so he wasn’t used to the culture and had a lot of observations.  He didnt realize that amish lived right in the middle of regular people — living their lives.  “Did you?” In my opinion some of his comments should be put on t-shirts and sold at the tourist center. Some of the top musings included:

-“Did you see that guys beard? I feel like the Amish and Orthodox Jews would really get along… visually.”

-“Why don’t they just ride the horses [as opposed to riding in the buggy]?”

-“Is that how you tell how well-off an Amish family is? By how many buggies they have?”

-“Do they have buggy races? They must.”

-“At least mean and women both wear different outfits.  Like they both commit.”

(As two men pass and wave to each other) “They probably all know each other.”

Taking pics on stealth mode (you’re not supposed to photograph the Amish)

You go to West Virginia once and you think that all small town america is just drugged out then you come to lancaster and its flourishing small town America.

While in Lititz, we stayed at an adorable bed and breakfast, complete with Amish garb that came along with the room. Did you know they have Amish electricians?

Hello, everyone, meet Rachel.

So of course, I just had to try on the Amish outfit. You know how sometimes you wear the clothes, but other times the clothes wear you? Well, I’m not sure exactly what happened here, but I definitely became another person when I put in on. My friends, I’d like to introduce you to Amish Sam, also known as Rachel.

Ben also tried on some of the men’s Amish-wear and he transformed into Ezekiel.

Ezekiel.

So while Rachel and Ezekiel continued on their journey through Amish country (“aw look at that, your sticker book.  Welllll, thats not what I call it.”), they indulged in the Amish goods throughout the town. For example, they had homemade, fermented root beer (which is honestly as disgusting as it sounds). They also ate their weight in baked goods, because the Amish know their pastries. We–I mean Ezekiel and Rachel– stopped at every roadside bakery that they encountered. They devoured regular whoopie pies, chocolate chip whoopie pies, shoofly pies, chocolate shoofly pies…the list goes on.

When we assumed our normal identities, we decided to bore ourselves at the Landis Valley Farm museum; however, although the exhibits were a snooze fest, we got to take a private buggy ride at the end, which was actually very cool.

Another highlight was being able to see all the cool animals that inhabit this part of town. There were wolfhounds, clydesdale horses, and baby goats. There were also actual wolves, which was awesome to see.

We visited a wolf sanctuary where we learned that wolves would make terrible pets, confirming our previously held suspicions. We also learned some pretty interesting facts, besides that they make bad pets, like that wolves can be trained to smell bladder cancer in other animals and in humans. Another thing is that other pack members will lick the pack leader’s face in order to make him howl (so that the rest of them can howl).

Because we were so impressed with the buggy ride we took previously, we decided to check out other buggies. We also were looking for houses with no lights who looked like they might be using candles.  One night we spent time looking for tricked out buggies that could’ve been on the Amish version of Pimp My Ride, but unfortunately we didn’t see any. But we did stop for baked goods along the way and talked about brand equity side of the road stand, so the mission wasn’t a complete flop.  

The trip was definitely a success, and even if you don’t want to assimilate and become a Rachel or an Ezekiel, I would definitely recommend taking a trip to Amish country, if only to eat a buggy’s load of whoopie pies.

Yell if you need anything.
-Rachel.. I mean, ‘mi.

So I’d like to change the pace a little bit for this blog post, as I’d like to dedicate it to my Momma in Jamaica who passed not too long after I made this trip. As many of you know, I was in the Peace Corps (if you didn’t know, well, then, now you do), and was hosted by this amazing family who I go back to visit as often as I can. This last time in Jamaica, I went to take care of Momma, who had been sick for a while, so I visited the family house to help out as things were getting worse.

RIP Momma.

The beginning of the journey was sweet. I met Tyra (my sister, 23) and my 6-year-old godson (Tyra’s son), OJ (September 21, 2011 and, at 6 years old I really like him) near the airport in Montego Bay.  It was beyond great to see them! But then, within the first hour of our journey to the house, my rental car succumbed to the horrendous potholes in the middle of the road, which…based on the quality of the road, I guess was inevitable. With a popped tyre, we ended up on the side of the road next to another car who had met the same fate as we did. The other guy who was fixing his tyre was kind enough to fix mine…I thought it was hilarious (and very Jamaican) that, as he was fixing my tyre, instead of complaining about the road quality and how the potholes should be filled, he talked about opening up a tyre repair shop on the side of the road next to the potholes. Funny, but I’m also not saying I wouldn’t invest.

With the tyre fixed (reminder to myself: it’s so cheap to fix cars in Jamaica), we hopped back on the road, but the potholes weren’t the only treacherous aspect of driving here. The roads were insane, and I kept having to remind myself to drive on the left side. It took double the amount of time to get to Elim that it would have on a bus.  Meanwhile, in the backseat, Tyra was changing a baby’s diaper… I can confidently say that’s the first time time that that has ever happened to me.  Here’s to new experiences.

Look at my G-d son repping the Pittsburgh Steelers!  (Oh my gosh, is this what people feel like when they post photos of their own children??)

We finally arrived on the dirt road at the house in Elim, and I had a mix of emotions. Momma wasn’t there as she was still in the hospital at Back River, but it was great to see the yard and the family again.  It was a mix of emotions and everyone moved over to make space for me in the three room house. When I used the outdoor bathroom there was the constant sound of running water and I could only find one shower shoe, so whenever I went, I hopped around on one foot. I started referring to myself as “one-footed Sam.”

Everyone slept two people to one bed (minimum).  I was sharing with OJ, whom I love but — bless his heart — he snores.  And it was hot and stagnant in the house, I needed air so I let him lay and went to get a better rest in my car.  I cleaned my feet – which were covered in dirt – the only way I could, with my other foot (…which was equally dirty).  But sleeping in my rental car was a blessing in disguise, it provided me with an extra level of comfort. I had privacy; it was clean; I could roll the windows down. The night sky was amazing, and I had never seen it look bigger or brighter.   It was such a clear night and the sky was covered in twinkling stars! I loved Elim.

The next day, I remembered some more things I love about Jamaica — besides the language, the night sky, and my family — the beauty of the people.  I went with Tyra and OJ to see OJ’s dad. It was the first time OJ had seen his dad in years.  His dad, who shares exactly the same name he does, Oral Amardae Andre Morgan (junior), or Oral Morgan, or Oral Junior (OJ), is now with another woman who was unexpectedly at the house that day.  I braced myself for hostility and awkwardness, but Tyra and the “other woman” got along great and bonded over Tyra’s new baby (that she has with another man). It reminded me of how much Jamaicans seem to love children, and their love for the baby had overcome a potentially awkward situation.

Is my skin always this reflective?
But also…family  ❤ Love these people.

At a cook shop in Santa Cruz, picking up fried chicken for dinner.

I think about Elim so much and am always touched by the people when I go back. After all, it is people who carbonate an experience.  I made sure to find time to walk around my community and visit members of Landlease and New Town, including Pooh, who I love to see every time I go back.  She was the most loyal member of my exercise club which met at 5:30am during the week in order to beat the heat.

Five years ago, when my Peace Corps service was coming to a close, I had given most people in my community who I was close with a departing, tangible photo of us together and wrote a note on the back. When I came back this time, some of the people showed me that they had kept their pictures all this time.

A picture I had given her 5 years ago, still in mint condition. Jamaican me cry.

Paulette and Marvette.

Visiting Bumpy in Blue Fields (Patrick’s host mom).

I loved being back, but this time it was a bittersweet trip. It was hard to say goodbye to Momma, especially since she passed not too long after I returned to the states. She’ll always be in my heart, and I can’t wait to go back to see the rest of the family again (which… is happening soon). Stay tuned for a new Jamaica blog, folks.

I asked Tyra before this upcoming trip if OJ is still so sweet and she said “Yes. Maybe sweeter”.  AWWWW!!!

All the love, ‘mi soon come.
Aunty Sam

Throwback Thursday…

After the extraordinary trip I took with my lovely parents (read all about it here), we got semi-stranded in Reykjavik for a bit. There were a ton of employees quitting (going on strike?) at the Tel Aviv airport, and thus the Travi were forced to spend two nights in Iceland before flying back to the US.   I, on the other hand, only had to spent one night in Iceland with my parents, and then realized that our travel “woes” were the perfect excuse to get re-routed and fly directly into NYC where I had plans to see Turbulence!  No, not turbulence as in I want to feel like my life is in danger while the plane tries not to disassemble in mid-air, but Turbulence as in the off-Broadway show Molly was performing in! I had been planning on taking a megabus from Pittsburgh but this was a way better option.

I made it to NYC (such a great place) and Molly and her friends — the now newlyweds — Steph and Michael (shoutout!) took us for amazing Italian food that I still dream about — it was unbelievably delicious.  And we got to sleep in Long Island at their gorgeous home ❤

The next day, Molly and I met up with Monica and decided to get some cookie dough in the form of ice cream. Let me be clear– not cookie dough ice cream, but just scoops of cookie dough. It wasn’t as good as it sounds, we ended up dashing some of it away.  But that night I saw my first (of two) Turbulence performances and Molly and co. did a spectacular job!

The next day we walked around the city with Kat and decided to go to the park (You know what Kat always says, “One is fun, see the fun.”  but Sammi says, “One at a time.”).  We spend the day relaxing and found the impossible burger to eat. As we walked around, we stopped in Central Park under a tunnel that’s known for its echoing capabilities, and Molly and Kat harmonized to gorgeous songs from their previous show. It was like a private concert featuring two angels.

While in New York, I was also able to catch up with the one and only Laura Cat and I had the pleasure of meeting Katie (I want to say her last name so badly but I won’t!), who I fell in love with almost instantaneously. It happened one afternoon…we all went to the Whole Foods in Central Park, and we were overwhelmed at how large and bustling the store was.  We took deep breaths and spent time to making fun food-based decisions and trying out free samples. There was a certain drink that had different flavors, and of course, the people handing out the samples only give you like a single drop of liquid in the cup. So we each picked up a cup with different flavors. We decided to each take a quick sip of a flavor and pass the cups around so we would  all get a taste of each. My girl Molly (always) and now Katie were both so quick and willing to share with me, a complete stranger at that point, that I knew we were destined. 

As we spent the day being playful and having the best time (I even got to go see her apartment) we decided, you know who should know about our fun times? Siri. Siri should know that we’re having a blast, and we were positive that she would care to know that things were going well so Katie told her often.

Introducing….Katie!!!!!! ALL the heart eyes.

That night, after the second of Molly’s shows that I got the pleasure of seeing, I got on an overnight bus to Pittsburgh.

Best time of year in one of America’s best cities.

I got in that next morning and dashed in to take a shower at my lovely apartment. Oh, how I would’ve just loved to stay put and take a nap, spend some time lounging around, sleep in my own bed…you know, the basics of coming home. But I am a trooper, and memories don’t happen in those moments.  And when Ben wanted to go on a weekend getaway to West Virginia, I of course said yes. So after I showered, I picked up Ben, and we headed to the Wild and Wonderful state.

The West Virginia Wild.

The West Virginia Wonderful.

Once we made it to West Virginia, we went to the visitor’s center to get some information about the state and all it has to offer. The woman working at the center was very…shall I say, open about giving us info. She told us a little bit about the sights, about how the residents of West Virginia are inbred and have a low IQ, which is why it’s difficult to teach them proper English, and last but never least, about how the state is just oversaturated with drug use. In fact, there was a heroin dealer outside the door just then. Definitely wild.

After receiving all of that info, Ben and I decided to go on a few hikes, pick some apples (as many as we could), and stay as far away from people as possible. There were beautiful spots and, despite coming off of a whirlwind, international trip, I’m glad we went. The trees were changing, it was a beautiful weekend and a stunning time of year! We stayed in a cabin.  

America, the beautiful.

However, I will say that when we got back to Pennsylvania, not even Pittsburgh, it felt like we were coming back to civilization, a developed, booming metropolis which is hilarious because that’s not how I would have described Pennsylvania before this trip.

Picking some red, delicious apples. But not Red Delicious apples.

When we got back to Pittsburgh, I was more than happy to resume my life hanging out in my apartment and with friends, enjoying the city that I absolutely adore, which included soaking in all the beautiful scenery that comes with a Pittsburgh fall.

I mean, honestly!

View from outside the dream flat.

Playing tennis (we love tennis!) near the dream flat.

The fall also included more of the Pittsburgh Speaker Series and more friends. You can imagine how ecstatic I was when Katie, Helen’s “new friend, good friend” told me about how her old friends, good friends Alex and Emily who had just moved to Pittsburgh. So of course, that meant that I got to meet them! ❤

And Arcade Comedy Theater had their new theatre’s opening party! It was very memorable.

Nerds.

We’re fans.

Also during late fall, I helped Andrew and Brian celebrate their one-year anniversary (*insert one years worth of heart-eye emojis here*). During their anniversary dranks, where I ordered a light beer, but it came in a light glass instead, I decided to overshare about how much I love getting the last bits of toothpaste out of the tube. Like I will cut open the tube and scrape the rest of the toothpaste out.

Funny enough, even though it was their anniversary (and Brian birthday!), I was the one that recieved gifts. A few days later several people from that evening bought me brand new tubes of toothpaste and new methods of extracting every. last. drop.  Thanks you guys!!!

I encourage everyone to get friends who give toothpaste as gifts; they’re good listeners, practical and funny. And lastly, I encourage you to always, always let Siri know when you’re having a good time.

Siri, I’m having so much fun.
‘mi