I've lived in Portland for over a year and a half. Before, when I lived in Corvallis I biked everywhere, and hardly drove at all. When I left Corvallis I lived in places not so friendly to bikes and got out of the habit. When I moved to Portland, even though its been rated as very bike friendly city I was terrified of riding my bike. My partner doesn't ride either, having been in a very bad bike accident so I couldn't use him as motivation either. So my bike has mostly sat under the blue tarp in my backyard.
I finally figured okay, enough is enough and this week got my bike out and rode it. I went down to the Eastbank Esplanade, across the Steel Bridge, along Waterfront Park, and back across the Hawthorne Bridge. It was so easy! And fun! I've so missed riding my bike. It felt great. I will ride a few more times before putting my bike into storage.
Not sure if we'll be able to get bikes in South Africa, found out today from Leandra, the woman we'll be working with, that we won't be based in Cape Town as we had thought, but rather in a suburb of Durban, and will be traveling around South Africa quite a bit. So we will see..... but for now, it felt great to go through the fear, or not listen to it, or whatever it was and just live my life.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
OUR VISAS CAME BACK!
So the Fed Ex man just brought our passports complete with visas to our door!
So now we are REALLY going, well we would have gone anyway, but not for a year.
Three weeks today we leave!
No packing yet...
So now we are REALLY going, well we would have gone anyway, but not for a year.
Three weeks today we leave!
No packing yet...
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Less than a month left!
So now we are down to 29 days.....
have we packed? no.
still got 29 days to do that....well not really, since we move out of our apartment in 27 days...
starting to panic a bit. lots to do...
But I've set up a flickr account now that has last December's trips pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deb_hill/
have we packed? no.
still got 29 days to do that....well not really, since we move out of our apartment in 27 days...
starting to panic a bit. lots to do...
But I've set up a flickr account now that has last December's trips pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/deb_hill/
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Visa applications in the mail
The count is 37 days now. We posted our visa applications in the mail on Monday....its starting to sink in, and with every big thing comes moments of excitement, and moments of fear.
Today I was walking back from downtown Portland. Went across the Hawthorne Bridge and down to the esplanade by the water. It was a sunny fall day and the water glistened. People were out walking, running, and biking. I had a sense of how nice it is to be here in this town with these people who are so interested in the environment and living some shade of "green." I don't know what it'll be like in South Africa. I know recycling can be hard to come by, and it isn't always safe to bike. Its a very car-oriented country, and taking the bus is often an adventure requiring at least 0.5mg of Ativan. But if I just stayed where I was comfortable, living amongst people who shared the same ideas as me, I wouldn't be making as much of a difference as I could if I went someplace where I could make a difference. But its a sense of leaving the warmth of the womb into the cold rain.
But its the rain that brings forth plant growth and flowers. And the sun always comes out eventually following a storm.
Today I was walking back from downtown Portland. Went across the Hawthorne Bridge and down to the esplanade by the water. It was a sunny fall day and the water glistened. People were out walking, running, and biking. I had a sense of how nice it is to be here in this town with these people who are so interested in the environment and living some shade of "green." I don't know what it'll be like in South Africa. I know recycling can be hard to come by, and it isn't always safe to bike. Its a very car-oriented country, and taking the bus is often an adventure requiring at least 0.5mg of Ativan. But if I just stayed where I was comfortable, living amongst people who shared the same ideas as me, I wouldn't be making as much of a difference as I could if I went someplace where I could make a difference. But its a sense of leaving the warmth of the womb into the cold rain.
But its the rain that brings forth plant growth and flowers. And the sun always comes out eventually following a storm.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
We're off to Africa!
Hello everyone!
We are off to South Africa in 43 days!!! My partner Jared and I will be moving there November 13th (that is when we leave here) for a year. We were there in December last year and have decided to try it out for a year living there...
It hasn't really sunk in yet, what we are doing. We are in the process of applying for our visas...so much work those...FBI background checks and everything. We still have to do all the packing, including of our Portland apartment which we will be moving out of.
I am certainly going to miss Portland, I've lived here for 1.5 years now, and I like it here. But the world is calling, I have things to do, dreams to follow and passions to pursue.
It feels like the last 2 years, especially this last year has been some sort of training for me. I've been going to a spiritual group lead by Eric Robert and although its been a bumpy ride, a lot of which I've been kicking and screaming, I've come out ready to follow my dreams. Its a big dream really, one that frightens and excites me. A dream of helping people connect back to the environment, and have that incredible sense of place and connection.
We are off to South Africa in 43 days!!! My partner Jared and I will be moving there November 13th (that is when we leave here) for a year. We were there in December last year and have decided to try it out for a year living there...
It hasn't really sunk in yet, what we are doing. We are in the process of applying for our visas...so much work those...FBI background checks and everything. We still have to do all the packing, including of our Portland apartment which we will be moving out of.
I am certainly going to miss Portland, I've lived here for 1.5 years now, and I like it here. But the world is calling, I have things to do, dreams to follow and passions to pursue.
It feels like the last 2 years, especially this last year has been some sort of training for me. I've been going to a spiritual group lead by Eric Robert and although its been a bumpy ride, a lot of which I've been kicking and screaming, I've come out ready to follow my dreams. Its a big dream really, one that frightens and excites me. A dream of helping people connect back to the environment, and have that incredible sense of place and connection.
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