Top Ten Reasons to Date a Girl Who Travels

1. She will keep her sh** together.

You can't catch airplanes, buses, and trains, and not know how to keep the time.

2. But she's also going to be incredibly flexible and spontaneous.

When traveling, things will always come up, and you'll have to bend your plan. You'll also have days when it will just be the perfect day to do something that wasn't on your schedule -- you'll take an unplanned trip or have a great conversation with a stranger.

3.She has a love of life.

 If you travel, you love people and the world, and you always want to see more, breathe more, and experience ever bit that life has to offer.

4. She knows where she's going next.

Travelers always have a plan, and they always know what countries or places they want to go next, naturally, this seeps into their home life too.

5. She's independent.

Especially if she's ever traveled alone.

6. And adaptable.

When you are in a different culture, you *blend*. End of story. This is a pretty useful life skill.

7. She has a great love of home.

It was Jodi Picoult who said that: 'Maybe you had to leave in order to really miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was.' For most travelers, the only thing they like more than seeing new things, is being reminded of all the beloved things at home. 

8. She is curious.

She wants to know you -- and the world. And she wants to learn and learn and learn. 

9. She keeps an open mind.

 You can never have expectations when you travel, because they'll always be changed. And the best adventures and stories are the ones you never saw coming.

10. She'll take you with her.

The only thing better than traveling alone (because there is a lot to be said for that) is traveling with someone you love.

Quick update

Hey all,

Sorry for the delay in updating -- I got quite sick and then quite busy.
I'm still pretty busy, so this update will be a quick one. I thought that instead of a traditional blog post, I would give you guys this list that I made while in Tintagel (posted in a second post).

Normal content will resume next week.

Best,
~ Emery

Jamaica Day 3 part 2

Hey guys! Here's part two! Hope you enjoy!


After this, we came to our next stop -- the rainforest! After lots of piddling around we took a tour thing that felt like a ride at Disneyland. 

 Tram Ride. That's what I'm thinking of! I am so tired right now. Cramps plus serious exertion has left me dry! 

Commentary: at the beginning of the trip, everything really did feel Disneyland-esc. There were a lot of lines, a gift shop, a tram, and everything just felt really polished and commercial. And then, we got further into the rain forest, and it felt more authentic then. Still. It was nothing like Peru and how wild it felt there. Sometimes, after all these travels, I can't help but wonder if the Amazon is one of the last wild places on earth, or if I'm simply not traveling off the beaten path enough. I think the later, possibly. After all, Hollins takes the safety of its students very seriously. 

Anyways. Tram ride was fun. But dusty! Then we got into the gift shop and sorta looked around. Honestly I was too busy following Jeri to make sure I didn't miss the zipline and it was just so easy to get separated. [. . .] Then, after lots of to and fro, talking and changing money, we got to ziplining!!  

Commentary: 

I was brave -- or dumb -- enough to bring my phone with me and take pictures and videos (though not while on the zip itself) so here are some below. I didn't get any of myself though, so all those with me in them were thanks to Jeri (and one I bought). 

You go a lot fast than you expect! And you bounce! 

Coming down the zipline course!

The guys (sorry Jeri) [on staff] were really cute. Thought as G put it, they were flirting with *all* of *us!*

Commentary: Jeri made it very clear that she didn't want to hear about how cute or hot or sexy any of the guys were, but I had to note it here. 

They were super professional and funny too! I felt totally at ease. 

It was nerve-wracking even for me though -- and I made myself put on a brave front -- I went first. I knew otherwise I might chicken out - and I had already put my contacts on (in my sand-filled eyes. Ouch!). But my stomach was filled with butterflies and my breath was shallow. And we kept getting higher and higher! We could see pools (of water) and people faaar below us. And there were wooden steps and platforms. I felt like I was in a dream, one where things would crash down! And then we were there. The guy (Maro?) went first. He went a lot slower than I expected. I felt a little better. Then it was my turn. I faked bravado: some of it real -- I do like heights and wanted to zipline -- and went for it. Dimly I heard G say, 'If Emery can do it, we can.' Still not sure if it was an insult or a compliment. I choose compliment. Anyways. I whizzed over the ponds and heard people below cheering for me. I loved that. And ziplining was fun. Though not as exciting as I imagined. Too slow. The second one was funner -- we constantly went from platform to platform (about 7 times) -- because the guy bounced the line. The third time was cool too though. It was super long and over everything. Loved that! Super high and looking down was awesome -- that blue water! -- the rest was straightforward and we were all hot when we were done, so after tipping the guys, we went swimming! It was so beautiful! I almost wished we'd just stayed and hung out! So much water! R and I walked together and I couldn't help but be amazed at how surreal it all felt! She agreed. 

Commentary: It still feels surreal, even now. Memories from abroad are strange like that. There's a certain disbelief of "that was me???" 

And then, we jumped in the water -- freezing to the other girls, cool to me --

Commentary: Most of them were east coast girls, and I'm told the water is much warmer there. I have the icy waters of the Kern and the California Beaches in my blood though, for good or ill. And I have a little brother, and we've always played "I'm not cold, are you cold?" game when getting in freezing water. 

and swam into a mini cave and under a waterfall. 

M jumped off a rope into the water even! It was so picturesque! But at that point, I was exhausted so I opted out of the swimming at that point. 

R and I walked back. The rest was a little crazy as I darted around searching for photos both one of me ziplining and photos in general, of which I had [. . .] none. I achieved both, though I made people wait on accident. I was happy about [the photos]. 

Commentary: 

Here are some of my hard earned photos, for your viewing pleasure. 

It is *so* late here (10) and it is raining -- tin roof. Sounds like hail (or feet) and I am dead tired, so here's what I'll write about tomorrow. 

-- Bus/Snacks

-- Lunch and Boat Ride (4 PM)

-- Bus

-- Dinner

(Return with Allrivra (?))

Chating.

But for now, must sleep! 

~ Emery 

Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I'm trying to update every Tuesday, so check back then! I know there wasn't a lot of commentary this week, but I felt like the journal and pictures spoke for themselves and I didn't want to ruin the flow. 

Don't agree? Leave me a comment and let me know what you'd like me to write about. :) 

See you Tuesday! 

~ Emery  

   

Jamaica Day 3

Jamaica Day Three

This blog entry will follow the adventures chronicled in the Jamaica Journal, with photos and commentary added for clarity and extra details. 

Journal has been edited for clarity.

03-20-16

[. . .]
Anyways, onto Jamaica stuff. 
I'm finally starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of it and starting to notice stuff -- not just in myself: like how addicted I was to technology -- but also things about how poverty works. (For example) stuff like Netflixs* that I have such easy access to, is hard to get here. 

*Or a library

Commentary: I know it's a weird example, but if you think about how luxury items and the entertainment industry shape the American reality it's not as bizarre. Also, since there was no wifi accessible to us -- I learned later that Miss H's  son-in-law or something had installed it, but she wasn't sure how it worked -- it was one of the things that popped into my head the easiest. Without internet, how you spend your free time really does look tremendously different and I think - as much as I love the internet - that it does damage personal relationships. Without the internet, you're forced to spend time with those around you for entertainment, which fosters connection and understanding. With it, while connections to people and news far away is at your fingertips, which I think is good, you become far too stuck in this endless blackhole and you miss everything around you. It's a shame in a lot of ways, really.

Also how we really overuse water. Like, it's just not necessary. And (...) water is def. an issue! I'm starting to feel like myself again. Both the activist side of my myself and adventurous side.

Commentary: One of the major changes I've experienced from studying abroad is a significantly increased interest in politics and international studies. I've additionally become much more interested in issues such as resource management, global hunger and thirst, and human rights throughout the world. I think it's critical that we acknowledge the vast differences and values that each culture has, for good and bad (how we react to issues is much more cultural that we realize), But it's also equally, if not more important, to recognize that each person is an individual, and just like our society, just like everywhere, there are good and bad people. And they are themselves and themselves alone.

And I'm letting go of a lot of anxiety. But there's still a lot to work through and I'm starting to realize how many issues I bring to the table*. Just can't believe it took me so long to adjust. But the day didn't start feeling that way at all! 

*As opposed to the issues being everyone else's. 

Commentary: The journal entries were written in the evenings after the day, of course.

We wound up having to get up earlier than the alarm because Miss H didn't want food getting cold. C woke me up and I basically -- no, I did -- bit her head off

Commentary: I'm so sorry C! I was really really tired! But it's a running joke now, so . . . it works? But the thing you start realizing when you travel is that food, sleep, and bathroom can make or break a trip. Lack any of those, and the stress of getting everything perfectly (catching your plane on time, asking for a sandwich in understandable French, being on time to your class, going through your entire lesson plan, remembering to bring your swimsuit or metro card) will get to you and sooner or later, you're going to meltdown. The best cure for this is prevention, obviously, but that's basically impossible, so the next best thing is to know your signs and know when you're getting close to that point. Or experiencing culture shock, which is more real that you can ever imagine (more on that in a separate post).

and I wasn't a fan of breakfast. But mostly because my stomach hates me in the morning. But honestly, I don't want to talk about how much of a brat I was anymore. 

Commentary: Jamaican food was definitely very different from what I was used to. It was very fresh and very unusual. My host mom was a pretty good cook (and an amazing baker) but I often forget that I am *VERY* picky with food, which is a trait I really don't like about myself.

 After food we went and waited for the bus with the other girls in HG (our part of town).There were dogs and a lot of goats. It was both fun and funny. 

Commentary:
In case you don't believe me, here's a both picture and video of the numerous goats.

T (normally very quiet, smart, and sweet) made the following statement about goats, as we watched them go by.
T: What do you call a bunch of goats? (silence) Curry.
None of us expected that from her. At all. We laughed for days.

We got on the bus. It was a long drive, full of twists and turns. Thankfully I didn't get sick. But I didn't have to stare ahead a few times. After driving through many things -- including sugarcane! -- we stopped for a break.

Here are some of the pictures (plus a video) of the scenery.

Next, we happened upon the sugarcane fields. Some were high, startlingly so

 And then, we got to see where the sugarcane had been harvested as well.

And here was an old sugarcane factory.

  

Commentary: Sugarcane is one of the main crops in Jamaica, but it is not without its troubles. Not only is sugarcane notoriously invasive, but it's also incredibly hard to harvest, one of the most difficult and backbreaking crops, in fact. But oh man, is it good . . . 

Here are some final pictures of the way up there:

And [we stopped for] a swim. Even though at first I didn't want to due to my legs hurting (they did so all day), I decided I would regret it if I didn't, and (after a quick change) dove in. It was marvelous and I don't regret it one bit. Plus, Jeri looked like a seal or a mermaid. She was so happy! And the water was sooo blue! 

We hopped back in the car soon enough though and drove some more -- often seeing the oceanside. It was really pretty! 

Commentary:

The water in Jamaica is really warm comparatively to the water in the Pacific -- though not as warm as the Atlantic, apparently-- and it has less waves, so it's really easy to float. This beach was pretty perfect. It's funny how when you're traveling there are these perfect moments that you remember forever, but you isolate them from the context they were originally in. You don't remember the pain, or discomfort, or agony over choices, you just remember the moments in of themselves. Not that there was agony here, but there was plenty of indecision as I went back and forth trying to decide if it was worth it to go in the water or not.

Hey Guys! Emery here! The day didn't end here, but for the sake of post length, I've decided to put the rest of the day's content into another (maybe two, depending) post, and so ends this particular one. As always, thanks for reading and have a wonderful day! I hope you've enjoyed reading! Best!

~ Emery 

Jamaica Day 2

Jamaica Day Two

This blog entry will follow the adventures chronicled in the Jamaica Journal, with photos and commentary added for clarity and extra details.

Journal has been edited for clarity.

03-19-16

Today was a long day. And by the time I'm done writing this, there will be more still. 

[Part edited and added to end of entry]

This morning I got up to C's alarm, after falling asleep with earplugs and sleep mask (dogs and cars were loud). We had an omelet for breakfast, and before that, played cards with A. C taught her how to play Go Fish.

Commentary: Trust me when I say that as a traveler, earplugs and a sleep mask are musts. I've done travel with and without, and it is much better with. You never know when you'll be in need of a little peace and quiet or darkness.

Additionally, I should add, while C taught A Go Fish, I taught her blackjack. I felt like such a good influence, lol, but it was the game my dad taught me as a kid, and it's actually good for math skills, and by the end of the week, you could actually see the difference in those skills. It was pretty awesome.

Then we hung out and waited for Jeri to pick us up. We read Finding Nemo and I doodled. Then once Jeri came, it was up the hill to the primary school and man it was hot -- and man did I hurt! Then back down after a quick tour.

Commentary:

Can you imagine having to WALK at least 20 minutes up a very, very, steep hill EVERY DAY to go to school? Yeah? How about in sweltering, humidity? It's crazy how far these kids have to walk for school -- and they do mostly walk. It is very uncommon for them to be driven, though sometimes there's a bus, I believe. Still, it is very, very, high up.

Here is the view from HALF way up! 

Here is one of the goats that hang around the area. 

And here is the school itself. 

One of the wall paintings. The school was very beautifully painted. 

Our look around the school was fairly short, since it was just to give us an idea of what we'd be doing, come Monday (it was Saturday). Honestly, most things I remember was simply the heat. It was crazy, especially after winter of Hollins. But the school was big, and Jeri gave us fun facts and all that. 

Then we went and got patties again in this restaurant called Juici Patties and I got beef again, and joined D, Ch, and K. It was pretty quiet. Then we went to get money exchanged -- won't bore you with that but it involved a lot of standing around. 

Commentary:

This was actually the first time I'd ever exchanged money. Usually, it's easier to just use an ATM, which will change the money automatically for you, and additionally, in France, they had us open a bank account. So, exchanging money was weird. It worked, but it was strange. Also, interestingly, in tourist areas, they frequently prefered American Money.

Then, after some waiting, we went to the food market, the open air ones. We tried pineapple -- Jamaican ones are amazing -- an apple-pear, which I HATED, and a starfruit that was in the middle of the two for me. We took a picture . . . 

Commentary:

 Jamaican Pineapple is actually white in color, and very sweet! It was awesome. The pear-apple, was kinda sour, and the starfruit, if I recall correctly, was kind of goopy. A lot of girls had fresh coconut too, but I have a hatred of coconuts, so I didn't partake. A lot of the people were super nice though, and the guy we bought the pineapple from did a cool cutting trick, which was pretty awesome. It was a market place though, so there were all different types, and lots of different things being sold. Quite the interesting experience!

After the Market, we checked out the JR High, which was by the sea, which was very pretty, and Jeri had us talk about anxieties. I just stared at the sea . . . 

Commentary:

I didn't feel comfortable discussing my private thoughts with the group, so I just took lots of pictures. It was kind of crazy to me how far away everything was from each other. The walk to the jr high was super pretty, but there were some pretty narrow roads and some very fast, scary drivers. There were a lot of things on the way there that looked like ruins, which was pretty cool.

Photos from the walk there:

The view from by the Jr. High. 

The Jr. High

Walking around near the Jr. High

 Photos I took before Jeri started talking. It was so beautiful. 

 

Now back to the journal. The following section has been unedited, because it is important to look at how we are affected by things and know that our gut response -- in my case, fear and sadness, is not always the response we should continue to have. My reaction greatly changed after I was there for a while, and so it is important to note the first impression (when we did a walkthrough) because in the end, it was here that I found the some of the kindest, strongest, and most amazing people I've ever met. 

After that, we went to the infirmary. It was soo depressing and I was deeply shocked. Not only at the environment but at the deformities. They turned my stomach and I hate that they did. 

Commentary: As the name implies, it was an infirmary. People were missing limbs, suffering from grave, open wounds, and some were clearly in pain. It was a difficult thing to see, at first. It didn't seem like a happy place. But once I was in the environment, I started seeing things differently. But more on that later.

After a quick round, we were free. And after a quick talk, we got to go swimming. I was so excited and had looked forward to it all day . . . It was super shallow but I did lots of floating and it felt awesome. 

The water was split into two sections -- sand and seaweed. Jeri warned us away from the seaweed because we might get stung by anemones 

Commentary:

They were actually sea urchins. OUCH!

unnerving but still fun. Also, we were also teaching W to swim. A lot of girls were teaching her to float, but I was the only one who succeeded because she trusted me! <3 Good feeling to have. I am happy to finally have some friends! 

Commentary: 

W remains one of my absolute favorite people to this day. Also, when I say friends, I mean friends in VA! I have some amazing people in CA!

Here are the pictures I took at the beach. 

After the . . . [can't read what I wrote here] swim we walked back. A was so excited we were back and we spent the evening playing with her. She read Lilo and Stitch aloud and then four cats -- three ginger, 1 black and white I nicknamed 'Dino' -- appeared at the window and we snuck snacks to them. They were so hungry! And then it was time for the party! . . . [part edited back in here]

 It was my favorite part of the day. There was a huge party held in our (mostly Jeri's) honor. It was high on the hill and we were driven up by the host people, who was also the DJ . . . When I arrived I found a soda I really liked called Busta Green Crush which was to die for. Then there was a brief embarrassing moment where when in line with R, I made a grand hand gesture and swiped the cake, taking off frosting! [I talk with my hands a lot, and the back of my hand hit the cake]. I was both amused and mortified . . . There was a lot of dancing. I was timid at first -- and dragged W into a conga line -- but soon learned to simply sit out songs I didn't like and dance my heart out to the songs I did. It was a lot of fun. 

Commentary: 

My drink of choice. Soda!!

R was super sweet and one of my other favorite people. Her, W, and I became good friends and were a bit of a dynamic trio. W and I had very different songs we liked to dance to. W liked songs that told you how to dance -- E.G cupid shuffle, cha-cha slide. I liked freeform songs. D was the best dancer though. Her, CA and a few others. Was impressive to watch. I didn't manage quite that much abandon. Apart from dancing, we also had to introduce ourselves in front of a large crowd -- I was awkward. And we chatted with all sorts of people. But the important part of the party was that it was also in honor of two (?) girls who received an award from Hollins and Jeri for their wonder academic work, which I thought was cool. Ms. B also received something. 

 . . . So, dancing was good and food was good (chicken, cake, bread thing, pineapple) and dinner before (chicken, rice, carrots, cabbage?) was good too. . . [edited back again].

Tired now. Only awake so far cause loud music and rainforest tomorrow + black river. Hopefully ziplining too! Wish me luck! Hard day and irritating at times but at the end, friends and music made it good. Still. Hope tomorrow is better. I have lots of anxieties and hope questions are answered. All for now,

~ Emery 

End, Day Two. 

Commentary:

Hey! Thanks for reading! 

Next Jamaica post should be updated next Tuesday, if all goes according to plan. Hope you have a great day!

Til next time,

~ Emery 

August 23rd 2016