"Shoot for the moon...

even if you miss you’ll land among the stars."

After googling to find the origin of this quote, I found two options. One site said it was a quote from Brian Littrell, who I discovered is a former member of Backstreet Boys. I knew I couldn't possibly be quoting a Backstreet Boy on my blog, so I continued searching. And it looks as though the quote actually comes from Les Brown, a motivational speaker. Yes, that sounds much more appropriate. We'll stick with that.

Anyways - to the point. Difficult decisions have come upon me over these past couple of days, and we all know how amazing I am at making decisions. Well, I finally just came up with a solution to this little dilemma, set the wheels in motion, then strolled into the kitchen to make lunch. As I threw together the fixings for a salad, I noticed the end of the tomato I had pulled from the fridge. See photo above. I choose to take this as a sign. So maybe my decision wasn't perfect, or maybe something went awry along the way that got me into this situation, but look. I still landed among the stars :) I'm certain things will work themselves out. Thank you tomato for making my day.

cheerio.

They say Americans love Heidelberg...

I was told that three times in one day shortly after arriving in Heidelberg. And after spending two weeks there, I can see why they say it. Not specifically about Americans, but for all people. It's a quaint little town, and of course a place with lots of history (maybe that's why Americans like it? our history just isn't quite that old).

I didn't get out to take in the sites until my last weekend there. A shame. A friend came to town on Saturday, so we hit up the old town and grabbed some lunch at a Mexican place. Yeah, I know. German Mexican food - just not the same, but was still good nonetheless. Sunday I took a hike on the "Philosophenweg", a trail overlooking the old town. That's where the photos were taken. I proceeded to lose myself in the forest once I deviated off the main trail a bit. Was a beautiful escape after finishing my courses.

Feels like home....

Monday I said "tschuss" to Heidelberg, where I lived just "down the road" from the US military base, and enjoyed being in the land of the soft pretzel (which I have learned used to be hidden on Easter just like eggs are these days. I must say, I would prefer finding pretzels) and journeyed back to Berlin. Stepping off the train station just blocks from the place I'm staying (same place as before I left for my great European study adventure), I felt like i was coming home somehow. As strange as it may be, this is the place I've lived for the longest amount of time in the past 3+ years. Who thought I'd ever call Berlin "home". But, I guess for another month it is.

Berlin is a whole new place when there are leaves on the trees, the snow has disappeared, and the sun is out full-force. Ahhh spring. I'm really going to enjoy relaxing a bit and getting to see the city over this next month now that there are no classes to worry about - only planning my thesis.

And having said that, it's time to hit the patio for some vitamin D, vino and a book on qualitative research. What a combination.

Wrapping up...

I guess it's about that time again...

I arrived to Heidelberg, Germany about a week and a half ago to finish up with my Advanced Modules for my program. This final course is on consultancy skills in international health for the evaluation of health projects and programs. The professor is a pretty fantastic woman (a fellow nurse), with many years of experience as a consultant, and has done an amazing job at convincing me that short-term international health consultancy is not the career for me =) Maybe someday, but definitely not any time in the near future...too tough of a game for me to manage right now.

I am happy to announce that although we have two days of lecture left, our assignments for the course are finished as of today. I'm looking forward to seeing a bit more of Heidelberg now that the rush of the first week is over. All I've really seen so far is the castle (see photos), but Heidelberg is a pretty small place, so I guess there's not much left to see! Saturday a dear friend I met six years ago in Honduras will come to visit, so I'm really looking forward to seeing her again and to finally meet her family.

Next Monday it's back to Berlin, to prepare for my sister's first ever European vacation! Only one month away, and I can hardly wait. In the mean time, I'll be working on preparing the research for my thesis, and on May 25 it's back to Iowa for a few days, then off to Honduras for the annual medical brigade to Olanchito. I've been dying to head back that way, and am really excited to spend some weeks on the Ranch. Missing the kids like crazy.

Well, here are a few pictures from the castle, and probably more to come after this weekend.
hugs all around...

i. love. english. update from london.

following a great send-off in bergen (bottom two photos above. i admit the one on the left isn't the best photo of all of us. however the chaoticness of it is quite representative of who we are together! top photo is our Tuberculosis Epidemiology class. great group of people...), i arrived in london about a week and a half ago.

*I LOVE IT* i understand the announcements on the tube. i know what the road signs say. i can tell what exactly i'm buying at the grocery store. i can just walk up to somebody and speak to them, without asking first if they speak english. *I LOVE IT*

my first course in london (at University College London - Center for Global Health and Development) is "children in difficult circumstances" and is by far the heaviest one i've had. it's a great course...learning a lot, and getting exposed to many things. it is however awful having to hear day after day about the struggles children in this world face. children on the street. children trafficked into sex work. conflict minerals and the awful forms of sexual violence in the Congo. the arms trade and child soldiers. well, you get the point. tough stuff. my next module here is nutrition and public health, so hopefully that will be a bit lighter.

am really enjoying london so far. haven't done the "tourist" thing yet - but have been able to walk around quite a bit and see the sights. met with some friends to run through the British Museum (had less than an hour until closing), and strolled along the river a bit a couple of different days. see pics. i'm living in a really great location - only a 30 minute walk to class, which is pretty close to the thames. great for saving money on transportation!

captions.

1. Tower Bridge
2. flying greek goddesses in the British Museum
   
3. excuse this stupid photo (in the british museum as well). but i must prove a point. see those 3 little stairs behind this lift? i'm wondering if it wouldn't have been MUCH cheaper just to build a ramp instead of install this lift to climb no higher than possibly a foot and a half?
4. my favorite thing so far. they paint on the pavement which way you need to look when crossing the street (for us stupid foreigners that drive on the "right" side of the road). well, just take note of this arrow.
5. nothing special 'bout this one. just a sign outside the co-op i go to. change. i like it.
6. met with some friends from our course in berlin one rainy afternoon at westminster for a coffee.
   

beautiful days.

Who knew it was possible? Friday was the most amazing day yet in Bergen. The sun was out all day long, and we got out of class in time to go enjoy it. It's a completely different city when it's not completely hazed over! We took full advantage of this rare opportunity, and a bunch of us walked about the city looking for a place for a nice small picnic lunch. This is where we ended up...just along one of the ports. It got a bit chilly after a bit, so we headed for a coffee, then to a classmate's place where we awaited a delicious Indian dinner. Thank you Mayuri for yet another wonderful meal!


Saturday a group of us took off for Voss, home to the nearest ski resort, which is just an hour by train from Bergen (an absolutely amazing view from the train - right along the lake and snow-covered mountains with the sun shining brightly). One group hit the mountains to try out the snow (several on skis for the first time ever!), and another smaller group hit the hills on foot (myself included). We were in search of Bordal's Gorge, however, we unfortunately did not find it. We decided to turn back prematurely due to extreme temperatures (even our eyelashes and hair were freezing) and a general lack of "umf" among our group. We at least had a really nice hike, and saw some beautiful scenery along the way. Not to mention, the ice cold (literally frozen by the time we got to the bottom) Hansa beer we cracked open once we decided to not continue climbing. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.


Just one week left here. Hope the weather stays decent so I can enjoy the last days.

It matters to this one...

Our professor starts class every day by reading a poem, a quote from a speech, or an excerpt from a novel. He reminded us of this story last week, and its relevance in international health work. I wanted to pass it along...possibly to stimulate some thought...

Adapted from "The Star Thrower"

- Loren Eiseley

A young girl was walking along the beach early one morning. The tide was receding, leaving numerous starfish stranded on the beach. The girl began picking them up and tossing them back into the water.

Engrossed in her task, she didn't notice the old fisherman sitting quietly watching her. He startled her with a gruff, "What are you doing?" to which she smiled and enthusiastically replied, "I'm saving the starfish."

He laughed at her and launched into a scoffing ridicule. "Look ahead of you down the beach," he said, pointing to the seemingly endless expanse of sand and surf. "There are thousands of starfish washed up on this beach. You can't hope to save them all. You're just wasting your time. What you're doing doesn't matter," he exclaimed in a dismissive tone.

The girl stopped, momentarily pondering his words. Then she picked up a starfish and threw it far into the water. She stood straight and looked him in the eye. "It matters to that one," she said, and continued down the beach.

Pieces of the past.

** I wrote this the day after arriving. But decided to let things settle a bit before posting so I could laugh at it rather than be annoyed. **

Looks like it is back to simple living, in a kind of complicated, unexpected and undesired way.

After tromping around the city yesterday afternoon with our suitcases (I always love that part), my friend and I arrived at our student hostel just in time, as the girl that had our keys was just leaving her place – actually met us in the parking lot on her way out. Good timing.

The hostel is well…an enormous complex of (extremely over-priced) student dorms. Walking into it, I felt like I was going eleven years into the past…walking into St. Mary’s dorm. Except this building is dirty, smelly, and is filled with graffiti. Violent, disturbing, dark…graffiti.

We learned the hard way what “white goods” means. No, it is not sheets. It means refrigerator. Good thing I brought a pair of sheets (gave the top sheet to a friend that only had a light blanket), travel pillow, and the Snuggy I got from my east coast family, just in case!

My kitchen is also completely empty. There is one hot plate however. No pots or pans. This is serious. I don’t even have a way to heat water for my coffee. I guess they expect the students that come just for one month (or even less) to travel with a kitchen? I left my kitchen in Berlin. And I am back to eating Ranch style. One eating utensil (a plastic spoon). One mug - my travel coffee mug. Good thing I packed that and my Swiss Army knife. For now I make do with the side of a cereal box as a plate (Yes, I'm serious.) and the tupperware i usually use for lunch serves as my bowl.

My room is as dark as it is outside (nearly). I’m sure this will be the ideal study environment.

My bathroom from time to time lets out whiffs of outhouse smells. And no, not just any outhouse. I’m talking La Hicaca outhouse smells. The maintenance crew came to “fix” it. Nothing actually has changed.

The knob on my radiator is broken, so it’s nearly impossible to change it without a pliers. I forgot to pack my pliers.

Norwegian? Forget it. However it seems that many people here speak English, which is a blessing.

We can’t access the internet until we begin courses and get our user accounts, which is on Monday. Then it takes another 24 hours apparently for our account to be activated. That’s a downer. Oh, and they also fail to mention there is no wireless, so of course we have to buy a cable when we get here.

The housing department is taking advantage of us in regards to rent and the termination of our contract. I'll spare you those details. Just another obnoxious bump in the road. Hopefully we'll get this fixed.

And to make matters worse, I seem to have left my cell phone in the apartment in Berlin, and didn’t realize it until I had already locked things up (left the keys inside), and was on my way to the train station. The neighbor with a spare key wasn’t home. So, am a bit out of touch.

Haha, and the weather. At 8:30am, we leave for class in the dark. By 4pm, it is nearly dark again. The days are cloudy, rainy, and windy. Not my style.

Sigh.

------------now back to real time-----------------

Worse things happen, and I will survive a month. I will probably be settled in just as I'm ready to leave for London.

My second day here I went shopping and purchased an over-priced pot. First, they didn't give me the sale price, then they supposedly reimbursed me. Now nearly two weeks later, and my bank statement still shows I paid $60 for a pot and a fork. Awesome.

Today is the first day I have actually eaten from a glass plate. A friend loaned me one from their shared kitchen. Thank you block C floor 6 =).

The housing department has finally given in to my slightly threatening emails, and has decided to allow my contract to be terminated when I move out, and not a month later as they were trying to do previously.

Today and yesterday we have actually see SUN. Now if only we didn't have to be sitting in class during those precious hours. The city of Bergen looks MUCH different these days now that we can actually see it. I hope it lasts!!

Some of our classmates from the program in Berlin will join us this weekend for the upcoming modules. Looking forward to seeing some more familiar faces!

Things are looking up.

one year later...

friends,

i will spare you all from my attempt to find words to go with the emotions of the past week...after reading reflections and stories of the haitians one year after the quake...after watching videos reliving it all...videos that show how the people continue to fight the fight...my words would not do any of it justice. and would sound only like that...just words.

a dear friend posted this video online a few days ago, and i finally just made it all the way through.

please, if you have about half an hour, i would recommend that you watch it.

it is a story about raphael, one of the strongest people i've been blessed to meet and work with a bit while there. it is a story about his dream to build a movie theater, and so, so much more.

it is a story about fr. rick frechette, a priest and doctor - the medical director of NPH (orphanages that i worked for), that began the country's largest free pediatric hospital - St. Damiens (where i was working after the earthquake), and founder of NPFS (NPH in haiti). it is the story of his compassion and love for the people of haiti.

****WARNING - the video has some graphic footage of their work in the city morgue.****

i had the most beautiful opportunity to accompany these fine men and the amazing team of theirs to the morgue and burial grounds one day. had the opportunity to ride beside raphael on the way to the morgue...as we drove through the city he would point things out to us, and tell us about how things used to be. i then got to ride with fr. rick from the morgue to the cemetery, listening to his countless stories about life in haiti.

a month there...an experience never to forget, and impossible to describe. the video speaks more than i ever could about it. so, i will let you get on with the video.

much love.

another year...another move

yes it's true, i am yet again on the move.
tomorrow morning i leave for bergen, norway to continue the advanced modules that i have chosen for my master's program. i will be in the darkness for just over one month - i hope i make it out of there without having to take antidepressants =) i am in general excited for classes to begin again, after having one month of vacation!

i have had the pleasure of getting to travel around quite a bit over the last couple of weeks to visit some friends that i worked with in honduras and on the int'l medical services team. years have passed since i had seen some of them, and just a few months since i had seen others. i have to pack and clean a bit yet, so i will have to let the photos tell the story. all i can say is that it was so good to be able to spend some time with them, and see the beautiful landscape of southern germany and a bit of austria!

so...tschüs berlin.

Jarvin talking about the NPH Honduras Christmas