Sunny Perfection

Birds chirping. Bugs. Grass. Dirt. Trees. Roads with sky and earth as far as the eye can see. Beaches where you have space to breathe and people actually swimming. Avocados. Speaking English. Blue cloudless skies. Sun that radiates heat. People saying "Sorry" and "Excuse me". A cup of coffee for less than $2. Bike rides where your only company is sky, sun, grass, and cows. Showing my collar bone and not feeling self conscience. A huge real oven. Hiking without traffic jams. Clean air.

I'm not dead folks, I'm just zoned out in a world where I'm acutely aware of everything I lacked in Korea. You really can't appreciate everyday simplicities until they are stripped from your life for a year. After two glorious weeks in South Africa, I am safely situated outside by my dad's pool soaking up sunshine. My last two weeks in Korea were a blur of packing, routine, and closing out my life for a year. Thankfully it never felt like I was leaving and thankfully I have not missed anything about my life in Korea besides the friends that I made. It was a good run, full of wonderful people, learning, and traveling but I'm finished (or pinishee as my old students would say). Being back in the continent of Africa, temporary as it is, has made me Rachel again, and reminded me of what really completes me.

My time in South Africa was spent an hour north of Durban reunited with friends, hiking up a chain ladder on a sheer cliff to the second highest waterfall in the world (Tugela Falls), beach time, running where I have space to breathe, exploring Cape Town, surfing, hiking Table Mountain, crafting and catching up with old friends. Before I visited South Africa I knew I would love it: beautiful beaches, mountains, good weather, and the simple fact that it is in the continent of Africa. South Africa did not disappoint but it still surprised me. For the majority of the trip I did not feel that I was in the continent of Africa. My first trips to Africa were in rural poverty stricken areas where I was certainly a minority. Poor roads, lack of infrastructure, but beautiful and rich culture and geography made up the trips. In South Africa I could blend in as long as I didn't talk much and expose my American accent. I could have all the comforts of life in the US: hot showers, semi-familiar foods, good roads (well actually better roads than Michigan), safe drinking water, cute coffee shops and boutique stores, and the pleasure of effortlessly communicating in English. I felt as though one could live in South Africa without any knowledge of the other side of the country. Aside of the beautiful homes that filled many rich suburbs of Cape Town, and the fancy buildings of "downtown" Cape Town, most of the population actually lives in poverty. Whereas other African countries I visited the poverty and simplicity of life is right in your face, in South Africa it seems it would be easy to completely ignore the darker side of South Africa. I can see why tourists flock to South Africa to get their "Africa experience": it is actually a developed country, just one with a big gap between rich and poor.

Analysis aside, South Africa temporarily quenched my growing surfing addiction, and allowed me to enjoy vacation time before facing figuring out my "future". And for those that are asking: I will for sure be in northwestern US at the end of November for my big brother's wedding. So if you're anywhere near Seattle or Portland I would love to see you! In the meantime, I'm waiting waiting for Peace Corps, filling out lots of applications, mountain biking with my dad, baking, and trying to do some volunteer work. I owe many of you personal e-mails. I promise I haven't forgotten. I'm just trying to sort my life out (no excuse, I know). And in case anyone is confused about my exact location in the world, I am in Gaborone, Botswana living with my dearest father. Well, back to tanning and application duty! 

A Colorful World: Palawan, Philippines

Traveling to the tropics confirms my belief in God's creativity: bright blue skies, fluffy white clouds, aqua water contrasting with white sand beaches, fruit in array of colors I didn't know existed, and sunsets that fill the sky with an infusion of stunning purples, blues, oranges that take my breath away. Every part of the world has its own hidden beauty, but the combination of colors, plants and wildlife that can only be found in the tropics never ceases to inspire me. Vacation in the Philippines and Bali was the perfect combination of interesting people and culture, jaw dropping scenery, and fun activities.

Shea and I arrived in Puerto Princessa on the island of Palawan in the Philippines late morning on a Saturday after a brief night in the Manila airport. After ensuring that we didn't get ripped off on our short tricycle (see future pics) ride from the airport to our pension, we spent the afternoon letting the sun work its magic and acquiring our first sunburn of the trip. My first impressions of Palawan were colorful, clean (yes, in fact much cleaner than Korea), and friendly. We snagged free rides to and from the beach from friendly locals, and enjoyed having REAL conversations in English with everyone we met.

After a day in Puerto we woke up at the crack of dawn and climbed abroad the local bus to El Nido, among lots of Filipinos, some chickens and bags of rice, a few palm tree leaves, and a goat or pig (we never determined which) we picked up along the way. The seven hour drive to El Nido gave us a taste of the landscape of Palawan: aqua colored coast against white sand, thick palm tree forests, and rice fields scattered through the entire. Palawan reminded me of Costa Rica and Nicaragua with the Asian addition of rice fields.

For the next three days, Shea and I filled our days lazing on white sand beaches all by ourselves, a boat trip to  small islands, coves, and lagoons for some snorkeling in the bath water temperature water, kayaking to a private beach, and enjoying dinner with a backdrop of color brushed sky as the sun set. Often I felt as though I was in a scene from the Pirates of the Caribbean with the pristine, uninhabited beaches, and limestone cliffs. Because El Nido is located in a very protected bay filled with small limestone islands the water was so calm it was easy to forget it was even the sea.

Three and half perfect days in El Nido and we boarded the bus back to Puerto Princessa. Taking local transport always makes for an adventure. This time around the bus was so packed I actually wondered how the bus would make it over all the hills. But eight hours later we safely arrived in Puerto. The last "wonder" that Palawan offered us was a tour of the longest underground river in the world--8.5 km long. This natural river is actually in the running for one of the new seven wonders of the world.

A short flight brought us from Puerto to Manila for another day and half to rest at Shea's boyfriend's aunt's place in Manila. It would be difficult to name my favorite part of our trip but like most of my travels what always sticks with me the most is the people you meet. The highlight of the trip was enjoying two meals with a kind and friendly Filipino woman (Liselle) in her home in El Nido. After friendly chit chat one morning on our walk into town she invited us for dinner. Besides the phenomenal (and cheap) food she prepared, it was wonderful to hear her stories and learn more about Filipino culture. The taste of her chili crabs was unforgettably divine. Besides Liselle, we spent two days hanging out with some fun Spanish exchange students  who were studying in Singapore. I realized how much I've missed being able to effortlessly converse with strangers and friends, while staying in Korea. It's exhausting and often unrewarding, trying to communicate in broken English and Korean. Filipinos exhibited a remarkable language ability. The Philippines is a country with roughly 26 languages, so unlike Koreans, Filipinos are accustomed to hearing several different languages and seem to have a knack for picking up languages. It was a pleasure to chat in English and effortlessly communicate my desires and wishes.

Colorful Palawan left me with healthy glowing skin, lingering tastes of new exotic fruits and foods, new friends, and another place to add to my ever growing list of places to return to. Saying goodbye would have been impossible if it wasn't for Bali to look forward to.

Soon I will bombard this blog and facebook with photos to put my words into visual form, but for now I'm busy wrapping life in Korea up. So for now you will have to take my word that Palawan was amazingly beautiful.

Four Days!

This is what parts of Seoul looked
like last week. 

Four days until I am out of this never ending rain in Korea and in Palawan, Philippines and Bali, Indonesia. CANNOT wait!!!!! For those of you reading this as an update on my life I will probably be somewhat internetless from August 5th-22nd. Instead I will be enjoying the beach, scuba diving (hopefully), delicious food, hiking, swimming and running and simply being away from Korean children. My fellow cheap traveler and I have already made contact with some fabulous couchsurfers and booked ridiculously cheap accommodations! The countdown is on! Hooray! In three weeks hopefully my still white winter sun-starved skin will be golden brown (but in reality I will probably just be roasted).

Mt. Agung, Bali. Active volcano and tallest mountain on Bali. I will hopefully be climbing this. 

El Nido, Palawan Philippines. If it looks even half this beautiful Rachel will be very happy. 

Life is easier when I don't read the news (thanks Korea!)

Dear Protesters around the world (including the US),

I would like to applaud you for your bravery in standing up for freedom and what you feel is right. Dictators around the world are shivering in their boots because of your boldness. Sitting safe and sound in my apartment in Korea it is difficult for me to imagine the courage it must take to protest and demand the rights that you deserve, when the very act of protesting risks your life. To the protesters in Wisconsin and any other American citizens who are confused or upset about some of the proposed budget cuts: 1. Please continue to fight for what you believe in. 2. Please BE INFORMED about these changes that are coming up. 3. Be thankful that unlike other parts of the world, as an American you have a RIGHT to peacefully protest without fear of being killed. I only wish that I didn't live in the little closed off bubble of Korea and could more thoroughly read about these important events and issues.

Love,

Rachel

Note: The Incheon Office of Education (I think it was them anyway) instilled some program on all Incheon teachers' computers that tracks our internet usage and either blocks or significantly slows down any site that has many pictures or graphics. This means I often cannot read the news and even prior to this annoying little program many news sites were already censored by Korea. But, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. I can live my happy little life and not be depressed by the upsetting news around the world or be forced to sift through the different sides to a story and think for myself (because thinking is overrated). And this little program has revived the dying American in me. I am outraged that I don't have the freedom to access any information that I want (particularly when I have NOTHING better to do at school). So thank you Korea! You have made me a "happy" American!

Note #2: Tickets to the Philippines and Indonesia for this summer have been booked. Can't wait for the BEACH!!! Too bad I only have about 6 months to wait. Off to Japan this weekend to visit a friend from Valpo, Josh visiting the weekend after--too many exciting things for such a short period of time.