Headed to Peru

Alright! I am happy to say I have a plan. It's been a strange few months being home. I started out thinking I was going to leave in September with Tanya, but I'm ending up leaving in December solo.

Being home has been awesome and I'm going to be sad to leave. I think maybe I stayed too long, making it harder to leave (I love my friends too much). This will be good though. Finally doing some volunteer work which I've been wanting to get into since before I left for Korea (I had considered Peace Corps back then).

Oh! You're probably wondering what I'm doing! Well, in all my searching and planning I'd almost forgotten about Burners Without Borders. They are a group of burners (those who attend Burning Man), who started their group in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. They went down there and just started cleaning up. Then more burners came. Soon they were an organized group and everyone lived happily ever after, cleaning up after storms around the world. Really though, they've also gone to Haiti and Peru to help out. I'll be going to Pisco, Peru, where BWB has been and left in their wake a group called Pisco Sin Fronteras (in English, Pisco Without Borders). This group is still there and works with the locals to clean up the environment and construct new homes after the 2007 earthquake, and also to help teach kids English and paint murals in kid's spaces. They also have a bio-diesel program to help fund the organization. I'll be going down there to join them on December 7th and I don't know how long I'll stay. We'll see how awesome it is or how long I can stand it!

I'm really looking forward to meeting a lot of other foreign travelers, Peruvian locals, also learning Spanish and traveling to other destinations in South America, like Machu Picchu and Angels Falls. Going to be quite the journey!

Middle of November and still in America!

As you may have noticed, my travel plans have changed considerably! I went from planning to come home, go to Burning Man, visit friends and family, then head to Central and South America with Tanya to still being here, working, and planning the trip solo. Life happened to Tanya so she's going to stay in Beijing to work and live a while longer. This leaves me going south alone with scares the crap out of me!

Tanya and I were going to just head down to the beach to relax a while before doing any work or volunteering. We could couch-surf and just figure it out as we went. This doesn't work for me though. I'm fine traveling alone, but I think for extended periods without a buddy I would get bored. Not to mention how much more dangerous it would be! So I want to find a more structured travel plan. I've been looking at taking intensive Spanish courses, maybe surf lessons, joining up with a volunteer organization, or just finding work in Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile...wherever! I want to see it all anyway.

I'm getting close to having a solid plan, but I won't disclose details quite yet. I'm getting very excited about leaving, but I'm having so much fun here too! I've been catching up with old friends, making new ones, and just having a great time. I've been working for my old boss, Chris, at the welding shop. We got the Phoenix Zoo as our big client this time, and since I've been back I've worked on a reptile exhibit, the new koala exhibit, tore down and rebuilt the bear fence, and am about to install HUGE baboon/mandril cages to their inside area. These things get rusted out and need to be replaced. It's nice working at the zoo (when the weather's nice). There are monkeys that sing in the morning and plenty of other animal noises to keep us entertained. Sometimes we have strange birds watching us, like the peacocks that roam freely about the zoo, or the vultures that watched me work on the reptile area (a little creepy).

I love being home, but I'm antsy to get moving again!