Tengger Cross Country Runs Bali

Help us send a group of extraordinary young Indonesian students from the isolated, rural communities of Tengger, Indonesia to the Bali Marathon – making dreams a reality and providing an opportunity for them to apply their months of training in an official event. Support us at:      http://igg.me/at/tosaricrosscrountryrunsbali/x/2464388 About Our Cross Country Team Due … Continue reading →

Winter Vacation

I suppose I could write five or six blog posts depicting my travels over the past few weeks with my family and Andrea, and trust me I’ve thought about it, but as this blog is primarily for the focus of my service as a Peace Corps volunteer, I’ll keep it to one. By the way, … Continue reading →

Ngenteg Linggih

Several temples scatter the hillsides of the Tengger, but aside from visiting Poten during Kasada, I somehow have managed not to enter a single one. So after six months at site I decided it was time. I mentioned to Lilik and Dedik my plan and if they’d accompany me to explain things. They told me … Continue reading →

Outside the Classroom

All Peace Corps volunteers are given a primary project – in my case that being teaching English as a foreign language to 10th and 11th grade students. However, in addition to our primary assignment, we are encouraged to undertake a secondary project. Secondary projects are found in a wide variety as they’re essentially dependent on … Continue reading →

A Retreat to the West

I suppose after seven and a half months here, I’ve grown quite accustomed to the daily experiences many back home might find alien and abnormal. And while this increased level of comfort, or perhaps acceptance, this decrease in the estrangement of life, is certainly a characteristic of progress in my function as a Peace Corps … Continue reading →

Pictures & Parades

This will be a short one, but I ought to check in with a brief update of the past few weeks. Like I mentioned in my last post, August was a busy month with Kasada, Indonesian Independence Day, and Idul Fitri (the end of Ramadan). Well because I live with a Hindu family, Idul Fitri … Continue reading →

Kasada

Well it’s been a few weeks since my last post so let me briefly fill you in on what I’ve been up to. Last time we spoke, I told you all that school is back in session. However, with the onset of Ramadan and my school still under construction, one will rarely find me in … Continue reading →

Running…and its role in my life and travel

I don’t even remember why I started running, maybe it was just a convenient way to listen to music or procrastinate schoolwork, either way it really began to increase in the Summer of 2010 while I was solo travelling France and Spain, needing a way to get myself out of the hostel when I didn’t … Continue reading →

Back to School (kinda)

School has begun! Not to be confused with “my teaching has begun”…actually I am on vacation once again with four days off due to the beginning of Ramadan. For those of you who are not familiar with Ramadan, it is the ninth month of the Islamic Calendar – the month of fasting. During Ramadan, Muslims … Continue reading →