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8.31.2010

Orienting the Disoriented

First day of the SIT Grad Program orientation was completed today, by me, and it was great!  Except for the fact that it was literally 95 degrees and I didn't want to make friends because I was so sweaty and nasty, as it turns out, I did end up making some friends because it turns out everyone here is extremely nice.

Life has been mostly the same up until now, I'm sensing a big change in my life.  I'm mostly excited about taking Kiswahili courses again!! So now its indisputable, I'm a huge dork and SIT is more than the place for me.

On to the EXCITING NEWS!!!!!!!!!

I will be re-venturing back to my Washingtonian roots (by DC standards, I lived there a long time, as its such a transitive city) and I can't wait to reconnect with my lovely friends.

AKA showing DC what a REAL hurricane is like (so back down, Earl, I got this).  Pictures and some great stories involving trannies and frozen margaritas are sure to follow, stay tuned!

As for my Vermonterlusting, I have had some run-ins with the "diverse locals"

My favorites include so far: "Man who walks around outside the Catholic Church on Main Street wearing Caution tape and holding a sign that says 'Vote No to say No!"

Voting for what, I still haven't figured out.

Second favorite goes to the couple having the really loud and awkward conversation about whether or not they should "dumpster dump this baby, I can't keep off the crack for another 2 weeks"

I'm holding out for the nude people though, I have a feeling they don't come out until the temperature drops below 50 degrees.

8.24.2010

MY CACTUS BLOOMED, BITCH!

chyahhhhh!!!!!


I am now in charge of two things that barely need anything to live, and although one is dying because it can't reach the damn sun (its on my dresser, I could move it to the window, but it doesn't look as nice) and the other is LIVING!  Living damn't! with flowers and everrrrythinggggg


His name is Gordo, short for his christian name, which is "Fat"


8.23.2010

Night on the TOWN

So Brattleboro and Vermont in general have been pretty low key for me as of late, since I'm working foot-hurting hours at the Brewery.  Don't feel bad for me though, I have been making bi-zzzzzank and the perk of free Captain Wyman's Tavern Ale (medium body, American red ale with honey and clove notes).  I did however decide to take a big leap and go out on the town Saturday night, despite not knowing ANYONE and also having to work the next morning. Vermont surprised more than any other place ever, as it turned out to be one of the most fun nights ever!


I went to Flat Street, where they have 30 beers on tap, most from BBC (Berkshire Brewing Company), and was surprised to see a live band!  And it was a really GOOD live band! And, as it turned out, the piano and back-up singer was Abe Guthrie!!!  Who I got to meet after the show, smoke a clove outside with, and he autographed the CD I bought!


This meeting of a famous person led to meeting a lot of other people in Brattleboro, all who were extremely nice, familiar with topics like Sustainable Development, and loved to do Sake Bombs.  So we all head over to Kiplings, which by DC standards would be a horrible dive, but is actually a kickass effing place with speciality drinks that they import, like unfiltered sake and Harpoon Chocolate Stout, and the owner Jill is a pushing-something-between-50 and 80 but is wearing a tight black dress, black fishnets and black high heels, with a rhinestone studded tiara in her piled hair.


I threw myself into the wild unknown, and came out with friends, a sense of belonging, and a sake/kölsch hangover that was definitely worth working 12 hours through


How many of you can use 'threw' and 'through' in the same sentence?

8.13.2010

First Steps



8/10/10 9:18 AM – The trip and the first full day

My journey began on a hot, humid, New Hampshire day.  The only exciting event of the morning happened in the bathroom of my log-cabin home, I was blow drying my hair and out of nowhere a colossal sneeze exploded and the snot rocket of the century happened on the floor, a soft green mucus and booger emulsion.  I’m still sneezing up similar snot blends, but the only real significance to that story was that I wanted to put “booger emulsion” out onto the inter-web. 

Onto the real story of the day, My Outfit (of which I have pictures, but cannot find my camera cord within the mountains of sh** piled in my room like the Grand Titons of hardwood paneling).    Pictures are soon to come though!  Once I have a break from my new job (at the brewery in Keene, whoo!), which is a employment position that my dad would describe as  “like having the inmates run the asylum”.  Great craft beer, all day, every day, in my mouth…you can see why I haven’t had any “time” to unpack.

Back to the outfit!  So I rocked the flannel (from H & M) and some light and (pre)worn shorts (from Tommy Hilfiger).  I believe I’ve created a new fall look for any of you young designers out there, its called “trying too hard and spending too much to look down-to-earth”. 

The car ride itself was mostly uneventful, route 119 is a straight shot to the rolling hills of Vermont.  I have to say, it’s a darn pretty drive.  Until you get right to the NH/VT border, where you pass not one, not two, but THREE fireworks outlets in a row, followed by THREE liquor store/cigarette/lottery outlets, again in a row.  I don’t know why the commercial road people didn’t think of alternating fireworks and booze, although I love my state with an aggressive passion, it does make me wonder sometimes. 



So for the past few days I’ve been dying of exhaustion coupled with snotty mornings, and working every day until Tuesday.  Just this minute I’m drinking 4 cups worth of fair trade, organic, equal exchange “Mind and Soul” coffee and using up 3 whole sheets of paper towels for harvesting my own personal snot factory. 


Here is an image that I really think exemplifies the life I'm going to lead here.  It involves the hand-picked-kind-of-stolen fresh flowers from my room mates who work on a sustainable, organic farm/orchard.  Next to is is a bowl of tomatoes and basil from our garden, in a handmade pottery bowl!  



Thanks for reading, and soon I’ll post pictures! One of my favorite is of the 5 inch spider that lives in my bathtub (seen below)




Cheers and Happy days! 
KTB

8.09.2010

Profile of a East Coast Identity-Complex

The world sees you the way it wants to.  Traveling to different worlds in a short period of time in my young life has given me many perspectives of myself.  I see "me" through a myriad of lenses, realizing the trick to true perception is figuring out which light puts me in the best color.



Life so far has ended up giving me a motley collection of identity complexes.  I grew up in New Hampshire, and I was the really tall fish in a pond of other fish that didn't travel and didn't care about anything outside of the pond.  I didn't fit in.  I moved to Washington DC for undergraduate, and I was transformed into a really tall noob with a backwoods accent and a not-as-charming as you'd think naïveté.  Fast forward 4 years and I' back home in rural bumblefuck New Hampshire.  I am now an elitist, raw-fish eating yuppie wonk who can't seem to understand why there isn't a gluten-free aisle in the local Market Basket.  I feel as all three of these perceptions are quite accurate descriptions, although it seems impossible that they can co-exist in the same way the hippie-favored bumper sticker advocates. 




However, there is a next step.  That next step is journeying west across the big river, toward the land that flows with milk and granola, to study sustainable development, live next to an organic farm, and figure out how I'm going to make my own positive impact on the world.  


I've decided to share my adventures, explorations, relationships, culture-shocks, and new challenges (such as black ice, matching flannel with trench coats, and not having to spend $4 on Starbucks ever again).  This whirlwind of change and coming of age is basically begging for hilarious anecdotes to post on the internets.


So, I leave tomorrow.  My 2002 Volvo s40 (aka Chachi II) is packed to bust and my 82 year old German Grandmother (aka Oma) is coming with me.  She lives across the street from us now, and she is my hero.  When she first moved to America she landed in Queens, NY and HATED it.  She went to Vermont, and she felt like she was back in the Fatherland.  She has post-polio syndrome, and she rarely leaves her house on the hill.  I'm proud to start my adventure this way, sharing love, appreciation and excitement with my personal hero.  She is tough as nails and smart to boot, as she always says the travel is the hardest part of the trip.  If she can do it, so can I!


Bon Voyage and Good Night