Calm Thoughts from an Excited Mind

What do you get when you combine receiving a letter for an interview at a medical school with having two interviews for a position in Kenya with having your best friend in another country? I now know. You get an outright, honest to goodness, no holds bar, excitingly anxious roller coaster ride of a week. Was that enough adjectives? Not really.

While sometimes I may try to stay more on subject, I’ve decided this will be somewhat of a play-by-play of weekly events – a journal-esque entry – that have created possibly one of the most uniquely feeling weeks I’ve lived.

Molly shipped (flew) off to Australia for a semester abroad. There’s not a doubt in my mind it’ll be one of the best experiences of her life. Fortunate enough am I to likely have the chance of sharing some of it with her.

The week started, while a bit on the lonely side, very well. Experiments gave results. Good or bad who’s really to say, but they were there ready and staring at me, waiting for my interpretation. More excited events transpired starting Tuesday, the 24th, when I applied for the CUREkids Coordinator position with the help of my friend Brianna DiGiacomo (bridigiacomo.wordpress.com), the Coordinator in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Applied and ready, I awaited a response eagerly. Wednesday happened with Susan, Philipe, Deep and a whole heap of fun. Thursday. The day. Waking up to a fresh pot of organic coffee gifted by Philipe and Susan, my body and mind were jolted, quite literally, to life. An aside: I drink coffee about once every 3 months on average, if that much, so you can imagine my liveliness following a full cup. Turns out, not only do I get to Skype with Molly Frances over in Aussie-Land (hope that’s even the slightest bit politically correct), a conversation and sight that is always complete magic, but I hear from Brianna who tells me, “You’re in the top 3!” Not an hour passes before another message comes through that reads, “Cameron, you’re in the top 2!!” About 30 more minutes pass and I get an email from Jenny asking to set up an interview. Within 30 minutes, that interview is taking place. That day. Two days after I applied. Things went well and I was told the next step was to interview with her bosses. Sixty minutes went by three whole times before I got an email from Matt at CURE who wanted to set up an interview, which was then scheduled for the following morning. At this point, I was slowly but most surely becoming a nervous, overly excited, can’t-believe-the-possibilities young man (I am still that, right?) wholeheartedly psyched about whatever comes my way. And sure enough, that led to approximately 4 hours of sleep. While I woke at 05:30 to update Molly and read a bit, making possibly the most futile attempt at focusing my mind anywhere other than the impending interview, I began to feel those blasted nerves. The ones deeply enveloped in whatever mechanism it is in your stomach that decides that when you “get nervous” its going to tie a Double Windsor with your esophagus and a bowline with your upper intestines while at the same time combining two half hitches and an overhand somehow in between the first two. How it’s possible I don’t know, but I can now assure you that is most certainly is. Literally, I shook. And that shaking basically continued right up to the point the interview began. Once it did, everything flowed. It went well. We covered all the bases and answered plenty of questions, I said my goodbye and they told me they’d be in touch very soon. It was over in a not at all too soon sort of way, but more in a I feel pretty darn good about that sort of way. So I waited a while. Then I sent a follow-up email like any self-respecting, motivated person who wants an awesome experience such as this one would do, and heard back fairly soon with the instruction to have a good weekend. Knowing that I could relax, knowing that I didn’t necessarily have to be waiting at my desk, computer at the ready and phone in hand all weekend, was a great relief. And for the most part here we are.

Now it’s late. I’m going to sleep. A lot. A whole lot.

Couchsurfers and AcroYoga

Couchsurfing. It means letting, in most everyone’s sense of the word, a stranger into your home. It also means making a new friend. Or two. As is the case with Susan and Philipe, from Australia and Austria, respectively. Ringing the doorbell in the rain and hearing the yelp of my brother’s dog Izzy may not have been the warmest of welcomes, but soon we were sharing stories of travels, friends, and adventures. What country didn’t we talk about? (Thinking for a moment) Latvia. Yeah, Latvia never came up. These guys have been all over! And I can’t wait to go! My aptly named, thought provoking friend Deep showed up for the event, a dinner of sweet potato and butternut squash tagine, oven-baked brown rice, chickpea swiss-chard soup, and oven-baked bread touched by the loving, delicate hands of Susan. Thus, Morocco, Italy, and Switzerland were out of the way, which left us to their travels of motorcycle trips in many countries of South America, work in Japan and Germany, Nepalese base camps (yes, Everest), Australian travel recommendations, Canadian mountains, and even Antarctica, where Philipe sailed as a chef while waiting for parts for his motorcycle to arrive in Chile.

I shared with them my day, which among work at the lab, included applying (loosely) for a position in Kenya as a CUREkids Coordinator. This rare, phenomenal opportunity was made aware to me by an old friend, Brianna DiGiacomo, who is a coordinator in Ethiopia and loving it. I must admit, I’m green with jealousy. CURE is a non-profit organization which started around 1998, when they first opened a hospital in Kenya. Since, they’ve seen a overly-impressive 1.5 MILLION patients. Simply staggering. Better still, they’ve performed 121,000 surgeries and trained 2,400 medical professionals. I was eager and excited to learn as quickly as I could about the organization and how I could work as a CUREkids Coordinator to help children in dire need of inexpensive surgeries that could change their lives. This thought made me realize something I love about life. There is always always always something new to learn. Whether it’s an act, an opportunity, a thought, or a person – learning never ceases. CUREkids, after reading some of their stories, are teachers. Inspirational teachers from which the world can learn. I humbly lower my gaze as an eager student. Children all over the world with minor, curable birth defects remain helpless. They deserve a better life. We can give it to them. A combined, shared, powerful effort can give it to those who are in need. I want my energy to strengthen this effort, heaving it from intensely robust to colossally prodigious. A lofty goal perhaps, but it lends me to answer a lofty question: Can one person make a difference? How? Yes. By combining ideas, strengths, and love. With the help of others! I would love to learn the many lessons I am sure the power above has in store for me and would be excited to find that some of these lessons await me in Kenya. If the stars don’t align for me there in Kijabe, Kenya and God has chosen for me a different path, I will reconcile knowing that I have done all in my power to put myself in a position to help others through my new awareness of CURE. One door will soon open. I’m certain the light beaming through will be brightly burning.

On another note entirely, Deep introduced us to the wonderful, artful dance that is AcroYoga. Such good fun! An incredible friendship-strengthening exercise if there ever was one.

I’ll end with this quote, found serendipitously on the AcroYoga website:

“The glory of friendship is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Much love,

Cameron

Yurtville, Arkansas!

With a total of 8 yurts, Stone Winds Retreat in Chester, AR provides a heavenly respite and serene calmness lulling you into relaxation with every breath of the fresh Ozark air.

Amber Waves of Grain

A fallen chestnut colored leaf sleeps on an elegant, pillowy growth of moss. Underneath, a frozen mass which formed the largest icicle I've ever seen!

While some shots urge you to hasten your finger's movement and release the shutter, the calm winds of Chester, AR allowed for relaxed photographic opportunities.

Frances took this one, randomly and with a great outcome.

“Hurry! Hurry! You’ve got to see this!!” Running up the hill, I found what is now ingrained in me. Yes, both the smile and the sunset.

If there were a Tree of Life in Arkansas, this would probably be it.

Okay, she said hesitantly and hiding her smile underneath, “I’ll take a serious photo”.

 A more-than-wonderful birthday weekend with an incredible friend, beautiful days, nights, stars, and memories.

Cameron

Mehl, meet WordPress.

currently listening to: John Williams playing the spanish guitar

My first post using WordPress… I should’ve started with this place instead of the evil powers that are iWeb. I’ve seen so many “publishing error” messages to frustrate a computer nerd a thousand times over. Of course, I’m not much of a computer nerd, so I shouldn’t really say that. Probably shouldn’t say that at all considering that in total all of my audience (likely a small number) will be reading this via the internet.

I’ll keep this first post rather short because there will be another to quickly follow, but some background must be established before I begin with the blog itself.

I’ll begin by following my travels in Austria and a lot of Europe over what was last year’s spring semester at Johannes Kepler Universität (JKU) in Linz, Austria. Keyboard shortcuts are great (note the ä (alt+u, then a)). Anyway, I was a student at JKU for a semester last year while participating in a program called ISEP. International Student Exchange Program. My actual school is Northwestern State University (NSU) in Natchitoches, LA. Better yet, let me just write this somewhere else. Later on, there are things to do, like schoolwork. Hmmm, let other procrastinations continue.

Cameron

Final Functions in Foreign Fields (ie Europe)

Taken, along with my breath, from the hostel patio in Gryon, Switzerland. To have fluffy bolster pillow clouds both below and above you is completely wonderful. To have that sight in a hostel surrounded by new found friends with inspiring stories is purely magical.

I just want to write. I’m on the train to Obertraun, next to Hallstatt. I went there a while back, in the early spring – it was magical. Nice place to relax before the flight home. My headphones broke. I can listen to music at about 1/4^th normal volume and from only the left earbud. Cool. Thanks apple. I was pretty hard on them, though, as I am with most of my things. I think I’ll start buying things that advertise a product’s durability. Yea, that’d be a good idea.

So – what the heck am I going to do when I get home? My goodness, I imagine it will be so different from the life I’ve been living here. So much less exciting. I’ve been staying up at night just lying in bed thinking. Thinking about what I want to do with my life, where I want to be. Really, Louisiana isn’t so bad; nearly all of my family is there. Things just feel better here. Especially the weather.

I’ve heard a lot of stories from people I’ve met during my travels. Most have met someone either riding a bike or walking literally across Europe either north to south or west to east. I want to do that. Traveling and being here has made me want to travel and travel and travel, but in adventurous ways like walking or riding everywhere. I want to learn to ride a motorcycle, go to South America and ride my bike from one end to the other.

I did some work in Switzerland. Construction work. 15 francs an hour, the first day for 10 hours, went to Chamonix, and the next 2 days for 6 and 7 hours. The boss, also the owner of the hostel said he would put me to work full time if I stayed. Not at all what I want to do with my life, but it was pretty good money. It supported the idea that I could travel with a little money and get a job when I could. I think it would be cool to work on a farm for a little while, too. The food can’t be bad there. It would be incredible to see a cow, what it eats and how it lives, and drink its milk. Why does that seem so primal now? It’s absurd. I mean, everyone goes to the  supermarket and buys a bunch of junk having no idea of its origin. Maybe I’ll be poor, but I want to have quality food that I know is not full of unnatural things. Maybe I’ll just go live on a farm. That way I’ll be both poor and have good food. But then not all farms are organic, either, so that doesn’t exactly solve the problem.

There was an animal rights festival in Munich. I don’t know if I should really call it a festival… An informational gathering that also sold food and shirts to the general public? I feel like everyone knows what’s right and wrong with animals, though. Not so true with food.

Cory didn’t like Munich. It was too big for him, he said. That’s interesting to me considering he said he was “too city” to climb/hike up to a waterfall in Chamonix. This trip has been a lesson in acceptance. I can accept that people have fun in different ways and that everyone is different. I love being in the mountains just as much as the next tree-hugging naturalist, but I like Munich. Once you get past the amount of people that inhabit the city, accept and embrace that, you can walk through the city like you are alone on a stroll through an incredibly old cobble-stoned city with markets, great architecture, an abundance of events, parks, and millions of people.

I think I’ll be much more willing to accept opportunity. The only thing will be choosing an opportunity out of many. An old boss once told me after I quickly declined an offer to mow his 20-acre plot of 4-foot high grass, “When I was a kid, if someone asked me if I wanted a job I wouldn’t have asked what the job was, I would’ve said yes before they had the chance to tell me.” He was right. Every question is an opportunity. I should’ve said yes then. I said yes in Switzerland.

“Do either of you guys want to make some money?”

“Yep. When?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Great experience. Getting to work in a foreign country on a house next to a beautiful stream in the mountains. I helped pour rocks, lay a water barrier, cut and tie rebar, and pour concrete out of a gigantic hose for the foundation of a house. I moved rocks, wood, radiators, more wood, and brushed old wood to give it a polished, antique look for the ceilings of a home. I think it would be an incredible feat to be able to build my own home. I doubt seriously that I’ll ever actually do it, but maybe if I end going to live in the woods and start my farm, I’ll have to build my house, too.

Yesterday I looked at a website offering an internship (one where you pay to do it, which isn’t cool by the way) in Kenya. Mombasa, Kenya. It was a medical internship. I’d really like to do something like that as well. It said French was good to know, too, so I guess it isn’t a waste to continue with Rosetta Stone. Level 1, Unit 3, Lesson 4. Knowing just a bit of language has helped a lot over here. And it makes me feel good.

In some ways this trip has made me unsure about my life though. That is good in a way, a challenge is always good for someone, but not knowing for sure what I want to do with my life, where I want it to go, after having thought I knew more than most of it, is a little distressing.

There was always a guy around NSU that just walked. The guy walked everywhere. I’d see him 100 meters away walking through a patch of trees, walking down the road toward nowhere a mile or two from campus, and in downtown Natchitoches along the river. I thought he was crazy. He did always talk to himself… Now I think he just wanted to think about what to do and where he wanted to be. That’s not crazy at all.

Having time constraints makes me not like something, I think. Is it ever too late for medical school? Not technically I suppose, but then I pretty much need to already have my MCAT taken, applications practically in the mail, schools picked, nearly the whole works. I’m sure if I wait around I’ll miss out on plenty and I don’t plan to miss many good opportunities, but I don’t plan to rush into something or somewhere without being around 95% sure it’s what I want to do. Life isn’t hard, living is easy, but when you are restricted from doing something between a certain time or a certain age, it just losses a certain quality of…something. I don’t know. Freshness, maybe?

I can’t wait to eat a bowl of cereal. I think I have had one this entire month. NOT cool. I’ll miss dearly the bread here, though. My mouth is watering.

Why can’t I just go live out of a tent? I wonder if being poor, having nothing, makes theft almost a necessity. Say I lived out of a tent. I’d eventually go broke unless I found a job. Then eventually I would likely not live out of a tent. If I didn’t find a job I’d go hungry unless I learned to farm. I’d have to learn early while I had any money for seeds. If nothing grew I’d be starving and end up begging, stealing, or looking for a job. This is sounding like I just don’t want a job at all, isn’t it? What if it’s not a job I don’t want but a career I don’t want. I feel like I could spend my life helping people as a doctor, but I don’t want to do the same thing every day. Then every day would turn into every damned day. Having money usually makes people materialistic and unconnected with themselves, though, and that’s one of the last things I want to become.

Hah, ohhhh Life, you tricky shaman.

The City of Love

La célèbre Tour Eiffel.

Paris is gigantic. The first day and a half were kind of hectic. I really enjoyed myself, but it was the whole, too many people around here kind of feeling. Today was different. I accepted the size of the city I guess and went searching around looking for nothing really, only starting with the Louvre. I’m pretty sure I’m not in the mood to tell you, “ I went here, saw this, it was big, it was nice, then I went here…” Let me just start over.

I have a balcony. It’s incredible. I’m writing from it now, looking at the Pantheon in the distance. The street of Les Gobelins is under me and although not one the busiest streets, it has many people and cars frequenting it. The building are beautiful. Tall and proud architecture shows true in them and the sun, now going down, gives a light orange glow on both their windows and stones. Small birds fly constantly above landing on thin cylindrical and clay looking outlets that fill each chimney, 10 or more per building.  Trees are planted on rooftop gardens with other small plants. Today I realized how tranquil the inner city can be. I found a park on the top of a train station, another filled only with people reading the paper, relaxing in the sun or the shade, and watching their children play tag or soccer. I reached a cemetery and strolled through it, reading some of the names. I wonder what I’ll want to happen to my remains. I’ve been thinking I want to be buried with some seeds in my pockets in a bag or something that degrades with my body. It doesn’t really matter what kind of seeds. Not roses – not a bush. Okay, it matters a little. I wonder if we think about death more than life.

Anyway, I discovered that knowing another language, even if you’re in France and it isn’t French, is awesome. I got this ID card in Linz that says I’m a foreign exchange student studying in Austria. Well, it’s gotten me into 3 places for free. That’s nearly 30 euro. Okay, it’s supposed to only be for EU citizens, but when you show someone that card and say, “Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Ich komme aus Österreich”, it’s kind of hard for them to say you aren’t an EU citizen. Arc de Triomphe, Pantheon, Invalides – FREE. I got an apple for free at a creperie – they weren’t for sale and I asked to buy one. I’m not sure I understand the phrase “On a shoestring [budget]”…

It’s crazy how much I’ve seen in the two and a half days I’ve been here. All of my legs are sore. I’m convinced it’s not from my run yesterday. Also, 25 euro for one day or working out, are you joking me, I’m used to free stuff. I left. Tomorrow I meet a guy named Paul Faresse (pretty sure that last name is right) who is putting me up for 2 nights. Couchsurfing. Hope that goes well. I think I’ll do it again if it does. Barcelona? Mallorca maybe. Tomorrow I meet Chloé here. That starts the point where I will be with friends from Linz for 11 days straight. Different friends along the way, but not alone like I have been in Munich and Paris. That will be nice. I’m excited both about being with them and about being alone on my hikes through some of the Lake District. Sometimes being alone is great. Other times not so much. I’m certain, though, that experiences are best when shared. It will be nice to travel with people.

Pictures from Paris will be up when I get to Belgium.

München, Germany

Play in a fountain. It's good for your inner child. (Boy in Munich, Germany)

Okay, I’m on the train to Paris. 2 hours left. 2 hours and 1 minute actually. Another actually – you’re supposed to write out numbers one to ten. Like that. That’s okay, I’m no good at English anymore so I can do what I want.

It’s interesting how sometimes I feel more creative on the computer than when writing on paper and then other times the opposite is true. At least I think it is interesting. You don’t have to. Yes you do, you’re reading my blog, you must be.

On to the subject: Munich. Awesome. It was awesome. One of the coolest cities I’ve been to in terms of things to do, things to see, things to drink (kidding, I actually only had one beer there, a good Hofbräu Weisse (white) beer, unless you count the alkoholfrei beer after the race…) A Brazilian guy I met in Linz who plays pro basketball in Spain told me that there is research indicating beer is actually better post-workout than sports drink! I couldn’t make that sentence up. Writing it makes me feel good actually, more because of the Brazilian Spanish pro basketball player I met than the beer vs. sports drink thing.

Right, back to Munich. My goodness there are beautiful women on this train. Oh, umm, yea, I saw most of Munich on foot the first day I was there. Which was cool considering I got there at noon. Yep, I missed my train at 6:53. I was able to use the same special priced 19 euro ticket, though, thanks to… my impeccable German, maybe? Doubtful… Found a great market. Ate a dish with olives and sheep cheese. Ate a lychee that Grace, a friend from Linz, said she loved. It was good. Ate another fruit that was really weird from Thailand. Then I had possibly the best bread I’ve ever had. It had pumpkin seeds in it. It was some bio/natural/something healthy bakery at the market. Wandered around a lot and found the USA vs. Ghana game at a vegetarian restaurant/bar called Ogawe or something similarly weird. This is were I had my beer with some kind of eggplant enchilada like dish that was extremely good. La Ola it was called. That matters. Slept 10 hours. Thank God, too, because the two nights previous were so packed of farewell partying I couldn’t take it anymore.

Woke up 2 hours (I mean two, don’t I?) before the 32nd München Stadtlauf (city run) which was at 11:00. AKA – it was hot. I’m not going to say it was Louisiana, but I was really used to not having much heat, and this wasn’t like that usual feeling at all. I heard the numbers 6,000 and 10,000. For sure on the 10,000, but I’m pretty sure that was either for the half-marathon or the entire event. That’s the number of people registered if you didn’t gather it from my simply throwing numbers at you. I told myself I was shooting for something between 40 and 45’. I ran a 42:38. That’s the kind of shape I thought I was in. It wasn’t the best of days, but wasn’t the worst. I told myself I was going to try not to race too much. I needed to run 70 minutes total that day, so I couldn’t completely kill myself of the extra 20-30 minutes following the race would be hell. Don’t worry, they were still hell. Ten minutes before the race a sentence popped into my head that sounded a little like, “I’m going to kill this thing [the race]”. Genuine thought. So the whole, don’t race too hard kind of went out the window at some points. No one passed me. I was happy about that. I love the feeling of seeing someone in front of you and knowing you are going to beat them. You’re going to catch them, pass them, and be happy about it. How could that not be satisfying? No there were no handicapped people in the race for those of you who answered the question. Another thing that was cool about the race was that we ran though the city some into the famous Englisch Garten. There is a small river that runs through it and people can surf on a wave at one point. It’s the biggest inner-city park in the world. I was pretty beat after the race. I only know this because when I was on my extra 28 minutes I started seeing those really bright spots in your eyes you see before you pass out from heat exhaustion/stupidity. Excellent workout indicator.

I didn’t get recovered really until around 14:00, you know, after my free massage and all. On I went to “BMW Welt” (World). It was free to get in because it’s actually a dealership, but the place was seriously incredible. I didn’t go to the museum because it was 8 euro, but the facilities around there concerning BMW are bigger than large (see photo album). Up the Olympia Tower. 187 meters up (613 feet) gives a pretty good view of everything. On a clear day you’re supposed to be able to see the Alps, but it wasn’t clear enough. Still, good views. Now the best. The Germany (I’m in Munich, remember?) vs. England game. Wow. Watch this video of people celebrating the 2nd goal.

Then I found the 25th München Film Festival. Went to buy a ticket, it was sold out. Asked for another. Sold out. “I’ve got an offer for you. A lady said she didn’t need this ticket anymore so I can give it to you for free if you…” “I’ll take it.” The movie wasn’t bad either besides the fact that it was serious and was about an adopted boy who finds his mother, leaves his family and also adopted brother to move in with her and her new child, then spontaneously stabs her to, what he thought was, death. She survives and tells him in court that she is sorry for ruining his life. He responds, “I’m glad my mother is alive”, which gives the movie’s title. 3 years in prison…

Bed time. I went back to the hostel only to be woken up at 04:00 by two drunk people, both of which decided it was a good idea to have sex while 5 other people were in the room. Thanks dorm room style hostel. I had to laugh though, after the girl asked the guy what was wrong and why he wasn’t “ready”.

Anyway… I worked out this morning at a really nice gym for free and boarded the train to Paris. Lots planned to see in Paris. More than excited. Rosetta Stone French, Unit 2, Lesson 1, Grammar.

Au revoir,
Mathieu (I had to – it’s French)