A lot of my friends are married and having babies. A lot. How many you ask? Enough that I can tell you about breastfeeding and tongue ties and different sleep training methods and feeding techniques as well as personal parenting styles and bedtime routines. I can change a diaper, I can carry a kid with one hand (leaving the other one free for having a drink), I’m perfecting my raspberries, and I genuinely believe that having a baby/kid fall asleep in your arms or on your chest is one of the best feelings in the world.
Finding the Silver Lining at the Ferry Building
Saturday night. I was sitting at a bar with a fellow volunteer and new friend, Maria, having a glass of wine when we got word that hundreds of refugees were stranded outside at the port because ferries had been cancelled or rescheduled for the next morning. There was an abandoned building next to the port that they were camped out in as they waited out a pretty strong wind storm. They needed some help and supplies like blankets and food brought down, so we called a friend with a car and hitched a ride to the ferry building.
Reuniting Never Felt This Good
Yesterday was a good day. I finished my first solo shift. I helped two different families semi-reunite with missing loved ones. And I held back tears as a wonderful soul shared his story and experience fleeing the Taliban with us (covered in a later post). This is why I’m here.It was my first day of working solo and working an evening shift. And 5/6 people who were working were new. With so many volunteers coming and going, this is pretty typical but it also means you need to think on your feet and just figure things out. Challenge accepted.
Day 0 and Day 1
As I was telling you last night before I drifted off into deep sleep (melatonin, you are helping me kick jetlag’s butt like no one’s business!), I had the option of taking it easy yesterday and acclimating, or checking out the camp and helping out. I wanted to do something so I opted to head to Moria camp to finally see with my own eyes the camp that I heard so much about. This black barn right here is the Moria Medical Clinic that’s run by Offtrack Health, and where I’ll be spending most of my time. I’m what they call a floor manager–I’m responsible for intake of patients, crowd control, recording notes and anything else in between. I stopped by yesterday to see the clinic, meet some people and just get the lay of the land. And to buy a local SIM card nearby.
Fighting Fear: EuroAfricAsia 2015
When I see a cheap flight, especially a glitch or error fare, I turn into an animal and pounce like it’s my dinner and I haven’t eaten in ages. Book now, figure it out later. Thanks to a rule by the Department of Transportation, you have 24 hours to cancel a flight with a full refund—so really, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain when an error fare comes up. That’s how I found myself with a flight out from Portland, Oregon to London, England returning from Istanbul, Turkey back to Portland, from mid-November to mid-December for under $500 USD. That was less than a flight home for the holidays. (In the words of my friend, Kenna, #bookthatish!)
A Weird Spot
I have three blog posts in the queue--one on food (borscht and hummus), one on local night life (including our first silent disco experience) and one on boat sitting (which...
Help Make My Dream Job Become a Reality
Have you ever read something and thought it was too good to be true or too perfect for it to be realistic? That's how I felt when I first read...