Unexpected Visit, Peace Corps News, and A Mix Up

Hello, I hope everyone is doing well! Here is what has happened since the last post some 37 days ago...

Unexpected Visit:


(Shawn & Chris at White Sands)

My friend Shawn, that I met in Alaska, had the chance to visit for a week! It was great to see him again after a year, and to share what's new before I head out to Africa. We went to a few places while he was here including Tent Rocks, Billy the Kid's grave, the Roswell UFO Museum, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, and the Alamogordo Space Museum and IMAX. It was a great week! He left for home on 1/28. Now I only have 18 days left until I leave myself...

Peace Corps News:


(Washington D.C.)

I will be leaving for Orientation in Washington D.C. on February 16th! I will be off to Africa at 5:40 PM Eastern Time on January 18th and arrive in Zambia about 21 hours later on the 19th! Please pray for me, this is going to be a great yet challenging experience.


(Zambia Map and Flag)

A Mix Up:


(U.S. Passports thanks to msnbc.com)

Well last night I received an e-mail from another Christopher James Rodriguez that I met on a Peace Corps Yahoo group. He forwarded an e-mail from Peace Corps' travel agency he received meant for me. It said WE NEED ZAMBIA VISA FORMS AND PHOTOS ASAP! I immediately thought that they must have lost the ones I sent them back in September, so since it was already 7:00 PM here I figured there was no time to waste. I went to town and took passport photos, printed the proper forms, and sent them overnight through FedEx. I called them this morning and the said they received the other Chris Rodriguez's passport, and since he is going to Suriname it did not have Zambia visas in it. They then thought it was mine and called/e-mailed him thinking it was me saying they needed the visa stuff right away. Before I called this morning to clarify things and tell them that new photos and forms were on their way they had figured out the mix up. They checked the Zambia folder and found MY (This Chris Rodriguez typing) No Fee Government Passport with the proper Zambia visas inside. They apologized for the mix up and told me to pack my bags!

Well, that about does it for now! I hope I get to see all of you in the next 18 days. If not please e-mail me your addresses so that I can put them in my new address book and send you some Zambian Snail Mail :) ...

God Bless, and Peace be with you all!

My E-mail: chrisruaf@msn.com

Funf und Funfzig Tagen

Fifty-five days until staging! The time is slipping by so quickly it will be time to leave in a flash! I have to make it a point to:

1. Visit or spend some time with everyone I know before then...

AND

2. Get the packing I need to do out of the way. I've really procrastinated in buying things for Zambia, but I really think it's just about time to start.

Oh yeah... I almost forgot, I never finished the Europe story:

First of all, it was a real privilege to be able to visit so many places I feel really fortunate. I had no intentions to leave the U.S. before Zambia, and I had never been across the pond as the English say. The whole thing was a BIG blessing, and very fun!

Starting where the last post ended:

After we returned to Germany from our first weekend in Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Italy, we just hanged around in my Mom's town in Germany for a couple of days (Monday and Tuesday) until the day before Thanksgiving when we drove over to Prague, Czech Republic and spent two days there. Prague is a very awesome place, but has very confusing streets. Anyway we then drove to Dresden, Germany for one night then up to Berlin which was also cool. Berlin is a nicer city than I envisioned it would be, the streets were easy to navigate and the main sites were easy to access not to mention there was plenty of parking (always a plus). We then returned to Triebendorf-Wiesau for one night and then set off for Lohnberg which is near Frankfurt am Main. We got to see a little of that area before we had to drive back to my mom's town and then back to Munich so we could all fly back to the States. It was indeed a great trip! Though, I will say that it is nice to be back in the U.S. so that I can enjoy it here at home before heading out for a couple of years. Even so, I am extremely excited for Zambia! I can't wait, but as always I expect leaving to be bitter-sweet but mostly sweet!

Well that does it for now... Guten Tag alles!

Peace.

Guten Tag aus Deutschland!

Hello from Germany! I am finally in Triebendorf at my Mom's flat...

So Far:


Delta Flight 130: When we were over Scotland

I arrived in Munchen (Munich), Germany on Friday morning at about 7:45 AM after about 16 hours of travel. I was tired, but the trip was actually not all that long. Some of my flights between Fairbanks, Alaska and Albuquerque, New Mexico have been longer due to layovers. Once I was in Munich, my mom and I waited for Cathy to arrive. When she did, we left Munich and drove south-east. We drove into Austria and then into Lichtenstein, and on into Switzerland. By the time we made it through the snowy Alps and into the town of Lugano we were all tired, so that is where we stopped for the night.


Lugano, Switzerland

In the morning we took a walk around the town. It was quite beautiful, a cool morning on the local lakeside. After taking pictures outside we went inside of a photography exhibit which was very well organized. From there we got back in the car and drove into Italy. We headed east from Milano through fair Verona and into Venice (Venezia). Of course, you can only drive to a certain point and then you must park and walk into the city.


Venice, Italy (Roof of St. Mark's)

In Venice we saw so much I won't write about everything, but will entertain you with some of the most interesting items. The streets were extremely narrow and filled with people. However, it was generally easy not to run directly into people somehow. It seemed that everyone just knew how to walk in a large crowd the right way. Besides that, we saw thousands of shops and went into as many as possible. Most of the time we spent indulging in the local foods, pastries, and drinks. Venice has the best hot chocolate, the best lasagna, and the best roasted chesnuts! We walked a very long distance from our hotel near Plaza Roma called the Hotel Continental to St. Mark's Square where we saw St. Mark's Basilica and the famous square surrounding it. The church was amazing inside with a museum and endless mosaic art. Finally, one of the most amazing sites was the Grand Canal and the many streets of water with gondolas and water taxis. I would recommend Venice to most anyone, but make sure you have an entire day or more to spend there.



Munich, Germany (Stadtzentrum - City Center)

Once we left Venice on Sunday afternoon we drove north into Austria. It was our goal to be back in Triebendorf by that night and it was about a six-hour drive. As a result we decided to switch drivers every couple of hours. When we were in the middle of Austria at a rest stop it was my turn to drive, so we got gas and headed north towards Salzburg. My drive was smooth at first on the Austrian Autobahn, we stayed at about 110 - 120 kmh. Being in the Alps though we hit a few pockets of flurries. We made it into Germany and I saw the restrictions lifted sign on the Autobahn, so I stepped up the speed to match the traffic at about 130 kmh. This didn't last too long... it started snowing. After awhile traffic was barely managing 60 kmh. I kept driving toward Munich and the snow remained moderately heavy. It was nothing I haven't experienced before especially having lived in Alaska. I was comfortable driving despite the conditions, but I lend that comfort to knowing people out there were praying for our safety more so than my experience driving in snow. Anyway, we finally made it to Munich where the snow was still falling so we decided to stay the night for safety's sake. We found a hotel and had a very comfortable night. In the morning we drove to the nearby city center and walked around awhile before heading north to Wiesau and into Triebendorf. It is very beautiful here at the flat and the people seem to be very nice here in town. We ate a great dinner at a local "Raststation" and learned how to get from my mom's factory in Mitterteich to her flat in Wiesau-Triebendorf. Well that's about all for now, more later!

Good Day, Bis Nacher!

"You Haven't Eaten Until You've Had NSHIMA!"

Well, quite a long time ago I remember typing that once I learned some things about Zambia I would post that information here 'soon'. Well, here is that post, sorry about not holding to my word where time is concerned:



Item 1:

The above picture is of the staple food called Nshima (Sheema). It is essentially a mush that is made by mixing dampened cornmeal with boiling water and stirring the mixture until a sticky consistency results as the water boils off. Once this is achieved, vegetables or meat chunks can be added to the top as a 'relish'. It is really quite good, bland, but not offensive to taste. When I make Nshima I must admit that I frequently break the 'eat with hands' rule and use a spoon instead as you can see from the picture of this morning's helping. In Zambia Nshima is considered an important element to every meal, and I've read that the locals will not admit to having eaten until they've had some Nshima. Hence, "You haven't eaten until you've had Nshima!"

Item 2:

Zambia is a very poor country. The monetary unit is the Zambian Kwacha, and as of late and for much of the past decades the inflation rate of that money has been very high. As it stands one U.S. Dollar is the equivalent of approximately 3,500 Kw (ZMK). Interestingly enough, to open a bank account in Zambia one must have a minimum of 1,000,000 Kw. Therefore everyone in Zambia with a bank account is a millionaire but not necessarily rich (1 million Kw = 285.71 USD). Being so poor, this country has not been developed in the ways other African countries have, and so the infrastructure to support tourism and commercialization of its many national parks has not happened. That is why Zambia is often called the "Real Africa". I am glad to be going to a somewhat pristine place, it must be beautiful. Additionally the Peace Corps Zambia experience is said to be the most similar of nearly all other programs to that of what was experienced by volunteers when the Peace Corps began service in the 1960's. I consider this a privilege to say the very least, I can't wait to see the monetarily poor, but rich in every other aspect Zambia for myself!

(Thanks to blahblahblog.wordpress.com)

Item 3:

Mail is very slow in Zambia. If you mail me a letter it will probably take between two weeks and a month to arrive. I will likely have a P.O. Box at a post office for most of my service, save the training period, and will only be able to check mail as often as I can by riding a mountain bike a potentially lengthy distance to the nearest town where my P.O. Box is located. Packages are okay to send they just might take a little longer to arrive, as a matter a fact letters and packages from people at home will likely be a welcome sight during my service so I encourage it! I will of course do what I can to send you some things in packages and write plenty of letters.

(Thanks to 'Outsideinnovation.blogspot.com)

Item 4: (Last Item for today but there are a zillion other things I want to put here)

I will be living in a mud-brick hut with a grass thatched roof. NO Electricity, NO running water, Pit latrine, out-door cooking, the works! I have heard that getting used to that life-style is easier than it sounds. I plan to keep an open mind and confront every situation as best I can. So, NO I'm not afraid of living in the Zambian bush. I will likely live some miles from the nearest town so I will be doing a lot of bicycle riding on dirt roads whose condition may be questionable. One really cool thing: I've heard most anything will grow in Zambia because of its favorable climate. I plan to plant a garden and see what comes of it. Additionally, I may just be able to make the area around my hut look nice by installing some aesthetically pleasing plants nearby!

Anyway, there's a volume and a half more that I could write but I'll hold off for now. I'll post some more stuff later (no time guarantees this time!). Have a great day!

Peace and God Bless!

Degree!!!

Hey there! Well, today was another exciting day! I've been waiting on my final grade to come in for my degree to be officially awarded. After a good long wait, my grade was submitted this morning! I immediately called the graduation office at UAF to inform them. The graduation coordinator, Emily Thielke answered the phone and I told her that the grade had been posted. Her response: "SWEET!" literally, that's what she said! I was already jumping for joy and then she said, "Okay, what's your student I.D." I gave it to her and then I heard her typing on a computer in the background... "Alright, I am awarding you your degree, I'll have it printed and mailed to you soon!" After I got off the phone with her, I signed on to my UAonline account which has a lot of information including an electronic version of my transcript, on the top of my transcript were the words: Degree Awarded - Bachelor of Science ... Degree Date: 8/20/2008. The reason that the degree date is 8/20 and not 10/8 is because I applied for summer graduation and that is the date printed on all summer graduation diplomas and transcripts. Technically, I completed the work for my degree on 9/16/08. Either way, I completed my Bachelor's degree before my 20th birthday! Wahoo!

In case you're wondering, I ended up with 150 credits. I completed this in three years which means an average of 50 credits per year, 25 credits per semester, or 17 credits per semester if summer is considered as an additional semester. I CLEPed out of 18 credits, credit by examed an introductory geology course, and completed around 20 credits per semester beginning with the Fall of 2006 - Spring of 2008.

Anyway, I'll write more about Peace Corps, Zambia, and everything else soon. God Bless you all out there. I give thanks to God for his grace, mercy, and bountiful blessings, and among those blessings are all of you! Peace be with you... until next time.

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS