Where in the world should Brea go next?

At 27 and single, I feel that it is my duty and privilege to travel the world. I was counting up my states and countries I've visited, and I realized that for the first time in my adulthood my state list is longer. That needs to change.

States I've visited (not including airports)

1. Washington
2. Oregon
3. Idaho
4. Utah
5. Wyoming
6. Montana
7. California
8. Nevada
   
9. Texas
10. Virgina
11. District of Columbia (it counts)
12. New York
13. Pennsylvania
14. Arizona
15. New Jersey (I drove through it, so I guess I need to count it)
16. Maryland (Liz reminded me we went there together)
    

Countries I've visited

1. United States
2. Canada
3. Germany
4. Austria
5. Switzerland
6. Italy
7. The Vatican (like DC, it counts)
8. Ukraine
9. Poland
10. Mozambique
11. Barbados
12. South Africa (I have a stamp in my passport, but didn't really visit)
    

As the list shows, I need to add some more countries. To remedy this, I have decided to work on planning another trip. I have opportunities and reasons to go, now it's just all about funding. Here are some of my options.


Germany: visit Oma and other relatives. I know Oma would love to see me and I would love to see her. A visit to Oma also means a visit to Switzerland, Germany, and many other places as well. I'm looking at going north this time and seeing northern Germany and Denmark.


Cape Town, South Africa: I have just started my graduate project which is analyzing qualitative data from a hygiene project that has been going on in Cape Town for the past few years. As of now, I'm doing the analysis in Provo, but I'm sure I could come up with a reason to go to S. Africa for further research.

Sweden: After visiting Oma, I would like to travel with Alison up to Sweden where her family will be living for a month or so this summer. I think it's important to do family history and I know that we have Swedish roots. From Northern Germany and Denmark, Sweden is just a hop, skip, and a jump, plus I have a place to stay and people to stay with. Alison also has some crazy plans in the works to hop over to England and Scottland to finish a bike ride she started years ago while on a study abroad in London. She wants me to come with and I want to go.

Peru: I started working on a project that would take me to rural Amazonian Peru to do research in a small village. I have a professor who would like me to go test a survey instrument that has been developed to assess a community's water, hygiene, and sanitation facilities. This project has been delayed for now, but if funding becomes available, then myself and 2 other MPH students who speak Spanish would come with me. And while in Peru, we can't miss Machu Picchu.

Any suggestions? Any other places I should consider for 2010? I'm thinking of adding Ukraine (after the Temple dedication sometime in 2010) and Hawaii. Happy Travels to me!

NYC

Welcome to New York City!! This was my first time to the Big Apple and I loved it. I did not get enough time, didn't get to eat at any famous places, but I did get to feel the hustle and bustle of the city. I love the fast paced, super busy pulse of the city. I went to NYC with two of my classmates for a weekend before heading to Philadelphia for a public health conference. I spent two full days in the city and got to see some sights.

Me in NYC!

Me with Lauren and Alisha (2 fellow MPHers) on the Brooklyn Bridge. We were there the day after the Yankees won the World Series, so there was a parade to honor the team earlier in the day. We got to the city just after the parade was over and walked through the aftermath. The parade route went right by the Brooklyn Bridge.

Central Park

More Central Park...isn't there a song, "I recall Central Park in Fall...." If I knew the words, I'd post them for you. If you do know them, you can just sing right along. The park was beautiful and filled with fall colors. People were out running, walking dogs, and enjoying the fall crisp weather. It was seriously BEAUTIFUL!!!

Broadway- We saw West Side Story. It wasn't my first choice, but the tickets were cheap and I wanted a Broadway experience. I'm still sad about not seeing Wicked or Lion King, but as a student, I just don't have that kind of cash. Next trip. All in all it was a fantastic trip and I am eager to head back east again soon!

City of Brotherly Love

I went to Philadelphia the first week in November for a Public Health Conference (American Public Health Association). Some of my classmates were presenting and we all got funded to some degree to come out for the conference. I was pretty excited that this year's location was in Philly. It was my first time to the city and it's a pretty cool place. The original downtown is fairly well preserved and Independence Square sits right in the middle of the city. As you walk the streets you can see Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, old Quaker meeting houses, Benjamin Franklin's grave, a Masonic Temple, and more. Here are a few pictures of my trip in Philly.

This is me in front of Independence Hall. This is the location where the Declaration of Independence was signed as well as where the Constitutional Convention took place. It's pretty remarkable to think of what conversations and debates took place in this building. I still have a firm belief that every American citizen needs to visit the places where our initial founding took place. DC and Philadelphia are musts!!

The Liberty Bell with Independence Hall right behind.

This is in the Constitution Center, which is an interactive museum of early American political history. The center starts with a dramatization that talks about the Declaration of Independence and the drafting of the Constitution. It goes through the different struggles for freedom from all the different groups throughout American history. The last exhibit is walking through a room of delegates (like the Benjamin Franklin statue here) at the signing of the Declaration of Independence and then you can sign your name on the declaration...which I did of course.

A couple of my classmates met up with a friend who is studying at Princeton and came down for the evening to join us for dinner. Yeah for friends!

Vacation and eating go hand in hand and on this trip I got to try my first authentic Philly Cheese Steak and Falafel. The cheese steak was pretty good, but I definitely couldn't eat one of those every day. Falafel is a middle eastern sandwich/wrap, which I enjoyed. Sorry no food pics. I would definitely come back to Philadelphia and spend some more time exploring the city.

Fall Adventures: East Coast to West Coast

I recently got reprimanded for not posting anything since my last adventure. I was kindly reminded that my adventures do not have to be international for them to count. So, I am making an effort to update everyone on my whereabouts for the past 3 months. Most of my time has been in Provo, but I have made a few trips.

LABOR DAY: LAKE POWELL with MPH COHORT

Lake Powell was incredible. I can't get enough of the sun, so the lake was perfect for me. I skied, wakeboarded, and attempted to surf (I did get up, but it was tricky). We also spent lots of time eating and just hanging out on the houseboat. Now that I've experienced warm Lake Powell (and warm Caribbean Sea), I'm not sure I can go back to the cold lakes in WA or have as much fun playing in the water at the Oregon Coast. You have to learn to enjoy different aspects of each place.

Sorry, I only have one picture. To see more from our trip, visit the MPH blog mphcohort7.blogspot.com

WASHINGTON D.C.

We took a bike ride to Eastern Market and had a fantastic pancake breakfast.

DC Temple

Standing at the Memorial Amphitheater at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery. I started working on my speech for when I deliver it here in this amphitheater. Liz made fun of me, but I thought I had a pretty good start. I'll let you know when it's ready.

Chris and I hung out and did some more bike riding through Capitol Hill and around the District. We also visited the Monuments and did some other "DC musts".

Teresa and I were able to reconnect after a few years of not seeing each other. Teresa and her cute family just moved from Boston and are temporarily in DC before moving to Texas at the beginning of the year.


BIRTHDAY WEEKEND IN SAN FRANCISCO

Awesome roommate reunion in San Francisco. Steffany had been in Utah for the past few weeks and needed to drive back to California. Alison and I volunteered to drive with her for the weekend and fly back. Here we are hanging out at Fisherman's Wharf. We ate yummy clam chowder bowls and fresh crab while enjoying a BEAUTIFUL day in San Fran.

Me and Alison at the Oakland Temple where you can walk around on top. The view is gorgeous!

Just smelling the flowers! (Whitney and me)

Picture taking is always a blast!

Best Friends (and lots of wind)

Beautiful Temple
(and again, notice the wind)

Roommate Reunion

Birthday Celebrations

Whit and Steff invited half their ward over to celebrate MY birthday! So, really, I'm sure people came to socialize and for dessert, but either way it was a blast and I thoroughly enjoyed the attention. Whitney even made me an ice cream cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream-YUM!!! I had an AWESOME birthday weekend and loved every minute of it!

Stay tuned for the next adventure: NYC and Philadelphia....

Ahhh, the Blessed State

It's been a few weeks since my last post and since then I've been in Utah, Idaho, Montana, Idaho again, and Washington. I guess I only drove through Idaho and Montana, but that's enough for me. It's a little crazy being back and I miss the carefree days on the beach and baking in the sun. I've been home in Spokane for the past week and wondering if it is really August as I look out the window and see rain and 64 degrees. I'm hoping summer will be back in full force in Utah.

Being home is pretty good and I'm still working on saving the world by playing with many nieces and nephews who are invading my house. I love the chaos and really believe that my family is the cutest. Life is a bit different here than the Caribbean, but relaxing just the same. My days are filled with eating, eating, walking, eating, movies, playing, more playing, and lots of talking--it's fantastic!

I'm not exactly sure when my next adventure will begin, but for now, I'm content to continue my saving the world efforts at home.

Farwell to Barbados

I'm at a loss of what to say....

My time in Barbados is over. I cannot believe that I am flying back to Utah tomorrow. I definitely have mixed feelings about leaving. The weekend has been a blur, my busiest weekend yet. Friday, I finished the internship, Saturday, I went to an all day picnic on the Atlantic coast, Sunday church and Bridgetown Market, today Cropover and beach. I started out my last day with a sunrise run on the beach, followed by watching the Cropover parade on TV (quite scandalous, if I do say so) and finished by spending the afternoon at the beach. I even have sun kissed shoulders and face (though I did apply sunscreen...twice). I tried soaking up all the sun and surf I could. I love swimming in the warm Caribbean Sea. I find solace in the beach, it is my sanctuary, and I will miss it. I had a tough time walking away from it not knowing the next time I will see it.

Barbados, I will miss you. Goodbye.

Last day at PAHO

Woohoo!!! Today was my last day at the Pan American Health Organization, and I went out with a bang! It was a super busy day and here are some pics from my last days. I finished my report, made visits to the hospitals and clinics, and had my evaluation interviews. Busy Busy! Good thing I burned the midnight (and early morning) oil to get everything done.

Outside the PAHO entrance. I walked out there by myself and asked this woman waiting for the bus, she said she didn't know how to use a camera, but then asked some younger girls who were walking by. They were kind enough to help me out.


This is me in front of the PAHO office. The building is pretty nice and the grounds are beautiful. I was looking at some pictures I took at the beginning of my internship and saw how much greener everything is now. The grass is super green and the trees and plants have grown and blossomed. The rain may be inconvenient at times, but it sure helps everything to look beautiful!


Notice the tag on the back of the chair. There were some wheelchairs in the front lobby of the hospital and it looks like they were all dontated by the Church! Good PR move...it led to some discussions on the Church's humanitarian efforts.


These are two nurses at the polyclinic, which is a free government health clinic. Healthcare is free in Barbados, but people have the option of going to private clinics if they choose, and if they can afford it, most do. The care is generally better and more efficient in the private sector. Hmmm.....gets you thinking about health care reform. Do we really want a government run health care system? There are advantages, but do they outweigh the costs? The nurse on the right showed me around the clinic and answered all my questions. One interesting point she talked about was noncompliance with medication. Many people get the medication, which is free, and continue to refill the prescriptions regardless if they took all the pills just so the doctor assumes they are taking the meds. Her mother for example, would empty the box and ask her to get more medication for hypertension. When the doctor realized her blood pressure wasn't going down, he prescribed a second medication. About a year ago, a new policy was implemented that required you to pay for a second medication. The nurse said her mom now takes the medication regularly because she didn't want to pay for the second prescription. I thought about how if something is free, people don't appreciate it, and will abuse the system. I think healthcare should be accessible, but who said it should be free? Food isn't free. Housing isn't free. Education isn't free. Why should health care be free? Just thoughts....

Farewell to PAHO. You will be missed.