23 July, 2018
15:15
After months of research, writing, and preparing, it is finally time to begin my exploration of Europe and residential sustainable practices. Who would have thought that what started as a joke saying I could apply to a scholarship and get funded to travel to Sweden would actually become serious and happen? 2018 has been a whirlwind of crazy. Right after Christmas 2017, I was planning to go to southern California to do a conservation program in a warm, sunny area despite being in the middle of winter. However, as the New Year neared, I ended up getting sabotaged by my body and had to have an emergency surgery for a meckle diverticulum. The recovery from the procedure kept me in the hospital until 4 January and on a 10 Ib weight limit until Valentine’s Day, which meant I need to find a new job.
After one or two frustrating months of writing numerous applications, résumés, and cover letters to city governments, non-profits, universities, and other potential employers I was interviewed by and accepted an internship with the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa as a biology intern. The internship lasted from late February through mid-May. It wasn’t as active as the conservation corps program would have been and not nearly as warm, but it was an amazing experience. I stayed with Prairie City UMC’s pastor Willy Mafuta. Pastor Willy was an awesome housemate and definitely kept busy as a small town church pastor. I learned that he was from Congo and was planning to depart Prairie City for a year to go on sabbatical, travel, and work on publishing a book or two. Pastor Willy and I stayed at the church’s parsonage which was located 2 blocks from the church, and a ten-minute commute to the refuge’s learning center where most of my work was done. During the internship I worked with so many great people! My boss, Karen Viste-Sparkman, was very easy-going as long as everything got done and was always very knowledgeable and helpful. Karen’s only other intern, Myriam, was super fun to work with and had years of experience working in Canada (where she is from) and was always trying to figure out ways to improve how things were being done. Throughout the internship, Myriam and I did an array of activities such as cleaning seeds, growing seedlings, transplanting, surveying bison and elk, and collecting bison samples. During my internship, Karen allowed me to network with other people working at the refuge and also take phone calls so I could do interviews for my summer job.
During the first half of the summer I was employed by WisCorps, the Wisconsin Conservation Corps. I originally applied to be a crew member, got hired as the assistant crew leader, and eventually became the crew leader. During the session, my crew and I installed 2 pollinator gardens, stained a bridge railing, edged gardens with cobblestone, moved river rock into window sills, built trails, weeded, redid a horse stall, and had fun. I became comfortable driving a Ford Excursion, pulling a flatbed, and securing things via ratchet straps. Our crew became close and shrunk as the session went on. Initially we had 6, but within a 24-hour timeframe our crew leader quit and so did a crewmate for different reasons. After I was promoted to being a crew leader, I learned it can become stressful to be in charge of people you’re living and working with 24/7, especially since it’s difficult at times to encourage people to spend equal amount of time talking to everyone in the group in order to prevent people from feeling left out. Speaking of being left out, we got out of the house (see what I did there?) for fun things like going to the farmers’ market, hiking Grandad’s Bluff, touring Decorah, thrift shopping, and going on a canoe ride at Perrot State Park. It sounds like although I was not good at operating the work phone, I did a good job because I was told they would give me a letter of recommendation if needed and that they would welcome me back in the future. They asked me a few times to stay on for the second session, but all were supportive of me adventuring Europe instead.
Somehow, we’re now here. I am sitting in the Moline International Airport waiting to fly to Chicago. My flight has been delayed 20-30 minutes. Writing this entry has been keeping me from getting too nervous as it sinks in that this will be my first international flight and will be over a giant ocean. It’s all good. I feel like planes are safer than the ships my ancestors came to the United States on. It is now 16:10. 44 minutes until the first leg to Chicago.
18:53
I have safely arrived at Chicago O'Hare and was able to find a calmer and quiet hallway located between gates E6 and F9-F28 of one of the terminals.The flight to Chicago from Moline was one of the quickest ones I have ever had - only a half hour long! It also felt quicker because I had the rare circumstances of being seated next to an interesting and social person! We both started out not talking as the plane loaded with other passengers but right before the safety talk started I commented on her nails which were noticeably done for some kind of occasion. She took that as an opportunity to tell me how she was returning home to Seattle, Washington after an enjoyable vacation to Moline. She said her stay had its awkward moments - namely the first couple hours of meeting her boyfriend's parents. As we took off, we both compared traveling adventures. She came from a military family and now traveled a lot for work as a technology consultant. When I mentioned I was going to Oxford, she told me I should visit the gravesite of C.S. Lewis who is apparently buried there. When I mentioned I was going to London, she told me about her theatre background (which includes an associate's degree) and how I should visit the Globe Theatre. I also learned she would be a good random trivia night partner as she proceeded to tell me that the currently Globe Theatre is the third of its name and how one of the older theaters burnt down as a result of a guy's pants getting ale spilt on them and starting on fire. As the flight began to land, we discussed accents and she told me and demonstrated for me that she learned to do a Brooklyn accent when she was in school for a play, which she perfected by speaking only in an accent for 2 days straight despite her parents not wanting her to.
24 July, 2018
22:!6
What is up with airline food? Well, if you travel all day and your latest flight (around dinner time) gives you a free sandwich then you can say you had a tasty dinner. That airline food made me feel justified only seeking out ice cream for food when I arrived at my lodging. It was delicious and licorice flavored.