For the want of a doppelganger

So, all week on Facebook, people have been changing their profile pics to celebrities that they may (or may not, in some ridiculous cases) look like. This is Doppelganger week, my friends. And yes, you would be right if you think it sounds annoying and a waste of time.

However, as a true product of my generation, I enjoy procrastination and silly efforts to entertain myself on the most surface/non-thinking level...

So anyway, I went to www.myheritage.com to generate my own list of celebrity doppelgangers. In the past, I've been told that I look like Karen from Will & Grace.

(She's the one on the right. I definitely don't look like Madonna. Photo from gothamist.com)

But that might just be because we both enjoy martinis, talk loudly, say what we feel, and have lovely dark brunette hair. ;)

So to see who else I might look like, I submitted this photo of myself:

 

And here's who they said I looked like: 

Believe me - I'm ridiculously flattered to be compared to Scarlett Johansson and Katherine Heigl, but come on, let's be real. I don't look anything like them.

But what I find the most interesting about these results is that two of my doppelgangers are from China and Japan, respectively. Who knew I had a bit of an Eastern Rim look to me? Whatever! I'll take it!

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NEWS ALERT: Kansas education actually gets some good press! ;)

Mama Mona (Manager of the K&M Ranch in Southeast Kansas) sent me the following email today:

"Oswego’s Neosho Heights Grade School is one of the top ten finalists in the nation for a library makeover, and they need everyone to spread the word because the winner will be determined by the number of votes they get.  You can vote once from each e-mail address.  Please go to  http://professional.us.acer.com/edu/LibraryMakeover to place your vote.  They are the only school from Kansas, so I think it would be nice if we supported them."

I didn't go to Neosho Heights Grade School (I'm a Meadow View Falcon, baby!), but I'm happy to support Kansas education in any way I can. (Including voting absentee for 6 years of college and grad school to help get a new tax approved to build a state of the art high school. But that got rejected everytime...silly Kansans.)

A little known fact about Southeast Kansas, is that it's one of the poorer regions of the state with the number of families utilizing social service assistance above the state average. So, if you get a moment, please help support rural education and vote for Neosho Heights to win the Acer library renovation. 

And, if you're in the market for a computer upgrade yourself, check out these deals on Acer Laptops. :)

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Going sans alcohol & meat for February 2010!

Yep, that's right all you cats and kittens. This Kansan rancher's daughter is giving up the hard stuff and the meat stuff for one whole month. We'll just ignore the fact that it's the shortest month of the year. ;) As part of my Niner Project, I'm giving up all alcoholic beverages for one month. I had also planned to go vegetarian for a month, so I thought I'd do two for one (after all, February is the month of the President's Day sale).

I didn't decide on the alcohol Niner because I drink too much or because I have a problem...in fact, I think I'm a pretty responsible drinker. Regardless, I can also recognize that even a little alcohol isn't always great for your health or your organs and its about time I went through a little detox to flush out all those toxins. And hey, I might lose some weight if I'm not drinking a couple of beers each weekend. :) Bonus!

The vegetarian thing really has nothing to do with any kind of moral or ethical issue that I have with eating other animals - I haven't read all those scary books about the meat industry. I'm just going to stay in my delusional world where I believe that all cows live a lovely happy life chillaxin in a wide open pasture like the cows on K&M Ranch. This Niner really came from my motivation to know what it feels like to eat more like a caveman - just fruits, nuts, and vegetables. However, since this is my Niner Project, I'm going to take a few liberties in how I define vegetarianism. First, I won't be eating any meat, so no fish, poultry, beef, pork, or four legged creatures of any kind. I will, however, allow myself to eat eggs and dairy products. Gotta have my morning latte. :)

So I guess all these guys are just going to have to wait until March. See ya fellas! To be honest, I think the "no meat" thing will be way more difficult than the "no alcohol" thing. Stay tuned for my attempts at vegetarian cooking. And at the end of the month, I'll give you my before and after weights (I'm prolly going to regret this), so stay tuned.

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Picture of the Day 122: Mama & Papa Chuc..."Is this a problem?"

One of the best parts of our trip to Belize is that we all stayed with host families for 8 nights during our time in San Ignacio. We each stayed with families that were unique, quirky, and helped us to create personal connections with the people of Belize - something we would have missed staying in a hostel.

Let me introduce to you my homestay "parents," Mama and Papa Chuc:

 

They've been married for 40+ years, have nine children and have been hosting foreign students for over 20 years. Mama Chuc speaks intermediate-advanced English; Papa Chuc thinks he speaks intermediate-advanced English (but actually it's about beginner level). :) 

My homestay homies (two students named Jake and Jeremy) and I enjoyed a daily breakfast cooked by Mama Chuc that usually comprised of a bowl full of fresh fruit including pineapple, papaya, oranges, and bananas. Then she would really make sure we didn't go hungry by giving us a heaping mound of scrambled eggs with tortillas, fritas, or johnny cakes (don't ask me what that is...some kind of biscuit thingy). 

Then she would hand us a sack lunch to take to our service site. This usually consisted of a bologne sandwich with lots of mayo and mustard. I didn't have the heart to tell her that bologna and mayo both gross me out, so I usually participated in our daily blackmarket of sack lunch items swapping bologna for a burrito, a cookie for a banana, or whatever.

Then we would come home in the evenings to a house full of spicey aromas and a plate full of hot rice with savory chicken, beans, vegetables, and the like. Mama Chuc, you're the best!

FAMILY PHOTO

Back: Jake, me, and Jeremy

Front: Papa Chuck & Mama Chuck

 

About their names: No one in town ever called them anything other than Mama & Papa Chuc. In fact, if you called them by their first names, most people wouldn't know who you were talking about. But if you said "you know, Mama and Pap Chuc" everyone would say "yes, of course!!!!!". From what I could tell from their stories and comments, the Chuc's host foreign students both to supplement their income (since Papa Chuc is retired) and because Mama Chuc likes the company and likes to keep busy. All of their children are grown and married and Mama Chuc's profession is taking care of others. And she's very good at it.

Luckily most of their children still live in San Ignacio. In fact, two live on either side of them on the same block. Therefore, the Chuc house was always bustling with grandkids and kids coming and going. If you walked by, you'd hear Spanish, English, and Creole conversations and laughter echoing from the house. Let's me some of the famous Chuc family grandkids:

First there's Josh. He lives next door and constantly wants you to watch him ride his bike. 

 

Then there's Melody, a sassy little beauty who liked to give me lots of hugs: 

And finally, there's Harmony. He's probably sassier than his older sister. At six years old, he's a self proclaimed vegetarian who loves his food spicey spicey spicey. He was Jake's #1 fan.

 

Mama Chuc's spicey sauce! Just a couple drops of this and your entire meal will go up in flames. It was amazing! 

 

One reason we decided to go to Central America for this year's international AWOL trip is because the weather would be nice enough in the middle of winter for us to work outside (giving us more service project options). It also didn't hurt knowing that SD would be about -25 the entire time we would be gone. Well, like most of North America, Central America was having a record-setting cold winter with temperatures at night dipping into the 40s. And for a country where indoor heating is rarely used (and therefore never installed in homes), we had a few shivering nights. Regardless, enjoying days with the temperature in the mid-60s was fine by us (even though we'd hoped for the 80s). Anything's better than SD in the winter! Explaining this temperature difference to Mama and Papa Chuc wasn't easy. They were sure there would be people in Belize who would freeze to death with temperatures as low as - GASP! - 40 degrees! ;) To illustrate our point that it was way colder in South Dakota and that people can live through those winters, I had Papa Chuc try on my winter coat. It was hilarious! 

Here's me showing him how to put on gloves. Classic.

He's so freakin cute! 

 

To put it simply: In just nine days, we fell in love with the Chuc family!  

What a great way to spend our stay in San Ignacio, Belize.

The Chuc Estate

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Picture of the Day 121: Toilets, Sweet Tings, & TIB

One of the coolest parts of the orphanage/mud hut project is the fact that the site will be almost entirely self sustaining - complete with making their own compost for the crops they'll grow on site. We did our best to help out by using the on-site outhouse. Hey, we do what we can for the environment and sustainability. ;)

 

Even in just 10 days, we were able to create a few small traditions for our group. For instance, after a long day of shoveling mud, painting, or demoing a building, we liked to treat ourselves to a slice of cake at a little cafe in San Ignacio called Sweet Tings. It was a nice comfort of home...and they made a strong cup of coffee.

Me enjoying one of the few jolts of caffeine I had the entire trip to Belize. Oh coffee. I love you. 

 

We worked with an organization called ProBelize to organize our trip on site. Here's Adrian the program director. It was definitely a challenge for all of us to become comfortably with the "go with the flow," "everything will work out even if it all seems crazy disorganized" attitude of most Belizeans. A phrase we grew to loathe and love was "TIB! This is Belize!"

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Picture of the Day 120: Who's Hot for Mud Hut?

Today, out groups swapped service sites and I took my group out to Georgeville to help with mud hut construction; Jac-Attack took the other group out to Unitedvil to finish up the painting project. By the afternoon we were all back together working on the mud hut. Here are a few pictures of our adventures there:

Angela, our fearless student leader: 

 

The New Dorothy in action!

 

Yeah, the outfit isn't my best work, but i refused to buy new clothes for this trip and just used a mishmash of what I already owned. It's all in the trash now anyway...with paint and mud stains. :)

 

Look at that form!

Jake, one of the students, found a creepy big spider.

...then he killed it and proceeded to gross us all out with this move...

Progress on the mud hut! We plastered the walls and put in the loft window:

 

Our breakroom, mud hut style complete with water cooler for gossip-filled meetups. 

   

White shoes no more.

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Picture of the Day 119: You better Belize it! Painting Day 2

So our second service day in Belize resulted in our 18 person group splitting up for the day. Jac-Attack took eight students to the mudhut to help on that project. I took the other 9 students back to Unitedville to (hopefully) finish up the painting project. All I can say is that this group was awesome and remarkably productive. So productive that we ran out of paint other supplies and had to spend about an hour picking up trash (which there was a lot of) around the school grounds while the local organizers went to get more supplies. But spirits were high and I tried to entertain the group with some ridiculous charades. Note to self: Don't ever try this again. ;)

 

 

We got really lucky (and some of us a little sunburned) when the glorious, warm Belizean sun came out to greet us during our down time.

By the end of the day we had painted two coats of paint (top and bottom of the wall) in five classrooms and picked up tons of trash around the school yard. We had a great day, full of inside jokes ("Guuurrrrl, you paint good...") and blue and green paint everywhere. Don't stop Belizen'!

 

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Picture of the Day 118: Don't stop Belizen'...that this paint will KILL you!

Our first service day in Belize started with some group discussion and bonding on the roof of the ProBelize (organization that planned most of our projects in Belize) office building in downtown San Ignacio. It was also drizzling, overcast and unseasonably cool (for Belize). But we had a crew of gamers and they were ready for anything.

 

 

The plan for the day was to visit the site of one of the projects we'd be working on later in the week and then head to an elementary school  to do some painting.

We stopped to pick up supplies and then headed to Georgeville to the site of a yet to be built orphanage. There was another group there who had been in Belize for two weeks constructing what we loving refer to as the mudhut. It's a circular structure with walls made of recycled bags filled with a mud, clay, sand, dirt, manure mixture. When finished the mud-hut would be cone shaped, have a sleeping loft, two windows and a front door. The entire surface inside and out will be covered with plaster and over time the bags will disintegrate and the mud-hut will become a strong, brick structure. This particular mud-hut is the future home of the grounds caretaker for the orphanage. The orphanage will also be built in the same fashion, but be about 5 times as big and rectangular in shape. The entire project is meant to be completely self sustaining with a compost area that will serve as fertilizer for the crops that will be grown to feed all the children who will live there.

Here's what it looked like during our first visit:

Jac-Attack!

After our brief visit to the mud-hut, we headed to Unitedville to begin our painting project at the elementary school. First we had a to "clean" the walls, do some scraping, and then we got to the nasty business of painting the classrooms in some (almost obnoxious) bright colors with some lethal oil based paint. I'm guessing we all lost about a week off of our lives from the fumes. Here's how we progressed:

 

 

After getting the top half of the walls painted in the "lighter" color, we headed back to town for the evening. It was a long, dirty day, but it was awesome.

Stay tuned for Painting Day 2: The lower half of the wall. Dun...dun....DUN! :)

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Picture of the Day 117: Method to My (Packing) Madness

As you know by now, I arrived a day later than planned in Belize. But that's okay. The organization that helped plan our stay had another group arriving on Monday and let us hitch a ride with them from Belize City (on the coast) to San Ignacio (about 1 hour 45 minutes inland).

Before we left for the trip, I laid down some serious restrictions on how much baggage our students could bring. Yes, I know. I'm mean. But since we weren't sure what the conditions would be like where we were staying and since we wanted students to experience living with less, it seemed like a good rule to say that they could ONLY bring one carry-on bag and one personal item (like a purse). That was it. Absolutely NO checked baggage. Some of the students were nervous (and dare I say, even mad) about it, but they all were able to do it...and I would say had a better experience because of it. And hey, I held myself to the same standard

However, when we arrived a day late at the Belize City airport we met up with another group. This was a group of about 30 students from another university. They were also only staying 10 days in Belize, but here's what they brought:

Mind you, each person in this other group brought a large suitcase for just 10 days in Belize. All together, their pile of luggage started to look like this: Wowsers!

This is compared to what each of my students brought which looked a little something like this:

Yeah, they rock.

But I don't want to be a complete debbie-downer. The other group of future-nurses brought an additional large army duffel bag each full of medical supplies. Awesome!

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Picture of the Day 116: How to laugh your way through a scary situation

So today I left the Verm with my fellow trip leader (Jac-Attack) and 16 students on an international service-learning trip. As the study abroad person on campus, it's my duty (read: priviledge) to lead the international service-learning trip each winter break. This year, we're headed to Belize for 10-days of hard work and good times learning about social issues facing Belizean society, getting our hands (and whole bodies) dirty doing service projects, and hopefully, making some new friends. (Don't I sound all Leave it to Beaver!)

Like most international trips, this journey started off with a little drama and delay. First, we left the Verm at 3am in what most would describe as treacherous conditions (yes, i'm saying it again, Angela!): it was snowing/raining, windy, and VERY cold. Conditions only got worse as we got closer to Omaha (our departure city). I'm not going to pretend that I'm some kind of awesome driver and will just admit right here before God and everybody that I was not at all comfortable driving a 15 passenger van in a crazy northern plains storm with 10 sweet young lives in my hands. But hey, fake it until you make it, right?

The good news is we made it to the airport without any weather related incidents.

That's pretty much where the good news ends. About an hour outside of Omaha one of the students in my van (you know who you are and I heart you!) started to have really bad stomach cramps and aches. She was clammy, sweating, and had a fever. Conditions are treacherous, the student doesn't know what's wrong, but only that it's getting worse, and we're leaving on an international flight to a country with a less than stellar health care system. Conversation going on my head was something like: "Shit!"


But this is the part where if you don't really believe in God or a higher power or fate or anything, then well, you're dumb. It just so happened that the day before I had called the Omaha airport security to get the latest on checked/carry on bag rules, etc.(due to the recent Christmas day security craziness). So I got on my phone (yes, while driving, shush!) and got in my recent calls list and dialed them up. Told them I was about 20 minutes away from the airport and to have paramedics waiting at our airline checkin counter. I told the student to hold on...and got us there as fast and safely as possible. Sure, we could have pulled over and called an ambulance (but I think that would have taken longer)....sure, I could have driven her directly to the hospital (if I had known where that was)...but this is the decision i made in the moment. And it was the right one.

Jac-Attack got the rest of the group organized and ready to get through security and on the plane. I stayed with the student and the paramedics to figure our what to do. Oh yeah, the student was throwing up on the floor of the airport during all of this. Not pretty.

Since she wasn't in critical condition or immediate danger (so said the paramedics) they gave me directions to the hospital (about a 5 minute drive) and we headed to the emergency room. Got her checked in, looked over by a nurse and doc. The whole emergency room staff, at this point, knew we'd come from the airport and were missing our plane to Belize. Bummer. The student and I were sure we weren't going anywhere near Belize at this stage. While we waited for the doctor and various test results, I got on the phone with the airline to figure out our options for maybe, potentially, really-hoping-for a later departure to Belize that day. No luck. Only one flight to Belize each day on that airline. Double Bummer.

The student is feeling better, pain is going away. And we're both frustrated with the whole situation. Finally, the Doc comes back and says, "I think you passed a kidney stone." What?! For real?! Are you kidding me?! Ridiculous. The student and I just looked at each other baffled that something so small could cause so much havoc. And then the Doc said the golden phrase: "So yeah. We'll have you sign some paperwork and get you cleared to travel by tomorrow." Halle-freaking-lujah!

I get on the phone with the lovely people at the airline, got us rebooked (mostly for free)...got us a discounted night at a local hotel...and got on the interwebs to plan our late arrival in Belize and to catch up with the group. Deep breath and smile.

Ironically, our original flight that morning was scheduled to leave at 8am. And since this whole situation wasn't ridiculous enough already, that original flight was delayed about an hour. The student and I were checked out of the hospital at about 8am as well. After all that craziness, we could have still left with the group, but despite all my persuasive arguments with the airline, they wouldn't let us board that original flight. We had to wait to leave the following morning. So while the student and I took a nap at the hotel, the rest of the group was sitting on the tarmac waiting to fly out of Omaha. How's that for hubris?

So we were stuck in Omaha for 24 hours driving around a large 15-passenger van, getting stuck on side streets, trying to go up icy streets, and going through drive-thrus that were much too small for us...and seeing a movie (side bar: "Up in the Air" was okay).

The next morning we got up bright and early...headed to the airport...and began our journey to Belize...just the two us. I didn't laugh my way through this situation until I knew the student was going to be okay...up until then I was all "Business Brooke", which is appropriate when you're an adult (still coming to terms with this) and in charge. But after, once the student was laughing about the situation too, it became a nice bonding experience for us...and only the student will get this, but "We do what we want."

Here's a pic of me (the student I cut out to be nice) showing my discontent with the whole thing while eating my dinner of thai noodles out of a plastic bowl.

But hey...I'm headed to Belize. :)

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Picture of the Day 115: I'm going to Belize! AWOL 2010!

One of my (many) faults, is that I tend to procrastinate especially when it comes time to pack for a trip (near or far). So in true Brooker fashion, I began thinking about packing for my 10-day trip to Belize about 12 hours before we left for the airport. Since I've traveled a considerable amount, made every packing mistake in the book, and tend to mock those who are inefficient packers, here's my number one piece of advice when it comes time to pack for your next trip:

Lay everything out on your bed that you want to take. 

Look at it. Smile. 

Then put half of it back in your closet. 

Trust me; you won't need it. 

Here's how my loot looked after the "put half back" stage of the packing process:

And yes, I was able to fit it all in this back pack and messenger bag:

Leaving for Belize at 2.30am tomorrow! Happy new year everyone!

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Picture of the Day 114: I told you we like wine.

We replenished our stash with a little help from a St. Louis Trader Joe's run by Neighbor Dan and our own pit stop in KC after finding the best deal on our favorite bottle (of the moment).

There's lots to go around! Come on down! Cheers!

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Top 9 of 2009!

This has been a great year for me in many ways. The most notable, of course, is that I'm still living and breathing. Not an easy accomplishment when you see the mountains of snow and slick roads that surround me in South Dakota. So as most people do at this time of year, I'm looking forward and looking back, and taking stock of my life, accomplishments, experiences, and ridiculousness of 2009.

Without further ado, here's my top 9 of 2009...

9. Ran two 5Ks: Running two 5Ks might not seem like much to most people, but since these were my first 5Ks EVER, in my LIFE, they were a pretty big deal to me. Here I am on the last leg of the Vermillion Sesquicentennial Celebration 5k race. I wasn't first, but I wasn't last. So what that I'm crazy slow, crossing the finish line always feels incredible.

8. Learned how to wake board: Okay so I never stayed up on the board longer than 3 minutes, but at least I got up on that board and held on for dear life. Now I'm ready to take on Lindsey Lou down at Grand Lake next summer.

7. First visit to the Pacific Northwest: Seattle  
E and I used some frequent flyer miles to head to the Pacific Northwest in September We were able to kill multiple birds with this one stone: I completed #26 of my Niner Project, it was E's first visit up there too, we were able to visit our dear friends from Semester At Sea, AND cash in on my SAS Auction win to go to the Fish Cafe with the Keys. Look for more about our trip to Seattle in a future Travel Tuesdays post.

6. Purchased first high tech, fancy pants cell phone: The HTC Droid Eris
I like to think of myself as a frugal person. Perhaps because growing up, into college, and even into my adult life, I've always had to live on a budget (not struggling, but pinching pennies nonetheless). So since I got my first cell phone in 2001, whenever it came time to get a cell phone plan, re-up a contract, or move back to the US after living abroad, I've always opted for the free (read: basic) phone that either came with the plan or the free upgrade after so many years with a company. I'm cheap. What can I say? Well, after moving to South Dakota, it became very clear that I would need to change my current cell phone provider (T-Mobile) since the coverage was VERY spotty and I was constantly roaming. So after 10 months of hardly using my phone because of these issues, I finally ponied up and got a new plan and a new phone. But you can't teach an old(er) dog new tricks, and I persisted in my cheap frugal ways and got a FREE phone and found a deal (with the help of my friends at www.dealzon.com) with no Verizon activation fee. Score! But the cool thing about all this is that I was able to get a FREE fancy-pants phone: the new shiny and pretty HTC Droid Eris. It's got a touch screen and I can stalk all my friends on Twitter and Facebook from anywhere in the world! It's a little ridiculous to be so connected and even if I don't use those features all that much, it's nice to know I can if I want/need to. If you're looking for a good deal on electronics (or anything really), check out Dealzon! They rock my socks off. Thanks guys!

5. Added #20 to list of countries visited: Mexico
A dear friend of mine that I've known basically my whole life had a destination wedding at the beautiful Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico, in May. Now, this was my first experience with a purely touristy experience in another country. It was nice lying on the beach/next to the pool, sipping adult bevies, and catching up with friends. BUT after a few days of experiencing the glossy side of Mexico, I needed to venture into town and actually meet/talk to some locals. I convinced Lindsey Lou to make the journey (via city bus)  to town and walk around. It was nice, but still, an afternoon using the most bastardized and broken high school Spanish and hopping into the local market does not a true cultural experience make. So I feel like I need a Mexico re-do. Oaxaca anyone? ;)

4. Bought the coolest most awesomest car in the world: The Honda Fit
Some might say that E and I are little obsessed with our cutie-patootie little Fitty (that's what we named him...and yes, he's a boy). But come on! Look at him! Isn't that the cutest car you've ever seen? But if the cuteness of our ride doesn't convince you perhaps the 37 mpg average will. Puh-tow!

3. Watched my first friend get married. And by "first friend" I don't mean she's the first of a long line of friends to get married; I mean she was literally my first friend. We were 3 years old when we met. :)

2. Got a job in one of the worst job markets in history. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm pretty damn impressed that I was able to land a job upon returning to the US after working for Semester At Sea during fall 2008. You all may have heard about this little, tiny thing called a recession that reared it's ugly head some time in late 2008 -- just as I was updating my resume and sending out cover letters. Le sigh. Since I work in higher education, it was really depressing reading press releases and news articles about gazillions of hiring freezes taking place at universities across the country. I'd get so excited to receive an email from a hiring manager only to find out that she/he was just informing me that they were no longer filling the position. Double le sigh. But persistence is half the battle sometimes and I continued to apply for dozens of jobs, ended up with quite a few phone interviews, and a surprising amount of campus interviews. But the University of South Dakota was the lucky winner. Thank you USD for making sure I could feed and clothe and house myself for the whole of 2009.

1. Launched my Niner Project

As I explain on my Niner Project page, during the summer of 2009 I was tossing around the idea of starting a doctoral program. But after thinking about it and weighing the pros and cons (yes, I had multiple drafts all over the house), I decided that I was sick of doing the next, seemingly logical step in the course of an educated life. My life, to that point, had been dictated by my uncertainty of what to do next and always defaulting to the socially accepted (read: sounds good in an interview) option: get more education. Looking back, I probably should have taken a year off and taught English abroad (or something) for a year before going to college, and then after college I decided to go to grad school because I didn't know what else to do, and now when I'm working in a field that I'm passionate about but not certain I want to do it forever, I found myself thinking, "Well, if you don't know what else you want to do, perhaps you should get a doctorate." Vicious, vicious cycle. So I decided, ENOUGH, and instead decided to create a project for myself outside of traditional structures. And here you have it, ladies and gentlemen, my Niner Project.

What were the highlights of your 2009?

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