1 Month and Counting

Today is the 1 month mark before my journey to Mozambique with the Peace Corps starts. I haven't heard from them yet about scheduling my flight though, so hopefully everything will come together smoothly in the next few weeks and my trip won't be delayed again...

The past month has flown by in two shakes of a lambs tail. Ricky, Ronak and Carmen have all come back from their extended trips abroad and we've all been getting fat going out to dinner/ice cream celebrating their return and the end of the summer ("we" implying "I"). With school starting back up this week everyone has been getting accustomed to their new schedules and trying to readjust to the workload after a summer of no classes... fun!

For the past several weeks my dad, my mom, Billy and I have been going across North Central Florida exploring various springs and isolated spots along the Santa Fe and Suwannee Rivers. One of our favorites spots is a track of land on the Santa Fe river in Gilcrist County that my Great Grandmother sold to the state in the 90's in order to keep it preserved after she passed away. The last time we visited that spot I spent nearly 30 minutes running along the limestone shore of the river following a determined river otter who was bent on swimming upstream. After walking for a while and admiring the otter, I jumped in the river, swam out to the middle and let the river carry me back to where my family was waiting for me. While drifting along the river I gazed upstream at the undeveloped land which was encompassed by the preserved land that the state bought from my great grandmother and was almost moved to tears by the serenity and peacefulness of it all. I'm so glad that places like this are still plentiful and so easily accessible!

While my mom cruised with my sister down to Nassau one week and while she was getting her classroom ready for the start of school another week, my dad, Billy, and I had the chance to go and visit several county/state parks, including: Rum Island, Manatee Springs, Rainbow Springs, and Troy Springs. Manatee was one of my favorites because a manatee and its baby actually swam into the spring head from the Suwannee River, came right up to us and let me get close enough to reach out and touch it as it swam by. So cool!

As you can see from the panoramic photo below, however, Manatee Springs is definitely a destination worth visiting whether or not there is a manatee present. Although we didn't appreciate it at the time, you are allowed to swim directly on top of the spring's large water boil and dive as far down as you can before getting pushed back up by the literally millions of gallons of water being forced out from the ground.

Another picturesque park we visited was Rainbow springs (pictured below) where you can swim in ridiculously clear water (horizontal visibility of ~200ft) and walk around the park's famous gardens that were built when the state park was privately own and run as an amusement park during the first half of the 1900s.

This past week was both my mom's and Billy's birthdays and to celebrate we went down to Orlando to visit Disney. Jack, my mom, Billy, and I all rode down from Gainesville, while my brother drove over separately from New Smyrna (in my old jeep which is working well for him!... even though there is still no AC). We met up at Disney marketplace and all crammed into my mom's car and meandered through the backroads to the Magic Kingdom parking lot (escaping having to pay for parking). Disney was awesome!... as usual... I hadn't been in at least 2-3 years and it was sweet going with Billy and getting the "Billy pass" which allows our group to skip all the lines. We rode on all the classic rides (including the carousel of progress, much to Billy chagrin) and a few that I wasn't familiar with (philharmonic orchestra - which is a 3D theater adventure - SO COOL!). One of the best things about going with Billy is the fact that he loves the BIG rides. I think that we rode on Thunder Mountain railroad and Splash mountain like 4 or 5 times (see picture below) and we would have done the same with Space Mountain if it wasn't closed for renovations...

The past month has been AWESOME! It went by fast, but it was so memorable and makes me sad thinking about what I'll be missing while I'm gone for 2 years. I can't imagine how different my life would be now if I had left for Mauritania in June. I really appreciate everyone who has made this summer memorable and for all of those who make me excited about coming back home after my trip. Also, I'd like to thank you all who have taken the time to read this long blog post. Take care!

Start the Countdown, ASP, the Urgency of Now, and more

Yesterday marked the 2 month period before I leave for Mozambique. On that note, I can actually start thinking forward in terms of leaving the country and my countdown to departure for the Peace Corps can officially begin... again!

Things are shaping up pretty well for the departure too. This past week, Bryan was able to sell his car and now he has my car, so that's one thing less for me to worry about. This week I'm moving back into my Dad's house from the apartment downtown so things are sure to get pretty cramped with everyone living under 1 roof now... That said, it was a huge blessing to be given 2 months of free rent in Otto's room so I didn't have to be sleeping in such cramped conditions for the entire summer and it was really fun to be able to spend more time with Ricky and Serge. Thank you sooooo much Otto! I really appreciate it! We miss you here in Gainesville!

As I type this Ricky, Ronak, Carmen are all out of town so I'm pretty much just chilling around Gainesville working for Streetlight in the evenings without much else to do during the days. I just got back from spending the past week at ASP so the empty feeling of doing "nothing" is heightened because of how busy I stayed for the past week. I have been filling my mornings with guitar playing, reading news and I've even gone and done stadiums twice already since I got back from ASP.

Speaking of ASP, I'm going to spend the next few paragraphs talking about my experience this year... so hold on tight!

Like I mentioned above, I just got back from serving a week with the Appalachia Service Project through Trinity UMC in Dickenson County, Virginia. The trip was pretty sweet! This year Trinity sent about 55 volunteers and the group was then divided into works crews of 7 individuals with a few "floaters" who helped out where needed. My work crew was filled out by our team captain Charlotte, a recent high school graduate, the adults Allan and Anne (aka Mama Koon), and three youth, Jonathan, Ilan, and Chloe. This ASP trip was the first for Ilan, Chloe and Allan and I hope it was memorable for them. They did a great job and I hope that they were able to see and experience some things that will help them grow spiritually and emotionally like ASP has done with me.

The ASP staff in Dickenson County was really fun and cool to meet/get to know over the week while volunteering. I hope they enjoyed our presence as much as we enjoyed theirs (they honestly were some of the friendliest staff members we'd had the privilege of interacting with in the past several years). I believe that a lot of that comes back to the leadership of Mitch who was the center director in Dickenson. I have known Mitch for 2 years now dating back to his first summer on staff in 2007 and it was great to see him again! He is someone who has a very warm, welcoming, and yet calming personality and reaches out to others with God's love constantly. A great person to know and love for sure.

Going on ASP this summer was a very different experience for me because of the important distinction between Spring and Summer ASP, with youth leadership being a centerpiece during the Summer program. I was surprised to see some youth (not the youth on my team) complaining about others not having a good attitude, yet my team must have been very blessed because under the leadership of Charlotte everyone was able to stay positive, upbeat, and work hard for the whole week. Each one of us were able to contribute our personalities to balance out the group and make the week relatively stress free for everyone.

That said, I think that as the week was ending we were feeling the pinch of time because we knew there was plenty more to get done and at times we were getting caught up in construction too much. I know several times I lost focus on talking with Ms. Betty or her son Robert (the family members whose house we were working on) so I could focus solely on the construction. Likewise, we had to coach up Allan, a professional contractor, about the differences between the ASP construction site and a professional construction site back at home (markedly different with volunteer labor).

Coming back home from ASP is always tough. For a week you are surrounded by motivated, passionate individuals who are dedicated to making a difference in the world. Driving home and falling asleep in a comfortable bed on Saturday night far removed from the persisting needs of Appalachia is hard to reason. Looking ahead to my experience with the Peace Corps I know I will witness many more inequities and when I come home for medical school the feeling I have now will likely only be magnified.

In the meantime though, I've been thinking about my purpose for the next two months - what I hope to accomplish, what I need to get done. Thinking about this it seemed like a godsend that during Sunday's church service David Allen borrowed from a MLK speech and preached about "The Urgency of Now." Even though I have plans of service for the next two years starting in September and ultimately for the rest of my life, maybe it's time to get back involved with the here and now and try to eliminate that empty feeling I'm having right now.

So what am I going to do in the upcoming months? It's always a battle for me and I don't know exactly. Spending enough time learning and being a student so I can be well prepared for the future seems almost always in conflict with spending enough time being a doer so I am not constantly living in the future without accomplishing anything now. I reason that I need to spend a good chunk of time studying Portuguese and learning about Mozambique... but I want to do something more in the next two months. Any thoughts you guys?

I'll keep you all posted about my plans as I make them :-)

One Love,
Michael

Going to Mozambique

I'd like to thank you all for your support over the past several days/weeks as my future plans were put in limbo. As it turns out I got reassigned to serve in Mozambique as a Community Health Promoter starting on September 28th, 2009. I am really excited and can't wait to get over there.

I am glad that you all came by and checked out my blog with its new web address. Please continue to check the new blog for updates about my adventures in Africa with the Peace Corps!

Trip Canceled

The PC called and told me that that the Mauritanian government couldn't process the visas on time (and that it has "nothing" to do with the shooting in the capital yesterday..hmm). I just called and sent an email to the placement office to see if I can be placed in another country (South/Central America?!) towards the end of the summer! We'll see! Be praying for me guys...

Changing the World

I was riding my bike this morning around the UF campus and passed by two women who were sitting and watching their 3 young children as they played in the fountain immediately west of the chemistry building. The three kids were decked out in bathing suits (so obviously this was a planned event which makes it all the better). As I biked past, I thought to myself how awesome it was that these kids were having the time of their lives simply running back and forth through a fountain yelling and laughing at each other. Seeing the smiles on their faces, I tried to remember the last time I was THAT happy. As I thought back over weeks of studying French and just hanging around it came to me (playing football and swimming at Ricky's dad's farm earlier in the Spring), and although it wasn't very long ago, it had been a while. In fact, as I get older it seems that I perceive less and less of my life to be THAT fun.

I began to wonder at what age we lose that innocence, become a little more aware and concerned with the world around us, and start to have less and less fun, when at that moment I looked down at the naked handlebars on my bike and realized that the night before someone must have stolen my front and rear bike lights. My emotions immediately flared up and I forgot all about the happy kids that were playing in the fountain behind me. "How dare someone steal something from me", I thought, as if the person who did it was purposefully seeking to hurt me. My fall from reminiscing about childhood innocence back to an adult reality was quick, emotional, and it all occurred over something relatively trivial.

Although my initial reaction was that of anger, I quickly put it in perspective: this was about replacing something pretty cheap and the whole situation was arguably my fault (i.e. I left my lights on my bike outside overnight). I don't know who stole my bike lights and I bet I'll never find out. However, as I rethink what was going through my head at that moment and reflect on what emotions this simple act of unkindness produced inside me, I begin to see how blessed I've been throughout my life with plenty of "God Moments" to balance out life's painful memories. Even though I've had a good amount of "life's not fair moments", I can't even imagine having to deal with the amount of pain that the homeless people I regularly see outside my apartment complex have been dealt during their lifetime.

I think it is difficult to take this position in more complex circumstances, but as I sat there looking at my bike I made the conscious decision not to extend the hurt that someone had done to me and instead continue to reach out positively towards others. I am almost certain that the same person who stole my bike lights will continue to do other hurtful things to other people, but the growing roots of hateful acts that started a long time ago in this person's life and are continuing to negatively impact others will, in this case, stop here with me.

I'm not a bible scholar by any means, but I believe that much of the Old Testament can speak to us in metaphorical terms as well as literal. With all of this spinning around my head, I can't help but picture the story in Genesis with the idea of first sin in the Garden causing the fall of man. Although we can't ever go back in time and undue the "fall" of a person, we can move forward without spreading the hatred that is extended outward because of it and possibly start working with others on an individual basis to reduce the pain in the lives of people who are experiencing it. Although I don't think it's a healthy goal to try and revert back to the foolishness of childhood antics (aimlessly running through a fountain), I believe we all need to take each other a little less seriously, have fun, and constantly try to extend our love to those who it's not easy to love.

Thank for reading this long, random post. Feel free to leave your comments.

Tough Decisions

Life was a lot simpler a few weeks ago. I had spent the past 5 years studying for tests, volunteering in and around the health care system, and traveling the world trying to get myself into a good medical school which would allow me to defer my matriculation for 2 years while I went to the Peace Corps. Although my initial desire to go to South America hadn't materialized, I welcomed the opportunity and challenge of going to NW Africa to serve my 2 year commitment through the Peace Corps. Just two weeks ago everything had come together and I had a plan: I was leaving for the Mauritania on June 17th and getting back to start medical school at USF in August 2011.

However, a few weeks ago UF College of Medicine contacted me to let me know that I had been offered a spot in the class of 2009. Considering that I had already been told by some UF COM staff that they weren't going to let me defer for the Peace Corps and considering I had already committed to USF, the emailed notification of acceptance did little more than cause me to raise my eyebrows as I glanced it over. When I went in to let the UF admissions staff know that I would be unable to accept the position in their class the following day, the director of the admissions office informed me that they would now seriously consider a deferral request from me for the Peace Corps and that my commitment to USF wasn't as binding or significant as I had made it out to be in my mind.

I spent the next several days mulling the decision over in my head. I already had my mind set on attending USF and it took me a few days of thought and prayer to even seriously start looking at UF again as a viable option for me. I had spent the past 4 months since committing to USF trashing UF and convincing myself it wasn't the place for me: I needed a change of scenery, it would be good to broaden my academic horizons, my success as a doctor isn't about medical school rankings, my medical experiences being limited to Shands would give me a narrow perspective on practicing health care, etc. It took a lot of phone calls, meetings, and casual conversations for me to realize what even really matter most to me in the decision. It wasn't until I spoke with my family, friends, and the people affiliated with UF/Shands that I understood how much I wanted to remain close to my family and that the change I desired will still there for me at UF because of how different things will likely be after coming back from 2 years with the Peace Corps.

On Friday May 29th, I went to UF and gave them the paperwork and deposit that was required for them to consider my request for deferral. I anxiously awaited the news and finally, on Friday June 5th just 10 days before my scheduled departure for Mauritania, I got a letter in the mail confirming that they had granted me a 2 year deferral for the Peace Corps... Awesome feeling, amazing day...

Leaving the medical school decision behind me, I continued to get ready for my trip to Mauritania. Every day I spent time buying little things here and there, trying to gain as much weight as possible, practicing my French, and progressively saying goodbye to friends as they left town. Last night, June 8th i.e. less than 1 week before I was leaving for Staging, I got a call a Peace Corps representative letting me know that the trip to Mauritania had been delayed for the entire group of 60+ volunteers because the Mauritanian government hadn't approved any Peace Corps visas. The representative informed me that due to political turmoil surrounding the upcoming mid-July elections they haven't been approving any visas for some time now, but that the Peace Corps had hoped to get their visas through due to their good relationship with the government. A week before the trip was set to start and no visas yet processed, they finally felt it was time to postpone the trip. Although the Peace Corps person I talked to on the phone didn't give me any exact date, I heard from other future volunteers that they were hoping for an August 11th departure. We'll see! In the meantime, I'm going to try to meet up with Amy, the UF Peace Corps recruiter, and see if I can get nominated for a second program just in case this August departure date gets delayed even further... I'll keep you all posted as I hear things. I hope all is well!