My younger sibling, Lem, came to visit Erin and me last week! After working long and hard to finish up school at the University of Pennsylvania Lem is about to graduate! As a mini vacation prior to starting a service trip they came to visit us. Erin and I had completely forgotten that our anniversary…
Contract #10 – Portland, Oregon
Heres a few fun things we have learned about our new home state and city so far: Due to the weather Portland (and most of the PNW) is VERY mossy. As a result there are whole companies just dedicated to moss removal on peoples houses to help things last Portland, like many big cities, is…
How Expensive is Stuff in Antigua Guatemala?
So what’s the daily shopping/living experience in Antigua like? Right now, one dollar USD equals 7.85 Quetzales (the local currency). First of all, let’s address the elephant in the room. Antigua is the historical colonial capital, seat of European power, and a designated UNESCO heritage site. What this means is that Antigua is not representative…
Overnight Hiking Trip on an Active Guatemalan Volcano
This past weekend I did an overnight trek and climbed two volcanoes! Fuego is active, and spews volcanic rocks and ash every 15-20 minutes. Acatenengo is currently dormant, and is where Basecamp was located. The volcano on the left is Fuego (active) and the one on the right is Acatenengo (dormant) The trip started with…
Volcanoes and coffee in Guatemala
The journey to “el volcan Pacaya” began at around 5:30AM, when I got picked up in order to transfer from one bus to another. Then we went around Antigua for about 1.5 hours picking up other people. This was definitely the least enjoyable part of the tour, due to the cobblestone streets… One of their…
My first week in Guatemala
Hola! As many of you know, I (Patrick) am currently in Antigua Guatemala studying Spanish in an immersion program. I arrived a few days ago, and have finally started to feel settled in- at least a bit. I took a flight from Philly to Atlanta, and then from Atlanta to Guatemala city. Upon landing there…
Alaska to Pennsylvania Road Trip
Erin and I have been back home in PA for about two weeks now, having completed the long LONG drive back from AK. In total, it took us 11 days. We took two rest days: one in Jasper (Alberta-Canadian Rockies), and one in South Bend (Indiana). This was by far the longest road trip we…
Yurt Stay in the Alaskan Wilderness
We were holding out for a good weather weekend for one last big trip while we are here in Alaska. We didn’t get the perfect weather we were hoping for… but we did get a last minute yurt cancellation so we could enjoy a cozy night and stay dry during the rain! There are lots…
Seward Alaska
This blog post is all about Seward Alaska! Seward is a port town located in a deep fjord off the gulf of Alaska called Resurrection Bay. Looking out towards the bay from Seward, Alice mountain is on the left, and Mount Marathon is on the right. These two mountains are what create the fjord. Seward…
Family Visit and COVID Round 2
My family made the long trip to visit us in Alaska at the beginning of August! (Yes we are very behind in blogging). They spent a few days exploring from Anchorage before I picked them up to explore the Kenai Peninsula. We took our time driving and stopped frequently to enjoy the sights. There was…