Day 17 - Glacier National Park

This is a little bit out of order; we were in Glacier the day before Yellowstone. Both national parks are in Montana but are very different in climate, elevation, and foliage.

Getting ready for the day at Glacier, I felt tragically unprepared clothing-wise. Around 8 am I opened the hatch, licked my finger, and tested the weather as I do every day before going “downstairs” to get fresh clothing out of the luggage bay under the bus. A crisp, 47-degree wind swept by, turning my finger into an icicle in a matter of seconds. I flashed back to the night before the trip when I hastily threw a pile of short-sleeve tees and tank tops into my suitcase along with a couple sweatshirts; I limited my bottoms to several pairs of shorts and skirts, bringing only one pair of jeans and some lightweight cords. I mean, it’s summer right? Thinking I had only a chance of rain to fear, I quickly threw in a trench coat as I shoved a few bags into my car. In retrospect, this stylish yet exceedingly un-waterproof blazer was not the best choice for my one and only piece of outerwear.

After pulling the grey cords on over my sweatpants, I layered sweatshirt over tee shirt over long sleeve henley over tank top over microfiber tank top, secured my hoodie with two scarves, shoved my feet into light and breezy New Balances, and hoped for the best.

Unfortunately I was especially nauseas and carsick that day, so I opted for staying at the camp while a few of the others ventured out for a 29-mile scenic (read “windy”) drive around the park. Despite my best intentions, I spent most of the afternoon curled up in the car, keeping my head on the horizontal and trying, in all earnestness, to produce a much needed blog. It drizzled and then rained. The group’s whiffleball game was interrupted by a grumpy next-door camper and then the rangers, who kindly ushered us out of the camping area.

When the scenic drive group returned from the mountain they were ecstatic; I could feel that they had experienced something breathtaking and awe-inspiring. They assured me they had. Any place that can maintain a glacier through the summer is impressive in my book. I can’t wait to take that drive for myself someday.

But, before my next visit to Glacier I’m going to read up on the history of how it came to be recognized as a national park and research which areas of the park are best suited to the purpose of my trip. One thing I’ve learned during our visits to various national parks is that they tend to be grandiose and multi-faceted. A short scenic loop and accommodating campsite are great for families with young children and those prone to carsickness. A longer, windier, steeper road might require more endurance, but I’m sure the views of the glacier and surrounding landscape are more than worth it.

P.S. - This post really deserves some pictures. Unfortunately I haven't been able to upload photos from my camera since I misplaced the cord (along with my iPod charger and a variety of other items that seem to disappear easily). For now, check out Chris' photos -- he is our official trip photographer and has been sponsored by Canon USA with over $10,000 of great cameras and lenses.

Day 11 & 12 -- Los Angeles

The day kicked off with a blessing in disguise....the steep driveway of our hotel wasn't conducive with Big Mama's (our tour bus) parking needs. We drove around L.A. for another hour and a half (giving me a considerable amount of additional sleep) and ended up in Marina del Rey....at a hotel that was literally on the beach. We didn't spend much time there, but it was nice to come home at night to see the moon reflecting off the gently swaying little bay and lights flickering atop the sailboat masts a few hundred feet off.

Our first stop on Day 11 was CBS Studios; one of Chris' friends, Canaan Rubin, is a top producer of CBS' Entertainment Tonight and gave us a fantastic tour of the CBS complex. Did you know Seinfeld was filmed in L.A., on a fake street--the buildings were all a façade!?? I always thought it looked so genuine.

Here's Rashina in front of the facade street where Seinfeld was filmed; since Seinfeld went of the air it's been transformed into the set of another series--I'm not sure which.

Entertainment Tonight wasn't supposed to be filming the day that we were there, but Mary Hart (one of the ET anchors) had her family in town and they had the set all lit up for them. The camera crew were very generous with their time. They showed us how everything worked, answered all of our questions, and even took a group photo for us on the set!

I was surprised at how genuinely friendly and down-to-earth everybody at CBS was; there was no trace of the snobbish moviestar attitude with which I expected to be greeted. I was rather amused, however, when one of the fact-checker supervisors told us that ET differs from other news sources in that they report primarily on celebrities, but that they approach their reporting with all the seriousness and preciseness of any respected media outlet. I’ve watched the show on and off during the past 10 years, and I must say, I almost laughed when he said that. It was obvious to me early on that much of the show was based on speculation, or reading an entire story into one photo. But everyone in the whole complex seemed to enjoy their jobs; many had been there upwards of 20 years. Taking the tour confirmed some of the feelings toward the TV world that I developed during my internship at a local NBC affiliate….it’s not as glamorous as it looks!

We concluded our tour and then drove down to Santa Monica for a healthy lunch at Shoop's European Delicatessen (where I found Speculoos, my favorite Belgian cookie) and walked the block down to the beach for a little fun in the sun. I was so exhausted from the traveling though; as soon as I spread out my beach towel I went to sleep and didn't even go down to the water.

We drove down to Huntington Beach for an annual surf festival, had dinner at a great little Hawaiian place, and watched some amusing street performers. 5 or 6 young men in their early 20's had prepared a synchronized routine which consisted of break dancing, call-outs, big flips (over people), and clever means of asking for money. Their tagline was, “Stay in school, don’t do drugs.” I wondered if they were really concerned about school and drugs, or if they just thought it might earn them a few brownie points from parents, the ones with the wallets.

We spent an incredible amount of time in traffic during both days. As much I was bothered by carsickness and the inherent noise level of 12 people stuck in a small area, it was a good experience. I feel like I got a small insight into what it would be like to live in LA as opposed to just visit.

Day 18 - Gardiner, Montana / Yellowstone National Park

As we headed home from white-water rafting on the Yellowstone River and soaking in the Chico hot springs nearby, Andi and Ken gave us a little pep talk about media relations. We're all set to meet with The Today Show tomorrow and possibly some other news sources in the near future. Several students from the 40/40 group have already spoken with reporters from the San Francisco Weekly, Roswell's Daily Record, and most recently, the prestigious Chronicle of Higher Education. So we have a pretty good idea of what kinds of questions we might be asked, but it's always nice to get a little refresher the night before in order to keep certain ideas fresh on my mind.

Some popular questions have been:

• What has been the most inspiring moment on the trip so far?
• How is living 24/7 with 11 other people? Has there been friction between group members?
• What do you think it means to be an American?
• What experience are you most looking forward to?
• What are you hoping to take away from this experience?

Every time these questions have come up in conversation I find that I have a different answer. It depends on the time of day, the context, and my mood, among other factors, but I never fail to come up with something completely different from the last pondering. Today one question in particular stayed with me long after the discussion was over.

What has been the most difficult thing about this trip?

My immediate reaction was to deny any difficulty. That's how I cope when I travel. If I get sick, if I forget something, if disaster strikes, if my plans fall through, if I find myself in an uncomfortable situation--no matter what--I put on a smile and just don't allow it bother me. Period. To be able to do this--to be able to make my happiness independent from my circumstances--has literally been a lifesaver during past experiences overseas. My continuous optimism and good attitude made it possible to take advantage of numerous "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunities and really enjoy them despite some inconveniences.

But as I continued to think on the question, I realized that not everything on this trip has been easy for me. Our "tricked out" tour bus, the group of students/faculty, the itinerary, and the people we've encountered along the way have all been great. My difficulty has been personal, not thrust upon me by physical circumstances.

It was a hard thing to swallow when I finally realized that I haven't been fully experiencing the events of the past two weeks.

The whole routine of being in a new place and adapting to the culture and environment has become exactly that -- a routine. Since 2006 I've visited 20 countries and had amazing experiences in all of them. My goal has always been to "live like the locals" whenever and wherever I go. But I've started to take for granted the privilege I have to travel, to witness new places and new ways of life. During the past 18 days I've visited 17 different cities and gone through the motions of "exploring" them. It's been fun. But have I genuinely taken the time to seek out and appreciate the uniqueness of each place? For most of these cities, the answer is a resounding NO.

Thinking back, there have been plenty of warning signs. I was frustrated with my blogs; I wasn't feeling inspired to write as I usually do when I travel. I commented to several people that I felt like my blogs held nothing of value. And while their kind encouragement was genuine and much appreciated, I knew it wouldn't change the fact that I wasn't proud of any of my articles. My writing has lacked enthusiasm and true inspiration; each night I've struggled to piece together some coherent thoughts about the day. Were it not for the class requirements, I wouldn't have published any of these pieces except for my response to our day on the Navajo Reservation.

I could be devastated at how much of the trip I've seemingly wasted. But I'm thankful for having learned this lesson, and I'm looking forward to being fully present, physically and mentally, during the 22 days that lay ahead. Don't get me wrong, I fully expect to have setbacks, but I'm going to make a conscious effort.

These past blog posts will forever serve as a record of my embarrassingly bad first attempt to discover America, but everything's about to change.

Days 15 & 16 - Portland & Seattle

Even though I’m from Medford, only 5.5 hours south of Portland, I haven’t spent much time in our state’s biggest city. Every athletic Oregonian kid goes up to Portland for at least one sports event: I’ve done my share of swimming and gymnastics meets there, too. But I’ve never really gone out and explored the city.

We only had one day in Portland, and one in Seattle, so we didn’t have much time to see different areas of either city, but I thought it would be interesting to spend most of the day in one area and become somewhat familiar with it rather than jet all over the city with a brief stop here and there.

I saw Voodoo Doughnut featured on the Travel Channel and even though I guessed it would probably be pretty touristy, I decided that it merited a visit for our Saturday morning brunch. As we drove by the storefront, searching for a parking spot, I heard a lot of comments from the back seats about how the 35-person line out the door and down to the street corner resembled the one that forms in front of Nashville’s famous “Pancake Pantry” every weekend.

About 30 minutes later we stepped over the threshold to be greeted by a long list of sexual innuendo-laden doughnut choices. Their slogan, “The magic is in the hole,” is available on t-shirts and underwear. The doughnuts turned out to be average, and the prices were too. $1.50 isn’t bad when you think about the average cupcakes that are sold in Nashville as specialty items for upwards of $3.00! Voodoo even offered an entire 5 gallon bucket of day-old doughnuts for only 8 bucks. It was nothing extravagant, but people loved it.

After grabbing a doughnut we headed down a block to the Portland Saturday Market, under the famed Burnside Bridge. White vendor and exhibitor stalls were set up in a grid format through which wandered mostly middle-class families, often toting babies in an African-style body wrap or in strollers. An unshaven, raggedy performer on a drum set, complete with hands-free harmonica set-up, drew in handfuls of children joining in with the various musical instruments – maracas, triangles, and mini-djembes – that lay at his feet. It was a community oriented, family-friendly atmosphere. Even the 30+ homeless people sitting against walls and in front of the central fountain seemed happy. Among them were two families that I found myself thinking about later on in the day. One family consisted of a mother and father, seemingly in their early 30’s, a pre-teen daughter, and an 8 year-old son. They had a dog with them too. The young son was skipping around, collecting some scraps of paper, and ran up eagerly to show his dad, who smiled and congratulated his son on the find.

What struck me though is that these homeless families appeared to be part of the larger Portland community, not living on the outskirts of society, in some park that no home-owning person would ever venture into, like so many of the homeless in other cities we’ve seen.

The next day in Seattle we visited Pike Place Market. I was interested in comparing the atmosphere and visitor demographics of these two markets, seeing as they’re both set downtown in major Pacific Northwest city-ports.

Pike Place had a very different vibe. The first thing I noticed was the diversity of its patrons. Asians, Native Americans, Germans, Northern Europeans, Mexicans, French, Moroccans, Greeks; they all blended together into a steady blur of passing sights and intelligible sounds. The demographic was more upscale, wealthy people, and the street musicians followed the same trend. The market consists of an abandoned warehouse, renovated and divided into stores, and during a few days of the week local farmers may set up tents in the courtyard to sell their fresh produce.

Off to the side of the market, in a little grassy knoll overlooking passengers boarding a Norwegian Cruise Line ship, surrounded by 40 foot-tall Native American totem poles, was a group of Chinese immigrants practicing Fulan Gong (seemingly similar to tai chi) and protesting the alleged death camps instated by previous Chinese president. Volunteers with heavy accents requested several times that I sign a petition demanding President Bush to speak up against the camps (although since he’s no longer President I’m not quite sure what they were hoping for), but they couldn’t coherently answer many of our questions about the situation and their goal.

Seattle’s Pike Place Market wasn’t as stable a community as Portland’s Saturday Market; there was more traffic and less fellowship. I enjoyed the vibrant feel that reminded me of the excitement I feel when I go into an airport, the hustle and bustle of people going places. But I also enjoyed the leisurely quality family time that I saw taking place in Portland.

Seattle’s market was focused on commerce, fast and dry transactions, getting in and out as quickly as possible. Portland’s was slow-paced, enjoyable, focused on the arts. Both have their place.

I think of these cities in conjunction to different stages in life. Heather mentioned the other day that she thought of Los Angeles as High School and San Francisco as College. In a similar analogy, I think of Seattle as great place to spend my young adult-hood while my interests and focus are on building a career, meeting new people, spending time on the go. Once I get married and want to start a family, I think Portland would be a great place to settle down and raise my kids in a stable and friendly community.

But before I do either I’m going to have to get over my dependence on sunlight. Neither Portland nor Seattle seem to offer more than 10 or 15 sunny days per year!

FYI

I know it's been a week since I've blogged. I'm sorry!!

Between a late start/end to some days, a catch-up day in which I managed to hike in nature instead of catch up on my blog, an entire week of being sick and somewhat sleep deprived, being in charge of the schedule as the ambassador to 2 of the cities this week, and a generally hectic schedule, I've put sleep before blogging the past few days.

But that must change, and will. Today.

I'm almost finished with my commentary on Portland and Seattle, and then I'll backtrack and take care of LA, San Francisco, and the Redwoods in the next day or so.

We're currently leaving Glacier National Park and heading over to Yellowstone and then South Dakota, so we may be out of cell service areas and internet range for a few days. Don't panic! We're still alive and will be back in contact soon.

Day 10 - Las Vegas

Las Vegas was a lot bigger than I expected. My brothers and I had a Nintendo game years ago in which one of the car racing courses was Las Vegas; you could drive around the city, crash and burn, and even shoot down the ½ scale Eiffel Tower. It was rather entertaining. But, it only had one big strip and a few side roads.

So that was my impression of Las Vegas: small town, kind of junky, in the desert (minus the armed race cars). It’s funny how experiences from your youth can really shape your perception of the world without you even realizing. (Yet another thing my parents were so right about!)

Leading up to our arrival in Vegas a few people were talking a bit negatively about the whole idea of a “Disneyland for grownups.” The hyper-sexual advertising and legal prostitution really disgusts me, and gambling isn’t really my thing (although if it’s someone else’s money I’m sure I could have some fun for a short time), but the whole idea of Vegas as a little break from real world stress isn’t something I’m totally against. Most everything is okay in moderation.

I wouldn’t spend more than a weekend there every now and then – the flashing lights, noise, excessive stimuli, personal unproductiveness on my part, and the cost (!) would get to me. But I did enjoy the experience of walking down the strip and exploring some of the mega-hotels and their many chocolate shops and high-fashion boutiques. I could definitely see myself lounging blissfully by one of the giant pools and drinking pineapple margaritas!

Something that seems to go hand in hand with Vegas is capitalism; in fact, we’ve seen it in play in every city we’ve visited. Capitalism is an integral part of America. However, I sense a general vibe of displeasure with the capitalistic system from some of my friends, both here on the trip and at home. Some of the more outspoken individuals tend to voice that being in certain places (such as the big store next to the Grand Canyon or an extravagant high-end mall in Vegas) “disgusts” them because of all the commercialism and capitalism.

One of the main arguments is that capitalistic corporations, like Wal*Mart (a recurring topic of discussion on this trip), take advantage of people in foreign countries. Okay, so don’t shop at Wal*Mart, but ask yourself: “Does its unethical practices really have anything to do with capitalism?” Unethical businesses exist all over the world in all different types of economic structures. I’m no economist—economics is something I still have yet to master—but I’ve been enough places to know that capitalism generally promotes a higher standard of living for everybody.

One of my most vivid memories of encountering a system other than capitalism took place in China, last summer. I went to China having learned a little bit about communism (China’s goal) and socialism (the reality). I know that socialism is based on the principle of collection and equal redistribution of resources by the government. The goal is that everyone receives equal opportunity and equal access to resources. (I don’t think that an equal voice in the government is something they try to provide for their citizens….China is far from a Democracy….a few leaders control everyone else.)

Anyway, I went to China expecting to see a more or less equally rich/equally poor people; I expected to see a society in which every individual put the good of the group before his/her personal gain. Instead, what I saw was a wealth disparity the same as—if not larger than—the disparity we have here in the U.S. And it’s not like this is a newly instated program—the wrinkles should have been worked out by now.

I still have a lot to learn about both systems. But for now, I’m not convinced that capitalism is evil….in fact, I like the whole “reap what you sow” idea. It only seems fair.

Day 9 - Salt Lake City

I’ve got to be honest: Salt Lake City was not what I expected. As Ken mentioned over dinner, most of us had our minds made up about the city before even getting here. Some didn’t see it worthy of a whole day of our trip. I think one of the biggest misconceptions about Salt Lake City is that it’s an ultra-religious epicenter, LDS headquarters, and nothing more.

In fact, it’s much more.

Our drive from the Grand Canyon up to Salt Lake City took 5 hours more than planned (due in part to a truck that tipped over with horses inside that had to be rescued) so we didn’t pull in to SLC until about 11:30. We effectively missed church, but rushed to get a bit of shower time before our appointment with a local news reporter at 1:00. Alas, there was breaking news and since we were just a “fluff story” we didn’t get any airtime. But we did have a delicious lunch at Tony Caputo’s Market and “Mom and Dad” (Andi and Ken) treated us to the world’s #1 chocolate at Carlucci’s next door. Yummmmm.

After some quality time at the local urban mall, it was off to Temple Square for us. It so happened that tours were being given of the complex…..very interesting. Our tour guides looked slightly drugged, rather slap-happy, and instead of answering our questions, which were rather basic in nature, shoved brochures at us. Of course, most of the tour guides we’ve run across were somewhat glossed over—I think it’s just part of the job; but I just didn’t get a good vibe from my experience in the numerous visitor centers and at Temple Square in general.

Directly following our tour of LDS Headquarters, we showed up at a theatre across town to see OutRage, one of the headliners of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender) Film Festival. This was the first time I had ever the acronym LGBT or had seen it referenced in print. I feel like I’m a pretty aware citizen, so, “Surely,” I thought, “this must be a small subculture I've never heard of because it's so off-the-wall.” I was not at all expecting a packed theatre—practically no open seats on either the first floor or balcony.

Even though this was a totally new environment for me, I felt more comfortable sitting in the theatre with the gay community than I did in the temple. Alternative sexual orientations are not something I’m very familiar with, and even though I don't personally agree with the gay nor lesbian lifestyle, there is an element of honesty about the whole thing that I can respect—everything’s out in the open—as opposed to the temple where certain topics were shrouded in a cloak of mystery.

We’ve experienced several religious/spiritual situations since embarking on the trip; I’ve been surprised to see the quantity and diversity of belief systems within our borders. I’ve learned that several people can each call themselves Christian but may have very little in common when it comes to what they actually believe and practice. In the last week we’ve attended a Pentecostal-like “awareness center” service, we interviewed a rather evangelical representative from Alien Resistance, we listened to the faith-infused life stories of our Navajo host family, and we toured the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City.

You probably wouldn’t have noticed by my behavior, but my inward reaction to each situation has ranged from volatile objection to skepticism to bewilderment to overwhelming agreement and inspiration (this list of reactions is not respective to the experiences listed above, but you may be able to guess from my previous blogs which reaction goes with which experience).

All in all, the Salt Lake City atmosphere was somewhat relaxed and enjoyable. I don’t think I would ever move there, seeing as it’s out in the middle of nowhere, but I might visit from time to time.

P.S. – I’m a little bit behind on my blog….we are just now pulling out of Las Vegas. But I figure that as long as I get my blog up within a day or two, I’m doing okay. Plus, it gives me a few hours to think about my experiences and process my emotional responses before writing about them!

P.P.S. – Please leave me some comments so that I know what you’re liking or disliking about my blog content, writing style, website format, or anything else! Even though online blogs aren’t supposed to be geared towards a specific audience, I don’t write just for my own benefit. My goal is to communicate what I’m learning and feeling, in hopes that my experiences might inspire readers and start a dialogue on these important topics. But I need your feedback! In case you’re unaware….you can leave a comment (anonymously or by identifying yourself by first and/or last name, screen name, etc.) by clicking “comments” at the bottom of each article. Clicking this will prompt a little pop-up box where you can read other people’s comments and scroll down to leave your own.

Thanks to those of you who have followed my blogs for the past three years and four continents….I appreciate your continued support, feedback, and prayers (if you’re the praying kind) J