the journey begins

As my cousins dropped me off outside a large, shady looking building just North of downtown Chicago, I see a fellow Bolivia member that I "met" on facebook and know I am at the right place. Not quite the "hotel" I was thinking, and no sign indicating that I was at Jesus People USA, however, this is a year of unknown experiences, so why not go with it?

The journey in Chicago is off at full speed, jammed packed with so much learning and expectations that I now see why I have to be here a full month compared to just a week before I head to Bolivia. (not) I feel this is the most unnecessary month of my life so far, as we have had nothing but a few activities, and HOURS of free time each day to get to know the city of Chicago (which I will be leaving in less than a month, so why not use this month getting to know Santa Cruz that much better?) However, maybe it is more vital to those who have not been away from home as much as I have, and need a boost start in a city more comfortable compared to just kicking them out from under moms wing to the streets of Santa Cruz.

Speaking of this, my group consists of four 18 year olds, straight off the graduation stage of High School, and me. I was worried about that when I came, not knowing what to expect on maturity levels, however, I have been more than impressed with these four that I will be traveling with for a year.

Jacob Putnam is a Laotian guy who has spent his entire life just 10 minutes North of here. Great guy who is almost as funny as me. He will get there after I influence him for the next year.

JD Nafsiger just graduated from Bethany High School and is a younger brother of a friend from college. It will be fun to get to know him better as he is very outgoing.

Karsten Hess graduated with JD from Bethany. He is a more quiet individual but we are already getting comfortable together and I am persuading him to the dark side already. This guy is going to be awesome to have with me.

Gloria Showalter is straight from Pennsylvania, which I am trying not to hold against her! At first I expected her to be shy, but she is proving to be able to hang out with four guys and do it just fine.

Altogether, we are by far the best group in Radical Journey, as team China and team England cant quite seem to keep up with us. If this were a reality TV show, we would simply be "voting them off the island" one by one by one! No competition.

Hopefully this will introduce you a bit to my life for the next year. I will continue to update the blog, but I am going to try to do more of a photo based blog, actually SHOWING people life, compared to writing it. After all, I do have a degree in art compared to writing. This doesn't mean I won't try to show off my writing skills every once and a while.

So for the next year, sit back, relax, and come along with me to Bolivia!!!