Terve from Finland

Hey everybody! While it seems like everyone is off in different corners of the globe at the moment, I was also fortunate enough to travel this summer. I'm currently in Ivalo, Finland and I've spent the last 8 weeks in northern Sweden and Finland on a Williams Summer Fellowship. I've had a weird obsession with Sweden since I was a little kid, so living here for part of the summer has sort of been a dream come true. 

My project has focused on how the tourism industry is being used as a tool for identity creation and cultural preservation by the indigenous Sami community of northern Scandinavia, as well as the slew of ethical problems that come with this mass tourism. This has mainly meant meeting with and talking to many Sami tourism entrepreneurs and educators about their work and opinions, but I've also had a lot of free time to train! 

A few pictures below to document some of what I've been up to.

Checking out the copper mines in Gällivare, Sweden.
For scale, I'm about 6'6" and I've never felt so small!

Miles of beautiful open roads way up here for rollerskiing, except for a few reindeer. 

Up close and personal. 

Took a break from the research project for a few days to explore the Swedish mountains around the northern section of the King's Trail. There's an extensive hut system so I was able to pack light and run most of the stretch from Abisko to Nikkaluokta.

Beautiful valley near Vistas cabin. There was a huge rockslide on the left side as a I ran by! 

Lunch by a glacial lake. Living off canned food in Sweden means tuna and canned meatballs.

There's been a lot of traveling from place to place and waiting on buses.
So far only a couple comments about the ski bag.

12:30 am in Jokkmokk, Sweden. A big perk of spending summer deep in the Arctic Circle is endless daylight --
great for getting in those triple training sessions.

I head home tomorrow and can't wait to get back on campus and see everyone soon. Rock the cow!

¡Hola desde Argentina!

It's been a crazy week of traveling and orientation, but finally I am settling in to my new home in Mendoza, Argentina where I will be until December. After an overnight flight, I arrived early Thursday morning in Buenos Aires where I met my fellow program members. We spent the following three days touring the city in the morning and going to orientation in the afternoon, exploring such sites as the capitol building, various markets, a graveyard, and much more. On Friday we had the night free, and I ended up going to dinner with my brother's friend's family who live in Buenos Aires. I'd only met them once before but they were so kind and we had a great time. I'm now in Mendoza where so far I have explored a little, sat through a whole lot more orientation, gone on some runs in the (beautiful!) park, and of course spent time with my amazing host mother (ironically named) Carmen. I'm nervous and excited for classes to start on Monday, and am hoping to make some Argentinian friends! Here are some (very touristy) photos: 

A super cool opera house-turned bookstore that we explored shortly after arriving.

La Casa Rosada, or the pink house, is where the President works.

A really cool market went to that had some delicious empanadas. 

The family tomb where Eva Peron's body once was. We learned a lot about Argentinian history of which she is a key part, and her death story is almost as interesting as that of her life. I'm still not really sure if our tour guide told us where her body finally ended up.

The wall of "los desaparecidos," or the disappeared. Between 1974 and 1983 Argentina's civic-military dictatorship hunted down anyone that could be slightly socialist, resulting in thousands of secret deaths, missing people, and adults who are just now finding out the true nature of their adoption.

My brother's friend's sister, Isabella, and me after enjoying a lovely dinner that definitely included some dulce de leche. She talks very fast!

The view of the Andes foothills from outside the office window of the program in Mendoza. Not a bad view!

The park where I've run the past couple days. It's quite pleasant and I'm learning that Mendoza is quite an active city! 

I'm definitely missing my fellow ephs, but am looking forward to a semester full of Spanish, mountains, and personal growth. 

Keep rocking that cow! 

Winter in Summer

Greetings from the land of Kiwis, jandals, and instant coffee! This summer I'm spending 9 weeks in New Zealand making a podcast about beautiful Lake Wanaka and of course, shredding some serious gnar up at the Snow Farm. I left on June 15, arrived in Dunedin (a city on the coast of the South Island) on June 17, and then spent 4 weeks there working with some people at the University of Otago. I'm now living in Wanaka (a gorgeous mountain town) for 4 weeks to do interviews and put the podcast together.

View of Dunedin

My first ever penguin sighting (the little lump that's not a rock)

Dunedin at night (ie 5:00pm)

Sunset at Oamaru

Wading into the world of zoology with my officemate Lena

The Moeraki Boulders ft. Pauline, the frenchwoman who gave me a ride back to Dunedin

Merp. Guess the rollerski is over. NZ drivers typically won't stop for anything other than cars and sheep on the roads. 

The Otago Peninsula

Chur yeah!

Candid of Mattie Watts, fellow midder who made the journey east to ski in the EISA (with UVM) and is now working at the Snow Farm for the season and is my new roommate (but we don't live in that hut)

View from the backyard of where Mattie and I live (spot Lake Wanaka hanging out back there)

yeehaw!

Here's a stream of selfies with a dancing sheep cause the only company on my workouts is generally sheep:

via GIPHY

Checking in from Alaska

It sure is nice to be back home for a bit. I've managed to stay pretty busy so far this summer with work, training, and spending time outdoors. Shortly after arriving back home, Jack and I were quickly reminded about the reality of "summer" in Alaska when we summited Mount Marathon amidst a late-May snowstorm. 

All smiles and dressed for the weather

Our family is raising a flock of meat chickens and I spent the first couple weeks of June building a coop and setting up electric fencing to keep out bears. It ended up being quite the project but at least I got to play with power tools and learn a thing or two about electricity. 

Adding chicken farmer to the resume

Hard at work turning feed into drumsticks

For work, I've been doing landscaping for families around Anchorage. My friends and I get into heated debates over the nature of my work. They think it should be called gardening, while I prefer the term yard construction. 

Another day on the job site

D-1 Gravel for a D1 athlete

Sport fishing is by far my favorite summer activity. Some of the best fishing in the state can be found on the Kenai river, roughly 2.5 hours south of Anchorage. Weekend crowds can make fishing the Kenai less than enjoyable, so a couple of friends and I decided to go on what is known here as a "suicide run" (a suicide run consists of getting off of work on a weekday, driving down to the Kenai, fishing through the night, and flooring it back to Anchorage for work the next morning). After fishing from 9pm to 3am, we loaded our staggering catch of three salmon into a cooler and made it back to Anchorage in time to catch a quick nap before work. 

Hour 1 of 6 on the River

A pyrrhic victory

Well that just about wraps it up for now. This afternoon I flew into Cordova, Alaska for a few weeks of commercial fishing on the family fishing boat. There isn't much in the way of running trails or roller skiing out here, but the community rec center has a bench press so I think I'll be fine. Hope everyone is getting outside and enjoying summer!

Hello from Colorado :) The sunshine and ice cream are endless! You can find me roller skiing to work, handing out walking maps, or taking naps on the creek in my new hammock. I've been golfing too, but need more practice. 

Getting in plenty of rest alongside the Gore Creek 

Go Pro Mountain Games 10k 

Photo with lifetime friend, Nathaniel, after Hill Climb race up Vail Mountain.

Start and Finish of Vail Hill Climb 

Copper Mountain Half Marathon (before missed turn) I was going to WIN! :0 Then I missed a turn and ran myself to the back of the race. oops!

Run up to Booth Lake 

What, what? Booth lake found. 

Welcome To Vail! This is my summer job at the Vail Welcome Center. Hi, How can I help you?

Greetings from Ecuador!

Hey friends!  

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer months with a low stress meter.  I feel so lucky to be able to spend the summer in Tena, Ecuador learning about public health.  I am interning with the Red Cross and a community center which does rural health visits to disabled people.  A local family has been generous enough to host me and welcome me into their family.  I am learning loads but at times it can be difficult to be so far from home distance wise and culture wise.  One of my goals for the next month is to continue to practice self-care and know that I can still speak up for what I need without being inconsiderate. Here are some pics so far:

The summer has been a series of running, hiking, biking, public transport or driving to rivers or waterfalls to swim in.  I cannot complain and I am really enjoying la estación lluviosa (rainy season).

Waterfall one reached on foot.

Waterfall two not pictured but reached by cable car crossing pictured.

Waterfall three reached by foot and bike on our downhill bike ride from Baños to Puyo.  Check out my Strava.

River fed pools reached by public transport.  My homestay sister seems to be enjoying her ice cream.

River enjoyed on a full moon rafting trip!

Second of two rivers for today alone.

I feel so lucky to be able to enjoy all the bodies of water.  Here, when people say they are going to a river the verb normally used is bañarse (to bath).  In addition to enjoying the water, I often see people bathing with soap in the rivers, using mother nature to cleanse themselves, to enjoy themselves, and cool off.  The downside has been how hot humid it can be (ft. lots of sweating on my runs).  I have been mostly running in circles as I don't know the area that well and there is a lovely park nearby.

Sunset in el parque lineal.  I have been getting into listening to podcasts or music when I run hear to keep the one mile loop entertaining.  Taking suggestions for the return of Sonya the track star.

Volcanic view from one running location near my house.

Another reason I run on a loop--the dog that bit my during my first week while I was racing some kids on the street.

Work has been challenging but rewarding.  I am very aware of all the privilege I have growing up in an household without any disabilities and with many resources.  I have been shadowing community health workers who travel very far to provide help to people in the area; this also doubles as a great one-on-one Spanish lesson.

Mario and I on our way to visit a patient.  We had to take taxi ($1.50) bus ($1.50) canoe ($0.25) taxi ($0.50) canoe ($5) just to reach one patient's house, not even round trip.  I am still figuring out if this is the best way to provide rural health care and what the strengths and weakness of the program are.

Bladimir using the la sombrilla del monte (the mountain umbrella) during a downpour on our way to visit a patient.

A view of the back of the Red Cross ambulance.  I have spent the last two Fridays waiting for an accident but none to be found.

Make sure to leave your machete at the front of the bus for safekeeping on your way to work.

One of my favorite foods here (Maito de tilapia)

Lots of love and I cannot wait to see everyone this fall.  People here keep asking me what it is like to have seasons and boy, am I excited to enjoy my last three seasons at Williams!

Sonya