Back, back, back on the attack

Well, hey. It’s been a bit. Lots of good things to relate. Stories to tell, photos to share, memories to recount. It’s going to be fun. In the interest of time, professionalism and clarity I’m going to divide this post into a few different categories. I’m not sure what they are yet… but I’ll figure it out.

Seattle to Seattle (and a little more)

So it’s been month, more or less (probably more) since I last wrote. So I think it’s appropriate to bookend this thing, meaning I’ll start with the beginning, skip four or more weeks and end with the end. Then I’ll go back and fill in the middle, much like building a house.

Right, so what does this have to do with Seattle? Well I started in Seattle and ended in Seattle. So there.

On March 23 I drove to Seattle to pick up Emmanuelle Martin. She is this woman that I met in India during my trip. We got along great (read: really amazing) and are (judging by my facebook status) in a “relationship.”

I hope that didn’t sound snide or sarcastic. I don’t feel either. She was here for three weeks and it was amazing. It’ shard to explain, well actually its not. We get along really well. We just fit each other, pretty perfectly. And she is really beautiful and has this amazing grace about her.

I’m a big fan. Anyways, she was here, it was great and I’m not going to divulge any more intimate details onto the Internet. Trust me though, I’m really lucky.

So, I picked her up in Seattle, and now I’m driving back from Seattle. This last weekend I went to look at colleges (well actually only one, Seattle University) and to tour the Seattle Times and generally see Seattle. I drove there with a bunch of people from The Sentinel. I spent the first night with my good friends Hannah Reid and Sarah McHugh, who both attend Seattle University. They were awesome hosts and really made me fall in love with the college.

The next night I spent with Sentinel folks, which was a lot of fun. Mike McCall (the new managing editor of The Sentinel), Mike Paquine (the new online editor) and I walked around and had a good time seeing down town Seattle.

The next night (May 1) I went back to Seattle University and stayed with Hannah and Sarah again.

And now I’m on a bus, flying through Central Washington, wondering what the burning electrical smell is.

Yoga

My Yoga life has been going great. I’ve been teaching and have gotten the requisite 20 hours. In fact I now have something like 25 hours of teaching experience. I’ve been doing Yoga everyday, which really feels great. I feel changes in my body, slowly but surely. My hamstrings are lengthening and I feel very present in my body.

Actually, this weekend was a big one as far as yoga goes. On Saturday morning I went to my first ever Bikram inspired class. For those of you who don’t know Bikram yoga is where you do yoga in a hot room. There is a whole style and philosophy behind it. I’d never done it and boy was it interesting. I didn’t find it very hard, however, the experience of sweating that much was definitely something new. I really enjoyed it, however, I’m really glad I have the privilege of practicing (and hopefully teaching) Anusara Yoga.

Then, this morning (May 2) I got to go to a yoga class at Seattle Yoga Arts. This studio is owned and operated by two women who are good friends with my mom. They were very welcoming and gracious. I had a wonderful time, and quite a bit harder than the Bikram class I went to.

Newspaper

And things have been going great here too (I live a lucky little life, ah nice alliteration). A few weeks ago I found out that I won first place in the Region 10 SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) feature-writing category, second place in in-depth reporting and first place (shared with Jake Donahue) in editorial writing. The Sentinel also won best of show for the Region 10 SPJ. Basically this means that we will go to Las Vegas (I won’t but The Sentinel will) in October to compete in the national competition. Design wise we have a good shot at placing in the top three, but we will see.

And, in addition to this all, I got accepted to the Poynter Institute. This, in of itself, is pretty awesome. I applied for the fellowship a few months ago without giving it much thought. I really didn’t think I had much of a chance. I guess I was wrong. As cool as this is, what is even cooler is that I’ve managed to get enough money to go. At first I didn’t think I would be able to because it came with a pretty hefty price tag. However, thanks to Nils Rosdahl and NIC I’ve been able to wrangle up the necessary funds. I leave on May 15 and will be gone for two weeks. Oh, right. The Poynter Fellowship is a two-week journalism intensive. Forty student journalists from around the country attend the fellowship where they learn from the “industries best.”

It should be a good time. It’s in St. Petersburg Florida, which I think is a cool place, I’m not sure if it can beat Coeur d’Alene in the spring. We’ll see.

The Sentinel is almost done. We have one more issue. I’m no longer the managing editor (despite the signature on my email address). The new guy is Mike McCall. For this last issue I will be in an advisory role (much like the U.S. in Vietnam pre escalation). I’ll help Mike learn all the things he needs to know for the nebulous and taxing job that is being the managing editor. I will miss it, but I think it’ll take a few months for me to miss it. Right now I’m just glad to be almost done.

Restless horizon looking attitude

I’m feeling the good old little travel urges. Actually they aren’t little. I can’t wait to be traveling (yes, this definitely has something to do with the fact that I’ll see Emmanuelle). It’s really getting intense. It’s hard to sit still. It’s hard to keep the same old routine that I’ve had these last 9 months. I’m horizon bound.

But wait, what about the summer?

Great question. This summer I’m working at Camp Reed, again. I’m so, so excited. It looks like I’m going to be leading CITs (Counselors in Training), which is this great program. It’s four 14 and 15 year olds. Basically how it works is we spend one week working on projects around camp (and we really work hard) and then we spend another whole week biking around Lake Coeur d’Alene (around 300 miles). I can’t wait. I’m really, really excited. I get to lead the weeks with some great people.

So, I think those are the main ones. I’ll add more if I think of things I omitted.

I’m still on this bus and that burning electrical smell is gone, so that is a plus. We’re in Moses Lake. It feels so good to be on a bus, traveling moving seeing different things different people.

Back to Arizona

And I’m off. There must be something about Arizona. I’m sitting in the Spokane Airport waiting for our plane. Nils Rosdahl and I are going to Phoenix for the ACP Journalism convention. It’s 7:52 am.

We’re taking a rather roundabout route. First we fly to Denver, where we spend two hours, and then we go to Phoenix. It’s a long way, but it’s cheaper than the direct flight, so oh well.

The convention should be pretty good. The classes they offer are usually interesting. Something new is that I will be giving a brief little presentation on managing a two-year newspaper. It’s at 9 am tomorrow morning, so I doubt it will be heavily attended. It should be interesting to give the talk. I’m not too worried about it, but we will see how it goes.

So, I’m excited. I love airports. I love traveling. Being here reminds me of leaving for India, which reminds me of leaving for Europe in September. Exciting stuff.

Starting off

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’ve been semi-busy. The Sentinel only had a two-week break between Issue 6 and Issue 7. It’s going to be a small issue, but good. So, that has been taking up my time pretty well.

However, probably the newest thing that’s going for me is I’m getting into the yoga-teaching world. About three weeks ago I committed to attending my mother’s teaching training. It’s a three week, 102 hour course. Once I finish that I will be certified with Yoga Alliance. But, before I do that I have to have 20 hours of teaching experience. I have exactly zero. So I’ve taken on some private lessons (twice a week) and I’m going to start teaching an hour long beginning level yoga class. I’ve mapped it out so that I’ll be all done and ready to go by mid May!

Plus, I love teaching (I’ve taught two privates so far). It’s hard, for sure, but I just really enjoy it. I love Yoga already and to be able to teach other people (and hopefully get them loving yoga also) is just so much fun. I’ve got a lot to learn. Right now I just feel lucky that people will let me practice teach on them… I guess that is why they aren’t paying anything.

Also, in two weeks I’m going to be heading to Phoenix, Arizona with my adviser Nils Rosdahl for the Associate Collegiate Press (ACP) convention. I’m really looking forward to it, as these conventions are not only informative but also quite fun.

So, things are going well. But and I’m not even done yet. My travel plans (with Leo) are beginning to take form. As of right now (keep in mind things change) it looks like we might take a train from Holland to Moscow, Russia and then to Beijing, China and finally then to India… It’s a long trip but actually cheaper then flying. So, we will see how that works out.

Well, this post has just been a mix of things… nothing really that interesting, but I like to keep pumping ‘em out. Quality over quantity… right?

Here is a photo of a guy I interviewed. His name is Garth Profitt. He is a neat guy. 67 years old and is studying to get his personal trainer certificate. Really cool.



Here is the hoped for route!


And here is my flier advertising my free class.

Approaching Arizona

Well, I've been very busy with The Sentinel and other commitments. I don't really have much to say in this post, except a new issue of The Sentinel is out (more on that later) and I'm going to Arizona for a week.

I'm going to visit some friends that live there and just generally have a nice time. It won't be significantly warmer there, however, I'm sure it will be milder than it has been around here lately (try 30 degrees, in the day).

So, I'm excited for that. I love traveling and seeing new places and people. I'm looking forward to it.

I will bring my camera, so hopefully I have some photos to share when I return. We will see.

The future (is a bike trip)

Well hey, first blog in a while. I've been working all summer at a summer camp called Camp Reed (click here). It's a YMCA camp and is an awesome place... but the internet connection is limited and I've been fairly busy... so between the two no blogs.

Anyways as you can see I'm changing the focus of the blog a bit. Basically it has no specific focus, however, common themes will no doubt be journalism, biking and traveling. So keep and eye out for those. Today the NIC Sentinel started (click here). It's a student run newspaper and I'm the managing editor for the year. It's a big job, but I'm excited. So, I'm sure that will be something I will blog about on occasion.

But, for my first substantial blog in a while I'm choosing to write about something near and dear to my heart: biking. Me and some friends from camp are going to bike from Plummer, Idaho to Harrison, Idaho. I'm not quite sure about the route we are going to take, however, I'm sure that it is going to be a great time.

We will camp out near Harrison and then bike back in the morning (I have a noon class I have to be at... hmm). Anyways, I'm really excited for the trip. We leave tomorrow morning at 10 am. So, I should be in bed, but instead I'm blogging about how excited I am. Smart.

So, I will take pictures and throw them onto the blogosphere as soon as possible. I will also show you the route that we end up taking using MapMyRide, a very, very cool website (click here).

So, that is all. I will start to blog more consistently once again.

And I'm back

Well I’m back. There is nothing too dramatic to tell about my return. Although my trip did change my life it isn’t a dramatic life change. It’s more of a subtle life change. I would say I’m a different person because of my new experiences, but it isn’t anything dramatic (like I don’t have pink hair). I don’t think it’s possible to experience so many different things and not be changed, at least a bit.

But despite all of this, or perhaps because of all of this, transition back into my life in Coeur d’Alene hasn’t been too hard. For the first week or so it didn’t really feel like my life. It felt familiar, but it just didn’t fit right.

That is passing, although at times I still see things from the traveling eyes. Anyways, I will catch you up on what has happened since my return and try to explain some of the things that I’ve noticed and felt.

I landed in the USA on May 18th. I took the flight to Minneapolis (after the airport debacle).

Minneapolis was quite a shock to me. Because I had just come from a foreign country (Holland) I had to go through customs. So, I got off the plane and came out into a type of holding area. It was separated from the rest of the airport and was highly secure. There were dozens of armed guards patrolling the whole area.

The customs officer who asked me questions managed to be both highly suspicious and completely uninterested. He was a big strong guy with angry looking eyes. He asked me a series of fairly innocent questions, however the tone in which he asked them made me feel like I was trying to sneak cocaine or weapons into the country.

He asked me how long I had been in Amsterdam. I corrected him saying that I had actually been in Holland, not Amsterdam. I don’t think he appreciated that.

Anyways he cleared me for entry and as I was leaving said in a machine like voice “Welcome to the USA”.

I sure didn’t feel welcomed.

After making it through that ordeal I had to go through a security check. Although I always found foreign security checks pretty comprehensive, the one in the USA definitely took the cake. They made me take of my shoes (I had forgotten about that). They made me partially unpack my bags (so the X-ray machine could get a better view). It was a new level of security. It was American style security.

And then I was through. There I was back in my home country. It felt great. Even though it was a bland corporate looking airport lobby, it was still the USA.

I immediately headed toward my next gate (I really didn’t want to miss this plane). While I was walking there I began to notice something kind of startling. I began to notice how many obese people there were.

Yes, there are plenty of fat people in Holland. But not the kind of fat I began to see walking through Minneapolis. Americans are a different kind of fat.

It was really startling. I didn’t think that it would be such a difference between Holland and the USA, but it was.

I got to my gate, sat down and began to soak it all in. I could understand everything being said around me. For a minute or two it was awesome. I eavesdropped on people’s conversations (something I hadn’t been able to do in Holland). I listened to T.V.

And then I was overwhelmed. People’s conversations were mostly uninteresting (that is the price you pay for eavesdropping) and the TV was down right annoying. It was FOX News (not my favorite new source by any means) and they were pretending to report on the Swine Flu. I wouldn’t call it reporting. No, they were actively trying to make people scared. At one point the talking head said, “It seems like people are beginning to forget about the swine flu. But they shouldn’t! It is one of the most deadly flu’s of all time.”

I felt like puking. It’s not that the Dutch media is any better. I just couldn’t understand them. So I turned on my I-Pod and drowned out the chaos.

Well, I got on the plane without a problem and took off for Seattle, Washington. I was squeezed between a very obese woman, and her very small baby, and a fairly large man. The woman was very nice and we talked a bit. The man didn’t say a word the whole flight.

And then I was in Seattle. I met my brother Leo Francovich (see picture) there. It was so wonderful to see him. We then went to Seattle University and spent the night with two friends of mine from high school.

The next day Leo and I jumped on a Greyhound bus and headed home. The bus ride was great. Leo and I talked nearly the whole time. It was interesting seeing the type of people on the bus. In Holland and India everyone uses public transportation. Businessmen use it, students use it and poor people use it.

It’s different in America. Almost everyone on the bus looked like they were poor. Judging by the their conversations (that I eavesdropped on) they were uneducated and fairly ignorant of things happening outside of their direct sphere of experience.

One woman described very loudly what a loser her ex-husband is. She also decided to tell us that he would probably show up to the bus station drunk (and she was going to get a ride home with him, in his car, great choice).

And then I was back in Spokane. My father Chris Francovich (see picture) met Leo and I there.

We went to dinner at a place called Noodle Express (not the classiest restaurant, but very good). There were two more shocks awaiting me there. The serving of food was huge! Things are smaller in Holland. I had gotten used to it I guess and didn’t even notice, but seeing that huge plate of Noodles brought it all back. I guess now I know why there are so many fat people in the USA.

And then there was the alcohol issue. The waitress asked us if we wanted anything to drink. My dad ordered a beer, and I remembered I wasn’t 21. That means I can’t drink alcohol. That was very strange (the drinking age in Holland is 16).

Then we drove home. I saw my mom later that night and I slowly began to weave myself back into my life.

It’s great to be home. I miss traveling, but while I was traveling I missed home. So it’s a trade off I can handle. This area of the USA is so beautiful. I absolutely love being here.

It’s good to be home.

Moving on

Well, I'm traveling again. Although I guess I never really stopped traveling, spending so much time in one place (Holland) began to feel more like home than adventure.

I'm writing from a bus. It's 7:55 am and we are currently driving through Hamburg, Germany. Like the majority of the world I've only read about Hamburg in history books, so I feel a thrill of excitement driving through it in real life.

Yesterday was my last day in Sittard (where Freek studies). Freek and I hung out and then a big group of his friends (and mine now too) came to his apartment and we all ate dinner. They bought me a few farewell gifts and then walked me to the station. It was pretty amazing being escorted out of Sittard by 10 or so people. I'm very lucky to have met them and I hope/plan to see them again.

We got to the station with plenty of time to spare (so we thought). I needed to be in Utrecht by 11:55 to get my bus and it's a 1:44 train ride to Utrecht. I was fully committed to not repeating the Poland fiasco.

Well, we said our goodbyes, doing the usual rounds of hugs etc. And then we noticed my train (which we thought wouldn't leave for two more minutes) was closing up it's doors and preparing to leave. So, my last half a minute in Holland was spent sprinting toward the one open door, yelling desperately for the conductors to have mercy and wait.

I made it and settled in for the ride. Then, I realized that the ticket Freek and bought me was a 'korting' (discount) ticket, meaning that I either had to be a student in Holland or I had to be traveling with a student. I was neither traveling with a student nor was I a student. It is possible to pretend to be traveling with a student, however, the last time I tried this I ended up getting kicked off the train, so I decided honesty was the best course of action. I found the train conductor and explained the situation. She was sympathetic and said it would not be a problem. And so I was on my way.

I arrived in Utrecht without further incident. I had an hour and five minutes until my bus was scheduled to depart. I spent almost all that time walking around trying to find where the bus was supposed to depart from. I asked four or five different people and got four or five different answers. Finally, in a rare act of brilliance, I decided to read the bus stop signs. It turned out I had walked by the EuroBus stop four or five times. A common mistake, I'm told.

Almost immediately upon arriving at the stop I struck up a conversation with a man from Somalia. He was a bit intoxicated, but very open and kind seeming. Soon we were joined by a man from Afghanistan Both men were no longer in their countries of birth.

It was pretty amazing to have a real conversation with these two men. I'm a bit embarrassed to say this but the man from Somalia was the first black person with whom I've had any real substantial conversation. They were taking the same bus as me and we ended up riding together.

Me and the man from Afghanistan talked quite a lot. He was very open and extending. At first I wasn't sure how it would be considering the whole fact that my country is occupying his country and his countrymen are killing and being killed by my countrymen. But it turned out to be no problem. As he said, “Every man has a mother”.

Still, it's hard to reconcile the fact that guys from America, my beloved country, are fighting men from Afghanistan, his beloved country. And there were sat on a bus going through Germany talking and sharing food.

Anyways, the ride was pretty amazing. It turned out there was another man from Somalia on the bus, we all shared our food and talked. At one gas station the man from Somalia bought us all drinks. He explained that the custom in Somalia is that the first one to get to the counter pays for everyone else.

I slept a few hours, however, it wasn't the best sleep I've ever had. The bus seats aren't all that comfortable and it was crowded. My friends got off in Hamburg, so for the next hour or so I'm on my own. I will be in Kiel, Germany for four days. Tonight I am staying with friends of the German couple that I met in India. I don't really know where I'm going, I have their address and their names but nothing else. So I guess there is another adventure coming up.

Anyways, I will post this as soon as I can, and I will try to keep everything up to date.

Heina!