Now before you start to think that I'm just a moocher, or that I'm lazy, I want to say that while I am doing this baking/cooking stint, I am also applying to jobs. I am not sure how many jobs I have applied to in the past three weeks, way too many for me to keep track of, that's for sure. I got to the point a couple of times where I started sending in cover letters with the wrong name of the organization- that shows how dedicated I am to the position.
It's true, I would love more than anything to just explore. Maybe work on a farm or in a bakery along the way. That's part of the reason I am creating this blog- is to show what I do in the kitchen and to show my love and respect for food and the earth. I may not have a knack for farming and I don't love it, but I want to understand it and know it is done and I want to support all the farmers and those who want to be farmers. Whether it's bringing their food to people in wonderful meals or creating policies that give them access to land, clean water and economic stability, I want ensure success for all organic, local farmers. My journey though is carless and a bike tour down the West coast, or even through the desert along route 66 also sounds appealing. The one problem is, I don't want to do it completely alone. Maybe something will come up...
As I'm floating about here, going around to various friends' homes and mooching off of free campus food and food from the gardens, not to mention waiting for the pomegranates to ripen so that I may enjoy their perfect red juices, I am trying to make some serious decisions. I've been having loads of interviews, which was the reason I went up to the Bay in the first place. Well, first, I went to Sacramento for an interview for Healthcorps, which I was surprisingly offered the position about an hour ago. This is a two year commitment to teach health, nutrition and fitness to under-served high school students and I've been offered the position in Del Norte, CA. Where is this Del Norte? Well, it's in the north. Very very very far north, on the border of Oregon. It's a rural place with not much to do but explore the Redwoods and possibly surf in the ocean (according to the Crescent City and Del Norte website).
I was also just offered the job to be a ski instructor for kids in Park City, Utah this winter. And I'm also waiting to hear about working at a lodge in another Utah ski area. These would be winter stints, which would start in late November/early December and end in April. Come April, I've been offered to work with the non-profit I worked with this summer in LA and Wyoming again. Only this time, I can start work in April in LA and then go to Wyoming in June and finish in August. Or, what's a bit more appealing, though more difficult, is to go abroad to teach English.
I am thinking of going to SE Asia, either Vietnam or Thailand. Those are my top two at this moment, at least. I would literally just have to choose a city and go. I would go alone and find a job when I get there. At least, that's what I am hoping will happen. Before I can go, I need money to get me there and I need to do more research about visas, about experiences, about where I want to be. I heard from a fellow that I stayed with in Berkeley that Chiang Mai is amazing. It's not too fast and crazy, nor is it overwhelmed with tourists. And not only that, but there's a great climbing community so I can bring my climbing shoes! Thai people are wonderful, too. And the food, well what can I say about the food. It's all amazing. In Vietnam, I am leaning towards Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh, both of which sound fast and crazy. But I love Vietnamese food, possibly more than Thai food, and the cities sound like they offer a lot in terms of jobs and communities. I don't want to get stuck in an ex-pat community though, but I want to meet local people, and learn the customs, the language, the histories, the ideas, everything. I hope that I will find resources and communities there and grow in ways that will benefit me in ways I cannot describe or imagine.
I don't want to get stuck teaching English, though, i want to either go to grad school or work in sustainable development in regards to food and farming in rural and urban sectors, increasing access and raising environmental awareness and respect, all at the local level. It's also possible that I can do this in the US, we definitely need it. And that's where my internship comes in. Yes, I do have an internship, but it's in Oakland- another reason I went north last week. The internship is with an amazing organization, Food First, and works with the local communities of Oakland and internationally to initiate food justice programs and urban farms to provide local residents with healthy, organic, very local food.
I visited the internship site while in Berkeley. And thought it's unpaid, I will have lunch and maybe even breakfast provided thanks to the luscious garden ripe with tomatoes, kale, and more expanding across the whole yard and spilling into the sidewalk. So after couchsurfing with a cooky kid in Sacramento and the interview, I headed to the bay to look for jobs and check out the scene. The bay is an AMAZING place. I went to free yoga, Chez Panisse's birthday party where I made pickles and seed bombs- which I'm not sure if they're for planting or for eco-terrorism, and met great people and heard of great farms and organizations. I did search for jobs, too. I found 2 great prospects teaching English as a Second Language to international students in San Francisco and there are a lot of cafes and bakeries hiring, where I could hopefully get a job, but I need to live there before anyone will accept my resume.
I can either stay in the Bay forever (not really forever ever, but for now) or I can go now and try to earn money and then go abroad... or come to LA to work with the nonprofit again next summer in Wyoming. Maybe I can even go to the bay now to do the internship until ski season starts... I just need a place to live.
So you see, I have a lot ideas and a lot of prospects. It's just a matter of what's right for me in this moment. Even though people keep telling me to get serious, to grow up, to make money, it's not about that. I was looking through my facilitator's guidebook from the summer* and the three most important things in my life right now are my health, self-respect and fun. And that's the reality of it. That's who I am. I have 3 beautiful friends, two of whom are in Ecuador and one who is India at this moment. And I know that that is all they want for me too. They inspire me in so many ways and follow their hearts and their gut. And when I make a decision, I know I have to make it for me and take it one day at a time. As long as I have self-respect, my health and fun, anything can happen and the whole world is out there, waiting for me. It's just a matter of where do I begin?
*I worked this summer with a leadership program for urban LA youth who have the potential and have the brains and have the guts and the confidence, but who may not have the support or the love they need to succeed in school and in LA. I worked with the second-years and went backpacking with them in the Big Horns for a week. They were a challenge, but it was truly magical.