The Beginning

            I have just begun the most epic adventure of my life. I have arrived in the Federated States of Micronesia to spend the next two years teaching English for the Peace Corps. The decision was made, the bags were packed and the goodbyes were taken care of. Now the real experience is underway. I will be challenged like never before and pushed to my mental and physical limits throughout the duration of my service. I will most assuredly get diseased, struggle with loneliness, and be faced with the most difficult situations imaginable. As the Peace Corps motto says “ Its the toughest job you’ll ever love”.

            I am currently on the capital island of Pohnpei and going through the initial stages of training with my fellow volunteers. The majority of the people are young adventurers like me, and we have immediately become a tight knit group of friends. We spent one night in Honolulu, then hopped at a plane at the crack of dawn and flew across the ocean. It was an 11-hour flight from Hawaii that took us across the international dateline (which essentially meant we never had a September 3^rd). The flight was grueling and exhausting, but we are all very happy to be on this little speck of land in the middle of the Pacific.

            I will be training on Pohnpei for the next 5 weeks then ship out to my official site that will become my island home for the next couple of years. I might be on one of the main islands of Micronesia or I could be sent out onto one of the outer island atolls. However, the term main island is a little deceptive. You can drive across any of the islands in an hour and they only have a population comparable to small American town. Regardless of my final destination, I will be living in a little village that most likely lacks running water and electricity.

I will learn to live without cell phones, TV, movies, cars, air conditioning, electric toothbrushes and all the technological amenities that we have all become so accustomed to. Instead, I will embrace the simple pleasures of life such as a good book and a beautiful sunset. Rather than buy a filet of salmon at Ralphs, I will most likely stab a fish with my spear to feed myself each night. Rather than drink an ice-cold cocktail, I will slurp the warm milk from a cracked coconut. Rather than playing a round of golf, I will trek through the lush rain forests on the slopes of volcanoes.

I will be sacrificing most things that modern day Americans consider essential to happiness, however I believe that I will find a deeper level of happiness within my self and my natural surroundings. I hope to transcend the constraints of society that dictate how we live our lives and what we think. I will break free of the shackles of our technology based civilization and learn to survive how humans have been living for thousands of years.

My mind is still a ball of mush from jet lag, so I don’t have many insightful comments to make about upcoming experiences. However, I will attempt to update this blog as often as possible. Maybe once a week, maybe once a month, maybe never. I plan on writing down everything that comes mind over the next couple of years and hopefully I post much of it online for all of you to enjoy. I will most definitely have some wild and crazy adventures that will be far different from anything that I have known in Southern California. I am ready to take the biggest step in my and see what I am capable of as human being. Hopefully, I will return back to the states as hardened bad ass with a global perspective and zest for life.