Over the past week my Exterra and I have been through some bonding moments. Exterra and I have been on rocky terms for the past four years. There is always that loyalty to your first car that the Exterra could never overcome and then the long-distance relationship definitely put a strain on things. I'll be the first to admit that I was holding back from the Exterra. Not anymore. When it survives this:
you know it can handle anything. Then, when it gets stuck in the middle of an icy intersection and your good friend, Will, has to come dig you out, you don't blame the Exterra. No. You realize it was your own fault for not turning off the anti-slip feature and apologize for thinking that Exterra is anything but indestructible. Then the Exterra teaches you that icy roads are not something to be feared but rather to be viewed as large four-wheeler courses. It invites you to approach roads such as these
with glee.That being said, I have made my way to Washington DC via Pennsylvania! It's been a great time of catching up with family. I was able to spend quality time with the Grandparents and they're just great.
It was a new experience, going to the Happy Valley home when it is not busting at the seems with innumerable relatives (dramatic language again). So nice to really talk and hear stories from Korea, from the farming days, from when my dad was a kid.
From Happy Valley I headed to experience the everyday lives of more PA relatives! There were dorm rooms, snow shoveling, and hyenas surrounding leopards who had just killed a gazelle... things got pretty intense.
A person can only handle so much of the Pennsylvania/African bush, so I reluctantly headed towards DC in order to visit Universities and attend conferences, which was the whole purpose for embarking on this journey. Too bad snowpocalyse shut everything down. But yay for galavanting in the snow with friends!
Also, one of my favorite Peace Corps staff members is in the country! Girma was our training director/father figure for the first three months in Ethiopia and became a great friend. He and his wife, Kokobie, were so hospitable, so fun, and so helpful throughout the past two years... it was just so refreshing to see them! Also, I have a theory- Ethiopians are like magnets. Wherever they go, other Ethiopians are drawn towards them. On the metro, at the coffee shop, walking around the capitol building. It's ridiculous.
