International River-Running Wedding Crashers?
Tom likes whitewater:
Tom rowing Upset Rapid, Grand Canyon
Tom has been a kayaker and boater for thirteen years. He has run rivers all over America (including running the Grand Canyon twice) as well as internationally. He drools over the American Whitewater webpage every spring. Clearly Tom would like to do a little boating on this trip.
Julia likes weddings:
Julia performing wedding ceremony, Wells, Maine
Julia had a subscription to Brides magazine in 4th grade, which she used as a reference to "help" plan the weddings of her parents' friends. While she has grown up to appreciate and enjoy event planning and the celebration of marriage through weddings, she also believes the modern American Wedding isn't the only kind of wedding to have. How do they do weddings in other countries?
This is what inspired the Weddings and Whitewater Project
1. We want to try to attend at least one wedding in each country we visit. Not only are weddings a blast, but they offer a unique window into the culture.
2. We also want to run some rivers. This is less for sociological observation purposes and more for adrenaline rush purposes.
3. We believe striving for these goals will encourage us to befriend strangers, embrace adventure and take a deeper look into the places we are visiting.
4. We have no idea if this is possible, but we're gonna try!
Other Goals:
2. We also want to run some rivers. This is less for sociological observation purposes and more for adrenaline rush purposes.
3. We believe striving for these goals will encourage us to befriend strangers, embrace adventure and take a deeper look into the places we are visiting.
4. We have no idea if this is possible, but we're gonna try!
We are taking the title of our blog quite literally. We are going to try to run whitewater and attend weddings. But we also feel our goals can be taken more figuratively. We are seeking adventure and are preparing for marriage. Even if we fail miserably at getting invited to weddings or boating in foreign lands, we are confident this trip will teach us volumes about each other during our various feats of daring-do.
We believe this trip is an opportunity to learn from other cultures and gain some useful skills along the way. We want to put ourselves in situations where we will meet interesting people and have the opportunity to learn, for example, how to build a a shed or set up an organic vegetable garden. We believe these skills will be invaluable after we settle down and start our lives together.
Here is a partial list of the skills we hope to gain on our trip:
We believe this trip is an opportunity to learn from other cultures and gain some useful skills along the way. We want to put ourselves in situations where we will meet interesting people and have the opportunity to learn, for example, how to build a a shed or set up an organic vegetable garden. We believe these skills will be invaluable after we settle down and start our lives together.
Here is a partial list of the skills we hope to gain on our trip:
- How to keep an organic vegetable garden
- Learn Spanish (Julia)
- How to tend livestock
- How to live off the grid
- How to build free standing structures
- How to install/use solar cells
- How an eco-lodge operates
- How different gap-year/volunteer companies run
- History of the countries we visit
- Stand up on a surf board (Julia)
- Useful home renovation skills
- How to cook:
- Costa Rican food Update: Got a couple ideas
- Nicaraguan food Update: Some...
- Turkish food Update: Got recipes for several delicious dishes
- Indian food Update: Learned how to EAT Indian food and what dishes are out there
- Nepali food Update: See Indian food, minus the flavor
- Thai food Update: Took at cooking class in Chaing Mai
- New Zealand food?
