In the meantime, I worked at ANASAZI Foundation for a year--only the BEST wilderness therapy program out there for teenagers and young adults struggling with all sorts of...stuff. Then I went on a service mission to Quito, Ecuador for my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a.k.a. the Mormon church). While there, I shared my beliefs with others, as well as taught literacy classes to indigenous women, square-foot gardening (to mostly to women), personal-hygiene and food preservation workshops (to mostly women), and music lessons (to mostly girls).
After coming back, I was ready for the challenge of teaching again. I soon went back out to our nation's capitol, found an art teaching job at a high school in DC public schools, and spent the next two years of my life. However, I couldn't get my experience in South America out of my system. I really loved serving those people and learning from them. I knew I had to go back to school to gain skills that would help me to better serve in the area I believed in most: education.
It was while studying for my Masters in International Education Administration and Policy Analysis at Stanford University (in CA) that I met my now husband. But we'll come back to him later. In 2007, I joined a cohort of some of the most AMAZING individuals I have had chance to meet. My classmates were from all backgrounds and countries, from India and Pakistan, to Cuba and China. But don't forget the Colombian. And the one young woman grew up speaking Esperanto (now that's a language with an interesting story).
While at Stanford, I worked at a local housekeeping cooperative for Latina immigrant women. Loved it! Loved the women. They were great about helping me with my research for my MA thesis. I looked at the motives and influences on adult immigrant women learning English. What a complex issue that is.
After I was done with school, I traveled. And worked. And traveled for work. I went to Guyana, Nigeria, Egypt, India, and Nepal. And about a year later, I ended back up at ANASAZI Foundation (my second family) in the Arizona wilderness. At the time, I lived with Jed's sister and brother-in-law, although I had no idea I would be marrying him, just a small crush. By the way, he's got the most amazing family.
After close to a year of soul searching and wandering (literally in the Tonto National Forest) I felt guided to move to Salt Lake City, of all places. I had no desire to live there. But now I LOVE it!! Really. One of my main desires while in Utah was to become involved with the refugee communities there. I ended up teaching a primary class at the Swahili branch and befriending a Nepali-Bhutanese family. While in SLC working as a grant-writer, a friend from ANASAZI called up to ask if I wanted to change the world and work at a school in Africa for the summer. I said, YES!!! And we went to Ghana and volunteered at the Forever Young International Schools. The students there range from pre-nursery age all the way up to high school students.Soon after I got back, I got an offer to teach at Horizonte Instruction and Learning Center in SLC. I jumped at the opportunity and worked one year at perhaps the most noteworthy school in Utah. They have programs for the city's alternative junior high and high school students, young parents, GED students, adults wanting to complete high school, and refugees and immigrants wanting to learn English. Horizonte is everything I believe in and makes education available to even the most under-served populations.
However, it was during my time there that Jed left his dream in Alaska of dog-mushing to come down and court me! I fell madly in love with the man of my dreams. We worked (and continue to work) through our shortcomings. And got married in February of this year. I couldn't have found anyone more perfect for me.
However, his dream is to have an organic farm powered by draft-horses and a CSA (if anybody wants to buy membership, just let me know!). Who dreams that anymore?!! I LOVE IT!! As we talked and schemed, we knew we needed to move to Kansas so that he could start making that a reality. So I found a job out here, not far from Kansas City, right on the Missouri River. I have been teaching art here in a small town for a little over a month now. The high school I am at has cheerleaders and football players. And is so fascinating since I haven't experienced Homecoming since I was in high school myself.
So here I am, in the Midwest, living in a barn (literally--pigs, and goats, and chickens live below us), teaching, and married to a farmer AND my best friend. Life just couldn't get any sweeter than this.
