raleigh: day one

Poor little neglected blog...where has the summer gone?! As Labor Day and the end of summer approaches, I'm home to visit my parents in Alabama for a few days. I'm hoping to climb out of the blogging hole I'm in!

Several weeks ago, Kurt and I travelled to Raleigh to visit Jen and Joey (and Gracie and Baby Fante in the oven!). It was quite a journey to get there, but we had such a blast while we were there.

the journey to raleigh

Kurt and I traveled to Raleigh a couple weekends ago to visit Jen and Joey. Please indulge me in this rant of a post,because it was one of the most comical travel days I've ever had. It was truly ridiculous. Delta is still on the shit list with Kurt and me (after this debacle) so they definitely had to make it worth our while. Our delays were partially self-inflicted, so I can't completely blame the airline for the mess that ensued...

So, whenever this guy and I fly and are semi-flexible on our arrival time, we try and get a bump (i.e. give up our seats when the airline overbooks the flight). You may think that is crazy, but they give you a free flight, people!!! Living in NYC and not having a car means we fly pretty much everywhere we travel, so this is invaluable. Plus, hanging out at an airport for a couple hours isn't the worst way I've earned a few hundred dollars :)

outdoor movie

A couple Fridays ago, we took part in a great NYC summer activity: the outdoor movie. Lucky for me, the Intrepid Museum was playing Jurassic Park, one of my all-time favorite movies. Ever. It's embarrassing how much I love this movie.

diy: beer glass display

All this studying has really been cramping my style lately and I haven't been completing the mass quantity of DIY projects my little heart would desire. So instead of being studious this past weekend, I tackled a storage project for Kurt's apartment. He has this gradually expanding collection of pint glasses that he has, um, acquired over the years that has been taking up a lot of space in his cabinets. I'm typically not a huge supporter of bachelor pad chic, but if that's what we have to work with then you might as well have fun with it, right? (Although you won't be seeing any neon beer lights anytime soon. You hear me, Kurt?!)

Samoa

Today's guest post is from none other than Mr. Kurt Martig himself. Remember back in April when he abandoned me to galavant around the Southern Hemisphere? Well, he has finally sorted through those thousands of photos he took on the trip and has organized his thoughts in order to give us an in-depth look at his week in Samoa. I really appreciate all the hard work he put into this post and hope you will all enjoy a glimpse at another culture as much as I did. It definitely seems like a different world over there and I can't wait to visit sometime. I can't make any promises but maybe Kurt will be kind enough to share a post about his visit to New Zealand as well?! Let's hope before 2013 sometime :)

If you like what you see/read here, Kurt is working on his own blog with a focus on city planning issues. Be sure to check it out over at Urban Scouting. Thanks, Kurt!

PART ONE: SAMOA

This trip has been a few years in the making. My boss's father Lani began this project in 2006 with the support of Rotary International. The project is focused on providing water tanks for the Village of Falelima in Samoa. The village does not have any access to well-water, so all potable water must be either collected from the rain or purchased and delivered - for much more than a dollar a bottle (even though the water is coming from no farther than the main island).

At terrain our primary focus has been to raise funding for the project. My boss, Steven, went on the first volunteer work-trip back in the spring of 2006 and helped with surveying the first phases of the project. Each time Steven's parents come to New York City to visit we get together and discuss Lani's recent travels to Samoa, how the project is coming along. One time we watched a documentary that a friend of his did on a work-trip. And for the past year or so we'd been discussing how and when I could make my way to Samoa for a work-trip. Finally in February Lani called and said everything was lined up for a late April, early May trip. There was no hesitation on my part, I could not wait to go!

I hope you enjoy the documentation of the trip.