What the heck!? part one: How I got here

I think it's time I explain where I am and what I am doing.

Lots of people have been confused, so it's probably time to explain.

Currently, I am sitting on my bed in Andorf, Austria in the Hofinger's house.  My bed is right next to Katharina.  We have the upstairs apartment of this beautiful 140 year old house.  Across the hall from us is Jacob's room.

Katharina and I met at the end of 2004 in Dublin, Ireland.  I had moved there to be a nanny, and she was there doing a training school in my neighborhood.  We became better friends when she came back to visit in 2005, and from then on have remained very close.  I generally call her my "best friend in Europe".  We both are Catholic, have experience with community, and are also development practitioners.  So basically, we can talk about everything.

Last year in February, I went to Ireland to attend a conference called ReLay.  I convinced Katharina to join me, and we stayed together for 5 days and attended the conference, as well as visited some old friends.  It was very wonderful.  At that point, Kat was already engaged, and so I promised that I would come to her wedding in Austria, in August 2013.

Then I decided to leave Africa.  I knew that the timing would be best if I went in June of 2013, for many reasons.  But I didn't want to spend the extra money to go all the way to the States and then come back (in August, peak season) to Europe.  It didn't make sense.  So I started thinking... I came up with a variety of plans, including an internship in Rome, working on organic farms in Slovenia, etc... but all of them would have taken a lot of work to make it happen.

And then... I decided to email Katharina.  She currently is the director of ORA Austria, a small NGO based here in Andorf.  I knew I wanted to DO something with this summer, specifcally something related to my field (international development)... so I was bold and asked if I could come and help with her NGO as well as help her get ready for the wedding/help with the house/live with her family (whom I had already met)

 She said Yes!

So, it happened!  I traveled in June, which was unexpected and incredible.  The opportunities to learn about the Middle East was amazing, and I now have a lot of learning to do in relation to comparative development between Africa and the Middle East... (hopefully soon Eastern Europe too.)  I also visited friends in Geneva for a short break and took a "congratualtion you survived 3 years in Africa" short trip across Switzerland with Natalie Way.

After a visit with friends in Munich, I found my way to little Andorf, Austria.  I had been here before, so it felt a little bit like coming home.  It's one of my favorite places.  I have now been here for 2.5 weeks, and have another 4ish to go.  So far, so great!

The next post will detail what I am actually doing here... :)