Weekly Obsession - A La Carte

I just ran across these beautifully hand drawn maps via Notcot and I'm in love. I am incredible jealous of those that can sketch such wonderful things from their travels. Well, hand drawn maps I think are even more fantastic! I just drool over this stuff. A La Carte offers maps from Barcelona, London, Munich, New York, Paris, Shangha, Tokyo, Vienna, Washington, D.C. and Zurich. These maps are a combination of "guidebook, tourist map and a piece of art all in one." It's kind of like a friend of yours that lives in that particular place hands you a map with all the hot spots, interesting tips, things off the beaten track and what to do and see. Perfect for those spontaneous adventurous Flashpackers and journal keepers alike looking for the best kept secrets. What a great way to make a memory. Shoot, time to place an order.

Buy maps at A La Carte

Chinese Prayer Plaques

While in New York Andrea and I had some free time to visit an exhibit that had this large dome of Chinese prayer plaques that you can walk under (Sample 1 - 2). I had never heard of it till then. It was littered with rows and stacks of prayers and wishes. Imagine reading a whole wall of others most secret thoughts. A second part of the exhibit was to fold your own Origami Peace Crane and thousands cascaded from the ceiling. Later that night I was presented with a surprise gift of an Origami Iris Flower at dinner by someone I had met that weekend. It was a beautiful little gift. From a designers standpoint, it was an awesome exhibit.

Inspiration #5

"I am drawn to your invitation."

Asia And Back

So my sister Andrea and I decided to take another trip. This time it wasn't so much a trip with the label "vacation" attached. It was more of a business trip I guess you can say. We flew up to New York and to my surprise, it was the fastest little trip ever. The Chicago airport was actually good to us. Once we got there we took a 2 hour nap on the airport floor and quickly got sick of random body parts going numb and people starring so we called in early to see if checking in was even possible. And it was!

We arrived to our awesome apartment and quickly felt like we were transported to Asia (see Seminary above). Seeing how this trip was about foreign volunteer work with Maryknoll, I guess it made sense. I learned about working in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Some of the most interesting info I learned was about teaching in China. Even though there is absolutely no freedom of religion there, Maryknoll is sent to basically teach. Students there have to pass tests that are harder than the our SAT's. And if they don't pass the first time, their families don't bother paying for a 2nd time and the student is left to work at McDonalds till the day they die. That is if money and tutoring isn't available.

But what I'm interested in is Latin America. Hopefully it will all work out. I'm off to my applications. Wish me luck.

Courtyard & Buddhist monastery bell that is rung to send volunteers out.

New York

Off to New York and catching a flight in about 3 hours and guess who has NOT started to pack at all? Yep, that would be me, the procrastinator. What? I just don't like packing.

Hopefully with this trip I'll have a better idea of what I want to do with my life in the near future. Vague and mysterious I know.