Settling into Nebraska

10 days ago I arrived in Nebraska and am slowly settling into life in the slow lane.

I am staying at the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, where I am volunteering over the next 10 weeks. The trust is quite remote and situated at the end of a 2 ½ mile drive about 16 miles from the nearest big town, Grand Island. I have been provided accommodation and have a 3 bedroom trailer that overlooks fields and is positioned perfectly for the impressive sunrises that occur here. I’ve also been provided with a car, which is a necessity here, so can get out and about to explore the area. The ‘office’ is about 50 metres from my trailer so you can imagine the trouble I have getting into work!

The people here are great and have made me feel really welcome. There are a mix of nationalities, predominately Latin American so there is no excuse for me not to improve my Spanish. I’ve already established a drinking partner, Luis a guy from Mexico so safe to say I have my priorities sorted.

Unfortunately I’ve been sick with another cold, what are the chances of that! Pretty unfair I think, 2 colds in two weeks so let’s just hope I’ve had my quota for the next year. As a result I’ve not been up to much except settling into my trailer and starting to understand how I can help out the trust on the work front. There appears to be a lot that I can help out with that will make a big difference to the way in which they work here which is good news.

I’m certainly getting into the rural life and have been treated to food from the land. Luis has been hunting the past two Sundays and has shot a deer each time so I’ve been treated to venison. Yesterday I helped skin and prepare the deer which took quite a few hours but the hard work was rewarded with barbeque ribs and wine. I don’t think I’ll be needing to buy meat for while and will have to test me venison culinary skills. For those of you surprised about me skinning a deer, I figure that if I’m happy to eat meat then I should be able to appreciate where it comes from. I agree with Luis’ motto, if you shoot it then eat it, so he shot it and I'm helping to eat it. I should have been more careful however because I was a bit careless with the knife and will now have a permanent reminder of my first deer skinning experience!

I hope you like the photos, I hope they give you a feel for the place. The temperature highs are not dissimilar to the UK but the lows are down to about -9C at the moment. The good thing however is that there is rarely a cloud in the sky so we just need to wrap up warm and enjoy the sunshine.

(sunrise from my trailer and sunset up the drive)

Later this week I’m going to experience a typical American holiday, Thanksgiving so am looking forward to more food, drinking and socialising.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Back on track.

I'm feeling much better now and have out and about in Washington admiring the sites. The weather has been cracking, shorts and vesties have been the order of the day which means I've been trying to do outdoor things. It has been great being able to top up on the tan, something that I really wasn't expecting for this time of the year, however my feet are complaining a bit because I have been walking for miles!

My first trip out after being stuck in the hostel for a few days was down to the National Mall, host to all the key sites of Washington and many museums. I didn't do too much, getting oriented really and checking out the Smithsonian Institute. An English guy (James Smithson) left his estate to Washington to found an institute for the 'increase and diffusion of knowledge' so the Smithsonian Institute was established. Now there are 19 museums, 9 research centers and a zoo, all of which are free.

In the evening I went on a walking tour of Georgetown, the trendy side of Washington, which ended up in a bar for a few beers which was good. Friday I headed out into the sunshine and walked up and down the National Mall visiting the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, The White House, finishing the day at the National Museum of African Art. They had an exhibit on North African jewellery which was really interesting since most of it was from Morocco, areas and tribes that I've just visited. I covered a fair few miles today!

Saturday was nearly as good weather wise so I thought a trip to the zoo was in order. As zoos go, this one was pretty good, with much time and investment into breeding programs to help endangered species. It was another 10+ miles on the feet and a full day out so I was knackered by the time I got back to the hostel.

Today I've been back down the National Mall visiting more of the sites. Optimistic for another warm day I headed out in shorts and t-shirt but it wasn't quite as warm. I think the weather is finally turning so after making the most of the sun in the morning, I escaped into the National Museum of Air and Space this afternoon. I was freezing by the time I got back to the hostel so I think the shorts will have to be packed up now until I reach Cancun.

I have 4 days left which I intend to fill with more museum visits. I plan to tick off the Natural History Museum, Newseum (news museum), Holocaust museum and Museum of the American Indian. I also still want to see the National Archives, US Capitol and Union Station so I'm definitely going to be busy.

Catch up again once I've settled into Nebraska!

Sick in Washington!

Well it has not been a great start to my trip as I came down with a stinker of a cold on my last day in Morocco and it has settled in good and proper now. They took care of me on the BA flight with honey and lemon and luckily the flight was only about 30 mins late, landing at 3pm. Unfortunately there were delays in getting us to the terminal so I ended up right at the back of the queue at immigration. I had no problems getting through immigration and finally made it to the youth hostel at about 5.30.
After settling into my room (or should I say bed - bottom bunk in a 10 bed mixed dorm) I popped out to get some food to keep me going till morning. The place was buzzing with the election news and many people were lined up in the TV room watching all the action. I however was feeling pretty rough and after a sandwich, a few chapters of my book, a sprinking of olbas oil and a couple of tylanol I packed myself off to bed.
Today I'm still deeply wrapped in the arms of 'Mr Cold' so I am having a quiet day at the youth hostel catching up on my email. It is a real shame I wasn't up to doing anything last night because the talk at breakfast was about the partying that was going on until late on the streets of Washington last night.
I'm going to pop out shortly to stock up on provisions and right this day off. I'm really glad I'm in Washington for a while because it means I don't feel under pressure to get out and about until I'm feeling better.

Catch up again soon when I've actually done something!