Pig in a box - Orcas Island

The Sisson family has a yearly tradition known to outsiders as The Sisson Family Pig Roast but to seasoned vets as "three days of debauchery". Yes. Three days.

This year I was able to experience this event first-hand.

It all started on a Friday morning. Cole and I, along with two of his friends, drove two hours north of Seattle to Anacortes, WA. We caught the ferry there to Orcas Island, Cole's hometown. Upon arrival, the gang immediately set a course straight for Lower Tavern, a bar in East Sound that honestly has the best burgers. And beer... of course! They even have bottles of the Elysian's Immortal IPA (only my most favoritest beer ever!)!!!

Stuffed and ready to rock-n-roll, we picked up supplies from the market and headed towards Doe Bay, where Cole's family house is located.
** In the background: The Sisson Household!

On arrival at the Sisson residence, we learned from Mr. Gary Sisson himself that a boat trip to Lopez Island was necessary in order to retrieve Cole's youngest sibling/brother, Herbie Tucker. He had been camping on Lopez with his mom and let me tell you the "quick" ride across the Puget Sound ended up being a bit more taxing than the boat ride I took with Monna, Sven and Claudio through the lake in Finland. Not only does a sound have more waves that a lake but Henrik's boat went half the speed that Gary's did! I am not sure whether or not that was the fault of the boat or of it's driver. :)

As we traveled between the two islands, we passed another ferry on it's way to Orcas from Anacortes. A quick call on Cole's cellphone and we discovered that his youngest sister, Sophie, and a group of her friends from Western (for you international people that is Western Washington University) were actually traveling on the very boat in front of us. Craziness!

** Sophie is the one on the left! :)

The girls arrived at the house shortly after we returned from our adventures at sea. We hung out, played Rock Band and began preparation for the day to come.

** Herbie and the ladies rockin' out.

As the night went on more people began to arrive, including Molly, Cole's other sister, and her entourage. At one o'clock in the morning, the work began.

A pig, gutted and drained, sat on a piece of plywood in the middle of Gary's workshop.


It was going to be placed in a box, covered with a sheet of metal which was then going to be covered with burning coals and cooked for almost 15 hours. There was only one problem. The pig was too big for the box.

Enter the Japanese hand saw.

Yep. You guessed it. If the shoe doesn't fit, just cut off a couple toes!

No really, bad analogy, but in order to make the pig fit into the box, we had to cut off the head and the legs. Now this may seem grotesque and vile to some of you but in my mind, it is necessary to understand so I actually participated in sawing off one of the legs. I figure whenever we eat any kind of meat, someone somewhere had to butcher the animal for us to enjoy it. So similar to Mike Rowe's philosophy on Dirty Jobs, I wanted to "gain a new understanding and appreciation for all the often-unpleasant functions someone is shouldering to make [my] everyday life easier, safer — and often cleaner."*

Here is a picture of the finished product... in the box!!!!

*** Yummy!!!!

There are two more days to this story but for now I think you have had enough... that and it is early in the morning and I need sleep. So more on this fantastic event to come! Aren't you excited?!?

Set sail

George Gray - Spoon River Anthology

I have studied many times
The marble which was chiseled for me--
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.
For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one's life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire--
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

Thank you Claudio!

Concluding thoughts on my summer trip of 2008

Sometimes things happen for a reason. You go with your instincts, leave your comfort zone and find yourself in situations you couldn't possibly dream of. This trip was one of those occasions.

Experiences shape who we become. And this trip definitely had a huge impact on me. I not only was able to learn more about the people I traveled with but also about myself and my relationship to the world around me.

I have been back for only a month and already the world has changed. Russia has invaded Georgia. The 2008 Beijing Olympics are currently underway. Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, has resigned. And Obama is announcing his VP candidate via text message.. just to name a few events.

So where does that leave me? What exactly did I learn on this trip?

The answer: Travel. As much as you can. Whenever you can. To places you might be uncomfortable in.

This is not a revelation. Just something I hold particularly close to my heart.

Thank you to Sven, Monna and Claudio for putting up with me for those three weeks. I had an incredible time! You guys are my family now and I love you all very much!

Thank you to Monna's family. Kiitos. Kiitos. Kiitos. For taking in three foreigners with particularly peculiar personalities! Yes, Sven, I am talking about you as well!

Thank you to my family and friends back in the United States who told me I would be a fool to pass up such a wonderful opportunity and who supported me throughout the trip and now support me back at home. I could not do it without you guys.

And thank you to everyone who has lasted this long reading my blog. It really means a lot to me. I have enjoyed writing each post so I have decided to continue posting. Although it will not necessarily be about international travel anymore (or at least for a little while), it will still be about my adventures in the world around me! I am sure you all are waiting with breath that is bated! ;) See you again soon!

Riga and the birthday no one will forget!

We arrived in Riga and immediately breathed a sigh of relief. The border crossing the night before had been interesting. It began at 2 in the morning and there were two checks. One with the Russian border. And one with the Latvian border. They were an hour apart. Fun. The only thing I really remember was when the Russian border patrol lady asked me a question about my visa in Russian. I stared blankly at her. I turned to Monna and Sven (we were all in the same cabin this time)and Sven immediately tried to tell me what to do. But the words came out of his mouth all wrong. I didn't understand him! It took me a couple minutes to realize that he was speaking to me in German, which he obviously didn't realize himself. Anyway, it was too much for my brain to be processing at 2a.m so I just nodded my head. Not really sure what I nodded about.

Our hostel was really close to the train station and it was another winner! Thanks Monna! It had internet in every single dorm room and leopard everything! From the toilet set cover to the stools in all the rooms to the comforters on the beds. Awesome.

** You can see the bedding... wild!

Riga is a small city. Similar to Tallinn, the city is centered around an old town area. However, unlike Tallinn, Riga surrounds the old town with canals and beautiful gardens!

** Gorgeous!

We walked all over the city and eventually settled down in one of the cute town squares to have a pint of cider and (beer for Sven).


It was sunny and beautiful. And I could feel the ocean air. I always forget how important the sea is to my state of being. It was strange in Moscow because, obviously being inland, the only body of water it had was a river that ran through the center of the city. Unfortunately, a river is not enough for me. I was glad to be by the sea again.

The next day, we traveled to the beaches about 45 minutes outside of Riga. Growing up in San Diego, I had no expectations of what the beach was going to be like. All I have to say about it is... go there. It was amazing. The shoreline stretched for miles and was covered with beach goers. Monna pointed out how it felt like Spain but more green. Crazy.


*** Don't check us out! Check out the beach behind us! :)

Not only was it a great beach day, but this day was a very special day for another reason. It was Monna's 25th birthday! And the last leg of our trip together. Fortunately, and unfortunately, both cameras ran out of batteries. So we have only a few pictures of the events that followed our day on the beach. What I can say of the evening is this(sorry to be so cryptic):
- Champagne with a cherry in the glass?

- The trip: In Review
- "Two for one" at the Cuban Bar
- The Orange Bar and the New Yorkers
- The club (what was the name?) and the South Africans
- The walk home, "What was his name? I think it was Alex." and the poor guys walking behind us, at least they were entertained!

Monna and I woke up the next morning in the worst states I think I have ever seen us! The day was rough. Our flight did not leave until 11:30pm so we had to figure out what to do with ourselves until then. Let's just say Monna wanted to check into another hotel. For the day.



Needless to say, as awful as we felt that morning, our time in Riga was definitely a success. Monna had a wonderful and absolutely unforgettable birthday which was all we could have hoped for! :) Happy birthday honey!!!

Murky Moscow and the "Beautiful" Square

I know all of these posts are popping up a bit late and in sporadic increments but it is important to me to try and flush out the stories that made up my adventure in Scandinavia and Russia. I only apologize that I could not make all these posts while traveling.

Where did we leave off? Oh yes, we were tired, hung over and sweltering in Moscow's heat.

After disembarking the train, we quickly made our way over to the hostel. We stayed at a place called Godzilla's hostel. Nice place. Friendly staff. It was a delightful change to our dreary St. Petersburg residence, although not quite as cool as Euphoria in Tallinn.

After some much needed showers, we walked from our hostel down to Red Square. And all I could do was stand there. Floored, flabbergasted but mostly just stunned. This was it for me. The reason I had pushed my friends so hard to go to this country. It was all standing in front of me. At that moment, I really wished my dad was there with me. He was the one that got me into history in the first place. He was the reason I enjoy the history channel and documentaries on war. And he was the one who influenced my decision to become a world traveler. If he could only have seen this! One day I will take him back there!


**Can you tell that I was excited???

The Kremlin and Saint Basil's Cathedral were more massive and impressive than I could have ever imagined. I think the layout of the square only enhanced their magnificence! I could not believe that I was standing in a place with so much history. History that I only slightly understood. How would I have felt if I were Monna and I was in the country that had controlled and shed the blood of my ancestors? I am sure it would have been quite a different feeling. Or if I was Sven, who's ancestors had fought and died horrifically during World War II on this countries soil? Again, I couldn't image.


** The walls of the Kremlin

I am really glad my friends came with me though. I could tell that there were many moments in Moscow when we all wished we were back on the island in Finland. But I am grateful that they pulled through and appreciated the experience.

Fortunately, we didn't try to push ourselves in Moscow. It was so hot and completely different from any place we had been in Scandinavia. Instead of being uber tourists and walking every road in the city, we took our time. We would stroll to a local park. There we would sit in the grass, reading books, eating Finnish food that was imported to our local market, listening to music and observing the passersby.


** Monna and I sunbathing in a park in the center of the city. Don't worry we were not the only ones!

We left Russia on a Latvian train to Riga. It was another overnight train but this time it was completely different to our previous experience. The train had bottled water, tea cookies, a cream-colored doily, and a small little vase with a couple fake flowers in it on the center table. We skipped out on the Lonkero and the shots of cognac in favor of sleeping the fifteen hours to Riga. And this time I actually slept!

Interesting fact: Did you know that the "red" in Red Square has nothing to do with the red bricks of the square or even Communism? As it turns out the Russian word for red has a double meaning. It translates as "red" and "beautiful", however, the latter is an archaic meaning.