The Repatriation of Mister Carr

Coming back isn't easy. Getting that giant ball of life rolling in a new place takes a lot of effort, and being away for two years takes away a lot of momentum. I was definitely in culture shock for quite some time. But despite the difficulties, there are definitely great things about being in the states again...

First, the food. Oh the consumer society that is America. How I have missed you. I have gorged myself on burritos, greasy greasy hamburgers, pizza, amazing salads that I forgot exist, and oh so much more. 

Behold the glory of Cafe Rio. I never thought a burrito could glow.

Next I was blown away by the wide open expanse that I grew up in. 

This is right next to one of my favorite runs...a little cabin at the base of the mountains marks the start and stop point of the run dubbed 'the vista'

One of my favorite things about the US are all the races I get to do. I've already run a 5k and a 10k since I've been back, and they were both fantastic. The 5K was just a local one, but I was oddly worried about it because of elevation changes, and running sort of took a rough turn in Moscow. But the race went fairly well, and I ran into some old friends.

The 10K I did is a race on Skyline drive, which is a road that runs along the top of the mountains here, and it's at 10000 ft. Some great friends came down for the weekend and we spent the night before the race camping out in the scenic mountains. I was blown away by the beauty of the raw nature here in Utah. I swore that I hadn't forgot about it, but I clearly have because every few minutes I couldn't help but say how beautiful it all is.

I think no matter how far I get away, this place pulls me back in...it's a beautiful little trap that I call home.

The race the next day went great. The first 5K were fast, and I raced it out with a high-schooler at about 5:40 miles. Then the brutal reality of 10,000 ft elevation kicked in, and the course turned uphill for the last 5K (who designed this course?!). I really struggled, and my pace slowed to about 6:20 miles for the last few, spitting me out in 35:something. Luckily I wasn't alone in my sorrow and the high-schooler fell off the radar...that's how I win things...I just plan on other people suffering more than me.

Even though the course was horrendous, it really does have a fantastic view.

The best part of coming home has been seeing family. I spent the first week here with my brother and his family, who I haven't had a good chance to spend time with for arguably 7 years. I think I don't really need to say that was a long overdue reunion. I've also had the chance to see many other family members, and even got to run the aforementioned race with my little sister. 

It's nice coming to my home country, but it's even nicer coming home to family.

This is likely to be the last post on this blog before I close it to the public. It has been a wild adventure over the last two years leaving my home, and finally coming back. I'm so glad I chose to do this, and I'm so glad some of you could go through it with me. It's been what I consider to be a long series of unforgettable times. And so, goodbye.

The End

Bitter-sweet farewells

This summer has been one of slow, drawn-out farewells. Another music post, this goes out to you Moscow:

I'm sitting in the Warsaw airport on my way home from 2 years of studying in Moscow, Russia. I can hardly believe that I am finally on my way back to the US after SOOOOO long being absent. The time in Russia was incredibly difficult on me, and I owe so much to friends and family that got me through the toughest times. I can honestly say that I've never felt more alone, betrayed, angry, and bitter than I often did in Moscow. I feel like I'm in an abusive relationship with this city (I guess I should say that city now), with a bit of a Stockholm syndrome thing going on (a bit, I mean, I'm not super in love). And yet, saying goodbye to all of my dear friends over the summer tore a bit of me out. That's the catch with living in a place so far away, you can never really take all of you along when you finally leave. Moscow, you definitely took a big part of me for yourself, but I guess in a weird way I love you for it...bitch.

The last little while in Russia I got into 'do everything Russia' mode. I ate so many pelmeni, vareniki, and pirogi that I definitely don't want to see them for quite some time now; I made it to a museum that a friend and I had tried to hit up twice before with no success; I threw a shashlik (shishkebab) roast for a ton of my friends; and I gave a talk in my church.

One of my most anticipated activities was to catch the sunrise over Sparrow Hills. To do this I had to wake up at about 4.00 am to run the 10k there and catch it on time (I could have done this at a time of year when the sun rises much, much later, but I procrastinated). I was expecting a totally tender moment with Moscow where I re-convince myself that I really do love this city. Instead I found a bunch of drunk people driving around screaming...I was pretty disappointed (although on the other hand you've got to hand it to them for still being drunk at 4.45). The sunrise was beautiful though, and at least I had a nice run without any traffic.

Then I graduated from my Master's program.

Anyway, after all my little goodbyes, it finally came time to go. People ask me a lot 'what now?' Now I'm nervous, excited, burned-out, tired, and a bit hungry. We'll see what comes next, but for now, Прощай, Москва.

A Bit Depressing at First, But It Gets Lighter at the End

We visited the Holocaust Museum. This is the sort of place that breaks one's heart. I have a hard time believing just how cruel humans can become. I think it's impossible for me to relay the emotions and thoughts of going through a memorial like this. The name of the museum is Yad Vashem, meaning a place and a name. In the spirit of remembering I'm including a few quotations that struck me.

'When our children cried in the shadow of the gallows, We never heard the world's anger. For Thou didst choose us from all people. Thou didst love us and favor us...and when our children are marched to the gallows, Jewish chlidren, wise Jewish children, They know that their blood is not counted in the Bloodshed - They only call back to their mothers: Mother, don't look.' -Nathan Alterman, 1942

'I know that when I stand before God on Judgement Day, I shall not be asked the question posed to Cain - where were you when your brother's blood was crying out to God?' -Imre Bathory.

'So for us even the hour of liberty rang out grave and muffled, and filled our souls with joy and yet with a painful sense of shame...and also with anguish, because we felt that this should never happen, that now nothing could ever happen good and pure enough to rub out our past, and that the scars of the outrage would remain within us forever.' -Primo Levi, The Truce

The day ended with getting fantastically lost on the Mount of Olives. Well, not lost really, we just thought we could get into some sites that were actually closed. But we caught a beautiful sunset over Jerusalem from our vantage point, and I had some mild epiphanies that I think will stick with me for a while (if you really want to hear them call me and we'll talk).

The next day we headed to Bethlehem to check out the birthplace of Jesus. It turned out to be much more of an adventure than I bargained for, since it's in Palestinian territory. I met a British girl who convinced us to go to the wall separating Israel and Palestine and we ended up having a fascinating discussion with our taxi driver about the condition of the conflict.

One of my favorite parts (and least favorite parts) was the people on pilgrimages. It was inspiring to see so many people from all over the globe gathering to pay homage to their beliefs.

The emotions surrounding the wall were a bit hard to take in. So many cultures clash here, but the wall itself seems so archaic and cold. Walls just scream evil in my mind.

We saw a handful of Banksys along the way, which was cool.

We drove in to Tel Aviv for the last half of the day to hit up the beach. It was so relaxing playing in the water, going for a run up the coast, and coming back to a fantastic view of Joppa. This was the perfect way to end a stressful trip.

I found some really cool workout equipment and had to play on it. 

Photo Overload: Mountains, Masada, Ein Gedi, Dead Sea

Days 2 and 3 are sort of melded together in my mind, but they were so very different. Day 2 started out with an early morning run (after cleaning the cat fur off my face) up the Mount of Olives and over to Mt. Scopus.

The view from the top of Mt. Scopus

After the run and a bit of Shabbat fun at the Jerusalem Center (really fantastic) we finished the day off with more sites around the city. If I'm perfectly honest, most of these sites were a bit of a disappointment. With all the thousands of pilgrims wandering the city, it's quite difficult to get a feeling of reverence, and look at the sites as they really ought to be. Some of my favorite moments in Jerusalem were not at the famous  Christian, Judaic, or Muslim sites but in random corners of the city where I could just look over it and think of its significance. That being said, here are some more pictures of the famous sites.

Protestant's version of Calvary

Protestant's version of Jesus' Tomb

Garden of Gethsemane

The next day we woke up at 3am to catch the sunrise at Masada, an old fortress first built by Alexander Jannaeus, later taken by Herod the Great, then later by the Romans in about 70 AD. The Romans laid siege to the fortress, and rather than give in to them, the zealots inside committed mass suicide. 

...but the sunrise over the Dead Sea was nice.

 

The cistern and the only remaining inhabitant of the fortress.

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Really just incredible.

After Masada I swung up to the natural springs of Ein Gedi, which is where David hid from Solomon in his early years. 

This rock was just begging to be climbed. 

This waterfall had a sign that forbade swimming. But I've always been a rule breaker.

I decided to try to run to the top of the falls with the 15 minutes I had left. Another passenger on the bus told me I couldn't make it, but I think we all know that made me want to do it all the more. Sorry for the bad video, but you get the picture I think.

After Ein Gedi we drove up to the Dead Sea to take a dip. This was pretty fun, and very odd. You can just sit, or even stand in the water and you just float. 

The mud is apparently really good for your skin.

And that was all done by about 2.00. The rest of the day is for another post. 

I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth. ~ God of the Old Testament

Wednesday I bought a ticket to Israel. Thursday I went to Israel. Before you start thinking that I'm rich and frivolous, tickets are super cheap from here...so only the latter is true. I flew into Tel Aviv Thursday night, and the next morning was on a bus for Jerusalem.

Day one was a bit confusing, trying to find my way around a city that I had 1) not planned anything for 2) had no map of and 3) has so many interesting things that I easily got distracted/lost. It turned out ok, and I found the hostel (which ended up being an adventure all on its own), and started the tour of the city.

At the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Orthodox faiths believe Christ was crucified and buried. I was trying to figure out where to go next and looking great doing it.

Western Wall

Random school above the Western Wall. As I've said before, one of my favorite things to do is just wander around new cities. This definitely held true in Jerusalem.

Such a fascinating cultural struggle. The whole time I was there I was just blown away that things don't just erupt into violence. It's such a strange balance.

 After a long day of wandering around Jerusalem and seeing much more than I'll ever be able to tell, we came back to our hostel. This hostel is located in the middle of the old city, and you're supposed to sleep on the roof. I set aside mats and blankets, but when I came back they had been commandeered (filthy hostel hippies). All that was left was a damp one and a sheet. It was pretty cold, but luckily a tabby cat came and slept on my face to keep me warm.

This is what I woke up to. Sort of worth the freezing night, right?

Days 2, 3, and 4 to come!