My life is amazing. I could not ask for more.
I am 28
I am currently a Peace Corps Volunteer in the country of Suriname. I work with Micro Enterprise Development in a small Amerindian community on the Northern edge of the Amazon Rain forest.
For all of my geographically impaired friends, Suriname is the smallest independent nation in South America. It is on the North East corner of the continent. It borders Guyana on the West, French Guiana on the east and Brazil on the south.
In my community I will be working to develop tourism.
I love to run, which is a major change my life, as last year, I was very large, and out of shape.
I have lost a ton of weight and I just ran my first Marathon!
Running to me is spiritual, there is something absolutely amazing about doing something so hard, for so long. I am a total gym rat. I spend hours at the gym every night. I am sitting at work writing this now, anxious to go to the gym! Someday I hope to start on triathelons!
I love to travel. I have been to: Suriname, Canada, England, France, Italy, Vatican City, Jamaica and Panama. I had the amazing privilege of living with an Emberá Dura Tribe in the jungles of Panama.
I just returned from my latest trip to Kingston, Jamaica. Though Kingston is a really rough city, I went alone. I had a blast and even climbed my first mountain, the Blue Mountain (almost 8,000 feet) the highest point in the West Indies.
I figure traveling and vacation should take you away from your every day norm. I live in luxury. I have a beautiful one-bedroom apartment in Center City Philadelphia. I have hot and cold running water 99% of the time, and electricity every day. I have daily access to a sauna, pool and steam room. I have plenty of food (way to much in my opinion) Heat in the winter and AC in the summer. I don’t need a luxury vacation; I need to get to meet the real people.
My goal, after the Peace Corps, is to start a new mutual fund. I love socially responsible funds, which will not knowingly invest in companies, which defy certain criteria. Most of those funds have criteria that say they will not knowingly invest in companies that do damage to the environment, or product firearms, tobacco or liquor, and so on.
I have a similar idea, but my criteria will be fair labor practices in the developing world. And I would like my funds to have a positive influence on each investment. I think I will produce my doctoral thesis on promoting sustainability through foreign investment.
I could go on and on about these plans but you will have to wait for the “Behind the Music†or in my case “Behind the Economicsâ€
