KimJay

Kimberly Forrest

25 / Female

Eugene, Oregon, USA

About KimJay

Member since 19th Aug 09

Citizenship: USA
About KimJay:

I am a political type looking to get away from working too hard for a few months to learn Spanish and see some more of the world before settling down with a real job and too many dogs.

I grew up in Eugene, OR and went to Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA where I had the unique opportunity to study abroad in Sri Lanka for five months. Though living with a family in an entirely different culture was one of the hardest things I've ever done, it also was amazing to learn so much about a religion and country so different than America. Ever since then I have been wanting to see more of the world up close!

After college I spent three years working in politics in Oregon and Washington, including fundraising, issue campaigns, electoral politics and in the Oregon legislature. I am taking a break from all that, and I am going to Central America with the goal of coming back relatively functional in Spanish when I get back. Hopefully I can meet and help out some good people along the way, work on my filming skills, and learn everything I can about the places I visit.

Hobbies:

Road Biking, Cooking, Golf, Dancing to bluegrass jams and bad pop/rap music and nothing in between, Good beer or wine on a hot day or a cold day, Singing to a good tune and strumming the guitar, Rock Hunting, Beachgoing, Learning about other people and cultures--both living and dead (as in archaeology and history, not in a creepy way), Politics, and Pool... soon to be blogging? Or Vlogging as they call it?

Favourite places:

All of Oregon save Portland (hehe), Seattle, Walla Walla, Sri Lanka.

Activity : photos (22) forum (0) guide (0) blog (6) diary (0) trips (0)

Latest Blog Entry

El viaje hasta la orilla del infierno!

Posted by KimJay | 23rd November 2009

Many tourists come to Guatemala to do things that no one in their right mind would let them do in the US. We are no exception! This weekend, we climbed a volcano that is still spewing lava and crossed a barely crusted over rock pathway to get there (yes, that means there was red hot molten rock possibly only inches beneath our feet!). Like average Americans, we assumed that if people let you do it, it must be safe, while here the modis operandi is if people will pay for it, we'll tell them it is safe.

This was no trip for the faint of heart or the heavy of foot and belly. At one point during our scramble up loose pumis and red lava rock, a huge smoldering rock the size of a sack of bowling balls broke off the mountain and came cascading and tumbling towards our group. Luckily, it passed through a gap in the line without injuring anyone. This was the point we were sure that this was one of the most ridiculously stupid things we had done in our lives, an opinion shared by most of our

Continued | Turtle and Barracuda