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Merry Christmas, or as the Hawaiians say, Mele Kalikimaka! Last week I found myself on Kauai, Hawaii on a rather spontaneous trip to meet up with Mary and Teresa, the Peace Corps volunteers I met in Vanuatu through CouchSurfing. (Val, another Peace Corps volunteer, and John, Teresa’s boyfriend, also made the trip.) Although we unfortunately didn’t have much sun, we fortunately didn’t have much rain either, so we were able to spend most of our time outside hiking, scuba diving, and lazing around on the beach. Mary, Teresa, and Val represent the best of the Peace Corps, and their zest is quite contagious. Thanks again, guys!

For Thanksgiving, Deniz, Arda, and I were joined by Ben, a friend who is on an internship in San Francisco at the moment. After the Turks left back to Iowa, Ben and I decided to explore Death Valley for the Thanksgiving weekend. Since our precious hours of winter sunlight were limited, we hurried to see some of the highlights including Badwater Basin, the Devil’s Golf Course, and a group of sand dunes.

Deniz and Arda, two Turkish friends from Iowa, came to visit for Thanksgiving break. During the five days that they were here, we saw the sights of LA, dined at some of my favorite restaurants in Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Hollywood, and of course feasted on mashed potatoes and turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. Good times for sure, and I think they enjoyed the Mediterranean climate.