Wedding Holla

Surprise!!!! I, Joshua Anderson and I, Cathryn Kloetzli, got engaged Thursday night, June 12th under the giant white oak aka 'wolf' tree in the back pasture on Joshua's family farm in Hale, Missouri.

Yippee!! Clap Clap!!

Since many of you know one of us but not the both of us, we thought this would be the best way to introduce each other to each others ….

A year and a half ago two wanderers crossed paths in Niger, West Africa, and what follows is our take on the story leading up to this wonderful occasion, or ah..SURPRISE!!

I was a teacher for his group's pre-service training in Niger, I was a class clown with a crushand we were both serving as Peace Corps agriculture volunteers. One day, on the way back from the garden, I asked her if she would be interested to talk shop over a pint, and I said YES! (well, with a little less enthusiasm, I had to be a little coy). I don't even like beer, but somehow it seemed like I just shouldn't say no to this guy. :)

So, it might have been her thick glasses, or shoulder exposure or the dry climate frying my brain ;) but something immediately sparked my interest in her. For my part, I was pretty much the smitten kitten as soon as I watched him and Matt contribute to a first aid presentation (Josh used to be an army medic). Soon we were finding more reasons to spend time together and learning more about each other.

Enjoying each others company we drifted towards the inevitable - culminating in sneaking me out of the infirmary and down into the sands beyond Hamdallaye when one full moon night I felt better. We stayed up all night talking, laughing and sharing our first kisses until the dawn greeted us.

Despite telling him of my imminent retreat from the Peace Corps that magical night and us both getting in trouble the next morning for sneaking me out of the infirmary (but that’s a story for another day…)

we proceeded full steam ahead into the Nigerien aka life concentrate, whirlwind version of dating.

Things escalated into swapping barrages of text messages, holding hands under cover at the Grand Marche in Niamey (PDA a big no-no in Niger), dancing up storms at parties and keeping up a healthy letter writing campaign that yielded close to 50 pages in letters – and that was just from Josh to me.

Alas, six weeks after we first met, I left Niger - and I was left alone in the bush. I went off traveling and working on three different continents and Josh settled in for the ride of his life in Dan Saga.

Despite two continents worth of distance, we decided to continue dating and building a relationship long-distance. One might think the distance and newness of our relationship would spell certain death for our relationship but Allah had other plans for us. Oh monkey wrenches. Barnacles!!!

In October we broke up, but somehow convinced ourselves it would be wise to meet in Kansas City when I came home for vacation. We thought we would smother the flames we had kindled and part ways amicably afterwards. But remember Allah had different plans!! Alllllllaaaahhhhh Akkkkbbarrrr!!!!

As fate would have it, we fell right back into each other, and decided to give it another go. Recommitted, we were set for another year apart. But I just couldn’t wait that long …. :) so, in March I decided to cash in all my frequent flyer miles and get him home for a surprise parents meeting/house concert with Peace Corps friends coming in from all corners of Amerik.

Then the unexpected happened, I got pregnant! No, no just kidding, I broke my back in May 2008.

…..uh, um, ah…..Surprise? I cancelled Josh’s ticket and he, instead, came back to Kansas City to heal on Peace Corp’s dime.

Fast forward to June when Jen and I drove from Charlottesville to Kansas City, Missouri for the week to see my fella and provide a little encouragement to get better … to surprise her, I worked some voodoo to obtain health care in C'ville instead of KC.

Ok, now for the sweet part.

The day before leaving to head back to C'ville together we wanted to walk the farm, correction: hobble, around the farm, one more time. On our way to the wolf tree we were high-stepping it through gorgeous, thigh high Kentucky bluegrass as the overcast sky turned dark grey from the setting sun dipping below the horizon - and … ahem, as it turns out, with a cadre of viscous ticks and chiggers circling around us! In a desperate ploy to make them sympathetic to us and distract them I asked an amazing woman with a contagious smile and eccentric qualities to marry me. (P.S. The ‘distraction’ didn’t work!! I am still nursing a pile of chigger bites – but it was so worth it and I loved being out on the farm and how simple, sweet and sincere it all was :) :) :)

My version … Once we arrived to the wolf tree, he somehow got me fixated on looking up at it … Snype Hunting! … anyways … while I had my back to him and was peering up into the great big bough, he took a picture of me. Once I turned back around, there he was - on his knees. No small feat for anyone, let alone a fella with a broken back! :) And he asked me the most miraculous question - to spend our lives together. What an amazing thing for someone to ask you. Even took off my hat!

So, time slowed down a bit, as it does for all big life events, and we looked at each other and promised ourselves to one another. Finally saying out loud the commitment made in our hearts way before that day.... and so here we are!

We are planning a TBA 2009 wedding with lots of music, dancing, food, camping and whimsical fun. Our wonderful friend Jimmie Klein (yippeeee!!!) has just agreed to marry us and we just can’t wait to share and celebrate all this with everyone! We really hope to see you all there! We'll keep you all posted!

With much love and many hugs, Cathy & Joshua

PICTURES: In our Nigerien best …………………..Me being distracted by the pretty leaves of the wolf tree right before Josh proposed…………………………………………………………The first few moments after being engaged!

Dirty 30!!

Today I turned thirty years young, and enjoyed every minute.
I had a CT scan, then played about 10 different mandolins at two different music shops,
found an engagement ring for my fiancee' and dropped a whooping three bones.

she loved it.

I bought a mood ring, seemed appropriate since I am still learning how to read her emotions.

Then afterwards I took a drive into the Shenandoah National Forest. so beautiful.

I have always wanted to live in the mountains.

tonight we had birthday margaritas, which took three seperate places to purchase the goods, one for booze, one for ice and one to find out the other two don't sell either. We also shared some homemade tamale's that we had been preparing over the last three nights.

soooooo tasty.

I'm finding my way here, slowly but surely, and with confidence it can be said that this community is going to be wonderful for me.

cheers,

Happy B-day to me.

Joshua

6-24-08 Peace Corps Redux

I am in a new home

Little or no appalacian language skills

No jingle in my pocket,

And every step away from home is one step farther away from the comforts of

My new makeshift one.

Peace Corps Redux, the domestic deployment.

Has it only been a week?

Time does not fly when stuck to the throwback orange fireball of couch and though my

tiny sporadic burst escaping the gravity field were short each were enjoyable.

Mountain drives, Bone scans, jams with new folk, and sampling many a new varities of quality

Ales were just the right treats. Even managed a couple dates with the misses.

Last week had its high and lows, Its a rough transition, no friends new home, and living with someone I love, but hardly know….

Hello we are spending the rest of our lives together, you fart in your sleep?

Man it scary when you finally get what you asked for, so I guess its natural to have a couple

Discharges of the "Oh Shits!"

I guess though with any major life change the feeling is to be nervous, or on emotionally a

Little on edge. Today I talked with the future home maker and was relieved to hear that she was

Even feeling the same way.

Listen 1 of getting engaged, get comfortable with thinking over and over and over,

Was this the right choice, what if, what if, if she, if I, if we, aaaaaagh!!!

But no worries, there is a break in every storm.

Today I woke, feeling more relaxed, less sore, and definitely ready to start charting my own

Trail through Charlottesville.

So I walked and explored for the closest bus stops, found a new place to play mandolin near a local community pond, and then went out to shoot hoops and swim a couple laps. Slowly Slowly.

While the storm pauses its time to get situated and find my way.

I think everything is going to be just fine.

6-16-08 Transplanting a Human

36 Days since the accident

16 Days since Leaving Niger

15 Days in America

3 Days Since becoming engaged to the Future Misses Anderson

2 Days in Charlottesville Virginia

? Days left in America

? Days until Leaving for Niger

?Days until returning from Niger

? Days until Cat' and I are married

…….loving every single day?

You bet!

As you can no doubt gather this stumble around the world threw us all a little off course.

Can you believe I am all the way in Charlottesville with Cat'! Meow I am loving this place

and its only day two.

Though I have not reconned the entire city what little I have seen, been to, and done has

shown me that C'ville indeed as Dickson said would be the place for me.

Since dropping in on an unsuspecting college town I have been slowly gathering intel

pointing me toward numerous objectives, and like a guerilla blugrasser/outdoorsman/bush wacker

waiting for his chance to strike, I fully anticipate when healthy to be partaking in all types of mayhem.

There's mountians in the near distance, rivers so close I can feel their presence in my veins, mountainbiking, National Forrest, Camping,musicfoodculture….and best of all my future Misses.

And I want to go back to Niger?

Yeppers,

four -five months tops.

Then winter sports in the mountains!!!!

Skiing, Never done it, I will.

Looking into honing the music already met some UVA professors and started playing with them

Work, maybe, looking into that.

As good as times are I admit there there are little bumps

Nothing big but there is a huge contrast between living in an African village versus an American apartment complex.

My ears perk eager to hear the sounds of animals foraging at my doorstep, but disappointedly only hear the shrieking weed eaters and chomping lawn mowers polluting my listening space.

Such a short span of time to adjust.

So the adjustment is mainly cultural.

The love nest Cat' has made is wonderful. Its artistic, cultured, comfy and hints at an eccentric's presence.

Our first night alone alone without anyone around was wonderful. Its comical but yesterday was the first time we have been on the same continent alone without sharing a hostel, house, or car, with loads of other people.

None the less we have never done normal couple things!

For example yesterday we ran errands in our lazy Sunday's and laughed with each other at dusk on the back patio sharing a couple drinks, dinner and laughs.

And today is Cat's birfday!!!

Feliz Cumpleanos!!!

Back is sore , and finally tomorrow I am having my first doctors appointment!!!

Interesting.

Okay that's all the noise from this end, I am going to rest and do some healing.

sai anjima!

Spirit Away

Alright gang, minutes away from packing up my computer and taking off for another skip halfway around the world.

Spent all day packing, and resting up for the very long journey, I am feeling much better it seems the upcoming trek back will be just the right medicine to dispose of this sterile environment and mixing it up back in my elements.

Catch ya all back in the world.

Nazifi

5-25-08 The Accident

You know me, where there is time, there is always a story.

The weekend of the May 10th I came to Maradi for a quick respite and also to partake in a counterpart "swar-ye" (hick french) where we would showcase our work and explain the Peace Corps mission to unsuspecting guests who only came for the free food and drink.

"why I went"

The next afternoon I fielded a call from me mum and caught up on a couple weeks worth of news, while towards the end of the conversation the hammock I was perched in about three feet above the ground, decided to play chutes and ladders with me as the unsuspecting fool.

When the rope holding my more intelligent end snapped, my arse was violently driven to the ground and an immediate pain seared through my body. My mom heard what I could only describe as a pathetic blended droning of whimpers, chuckles, and crying.

Don't laugh, it hurt, its a real injury, and I am can cry if I want to.

Seriously.

Check the Manly Man Manual, Vol.I pg 567 under the Chapter, "When its okay to cry and not look like a wimp"

totally allowed.

Twenty minutes after the incident and after wrapping the conversation with mum, I found myself still entangled in the lazy-man snare, and unable to get up.

Even tried calling for help, yet none heard my stranded pleas for assistance.

Whattabummer!

Wouldn't it be my luck?

Here I am in Niger, constantly on the move, always involved in strenuous activities, even finding myself on occasion being head butted, bit, kicked, charged at, or thrown from animals exceeding well over a thousand pounds.

Yet no serious injury

Did you know the cows here are quite Darwinianly gifted with very- very sharp man-a-kabob horns.

It does me no service in means of credibility to have to explain how I was injured, but I'd rather come out of this experience being able to laugh instead of dwelling on something tragic.

Five days after being on involuntary bed rest after the accident, I broke down and finally called the doctor and reported the incident, (intentionally down playing the extent of the injury to keep from being called to Niamey). The result of which was the doctor prescribing two different sorts of pain medication to help me hobble back to my village for a quick in and out trip to put things in order prior to Niamey.

In Niamey I had two previous engagements both of which I was really looking forward too.

The main engagement was a festival we were putting on called Pangaea, which is a music and artistic cross cultural exchange put on by local artists and PCV's, while many natives and aliens from the development realm come enjoy and partake in the activities. My role was to give a couple classes on the mandolin and traditional American music, then follow up the classes with a jam session.

The next day after the music my other tasks was to return to Hamdallaye and speak with our new agriculture and natural resource management volunteers about some of my work and experiences. I have been looking forward to cornering a captive audience and parlaying my experiences of becoming a sahelien farmer.

It was a real shame niether event took place, it will be a regret.

Anyways

By Friday I was well buffered from the pain and stepped away from the more comfortable confines of the hostel to the open road where I knew the entire trip from Maradi to Dan Saga would be dreadful.

10 hours later and on the brink for complete collapse I shakily entered my house and then after about a three minute rest was stormed by Nazifi's Army, and other villagers inquiring to why I was walking so oddly.

Within the hour my exhaustion was exchanged by rage from what I came home to.

The first of which was noticing "Attaboy" was starved, despite having food in reserve for him and my ox "Charlie". Then my rabbits numbering about twenty were left for god knows how long without clean water.

What I saw in the water dish was a disgusting moldy cesspool of neglect from my closest friend and partner in my tree nursery.

Which, of which, was found completely treeless except for the trees purchased from Niamey and painstakingly brought to Dan Saga. My goal this year was to distribute these trees freely to local farmers who helped me out last year and showed interests towards adapting the improved management techniques to their fields.

I guess my absence meant more than just a loss of time not spent in my village.

The chickens ate a sahelien style smörgåsbord of about 1500 acacia tree sprouts.

I will never feel bad again when i see millions of chickens culled during bird flu outbreaks

Five months of accumulating supplies, planning, composting, pulling water, putting projects upon projects together to plan for this growing season, and all for nothing.

The night ended with me losing control, breaking many things, and coming the closest to making the final decision to quit.

That night I took some time to myself, took a lengthy bucket bath and wrote extensively how I felt, it even helped to pet my rabbits.

The next day I apologized to my kids and chief for making "mahaucaci" (ma'haw'ka'chi) "crazy"

They laughed, agreed, understood and forgave.

The next day, my friend Mamman and I got to the bottom of the issues and developed a contingency plan of what to do with the nursery, and why the rabbits were out of water.

Apparently the kids won't work for him, if I am not around. Go figure.

On a positive note however that afternoon about a couple hours prior to sunset, hot season officially ended for my village. We were hit by our first magnificent rain, the next day I walked out of a ghost town, nobody to say good bye to, alone, and unsure of my future in Niger.

Everyone was planting.

This cannot be how this chapter of my life is finished.

It hurts to think that because of a faulty rope fastening a hammock was the death kiss to my service, if it is I leave Niger thankful of my time spent, but I will return a shattered and heartbroken man.

Dan Saga has given me everything I came to find and take from this experience. It took over two decades to accomplish, but the biggest life goal I had since being about knee high to a grass hopper has been achieved.

Now what?????

In exactly one month I will be 30 years young.

The next day I was in Niamey and learned of Patrick's death twenty minutes after crawling off the bus.

5-24-08 Preflight Jokes

Been a slow day, the Air France doctor came, what a joke.

The doctor's woke me up from a pain induced coma then standing over me the doctor stared awkwardly as if lost and not knowing what to do.

"You want me to get up?"

Uh…huh

I get up and thrust forward with much more momentum than really able, this is going to hurt afterwards.

"Now what?"

A shoulder shrug of uncertainty what he is supposed.

Okay I'll walk towards the bathroom, seems to be what he's after to ascertain or not.

Will this passenger be able to make it to the bathroom?

Need a jar?

Poo Poo bag?

Do they train airline staff in wiping?

I was a medic in the Army, training consisted of a mock session, many laughs were had.

Get, up, go pee, back to bed.

It was enough of a test.

Damn, eight years of medical school well spent, sure feel bummed about my state school education. Ha!

Though the pain has not reduced much since the injury, the pain is starting to become more manageable, and I have begun to spend more time sitting in my wheel chair to build up my tolerance for travel pains.

Today my breakfast was the whopper pill.

darvaset, whaaaaooo!!!

Just met my copilot back to America, man we are going to be at altitude returning home.

No further news from the med' Washington office other than I will likely leave Tuesday, or perhaps Thursday.

Question: Wanna know where your paychecks go??

Eh eh eh !!!!

Eight Thousand Clams to fly me home.

Yikes!!!

Probably remember it in the long run any way, this is all kind of blurring together.

Last night it finally sunk in that I am going to have a very long recovery, and I do need to prepare for the possibility of not returning, though it is going to be a difficult decision I can't help but think of the next 45 days of recovery of any else but an opportunity while doing nothing to explore my future and review the past year and a half.

There are a few projects back home that were going to need my attention so I am already starting to put a positive spin the situation, and plan on taking advantage of this opportunity to dedicate my self to reviewing my work, applying to some horticulture programs, and secondly look for possible work in VA while living with Cathy, after the Peace Corps.

Then if these things starting falling into order, then what?

Do I return to Niger? Or stay in America and use the time as a opportunity to advance to my next destination.

Ok that about sums it all up, time to strap back in and sleep another night off, one closer to home….wow