Halfway through Starting Right

Me and a Crab Boiling Pot

Halfway through August and already I'm really happy about these goals and how they've been working out for me.  

For one, I think it would be incredibly easy for me right now to get down and a bit discouraged - knowing how much I loved living in Denmark, being in such a transient place right now (we have a card table and a mattress right now and don't want to buy any big furniture pieces or decorations until we're in a house so...), still being on maternity leave, and Paul now being gone pretty much from 7am until 6:30 pm.  And of course, maybe the big difference is that I have Hadrian around with me so it's much less lonely - and much more encouragement to be up and doing.  I'm sure being in so much sunlight isn't hurting either.  ;-)  

But, even considering all that, I've really enjoyed having these goals.  I think I pinned down exactly what I was needing to focus on this month here: Family, Vocation, and Location.

I've found an ArcGIS Python scripting course to audit next month and ordered my home use copy of ArcGIS (10.2!!  Wooo!) so that was a good jump forward last week.  I've also already contacted Thomas & Hutton since they posted the first GIS Analyst job I've seen them offer in Savannah, rather than their larger office in Charleston, since February.  

I think I may come up a little short on one goal - locking in a GIS volunteering opportunity before the end of the month - just because it's hard to get fast responses from people, or even meet them when I have Hadrian with me.  But I'm still going to give it my best go.  We'll see what happens.

But I think the highlight of the goals last week was still the Savannah Exploration goal.  It's just been so interesting and even though we may be a bit tired and frazzled, pulling into a parking lot at the end of a long afternoon of errands, it's been worth it.  

Last Saturday we went to the Pin Point Heritage Museum, focusing on a community here in Savannah with some amazing cultural history (and the birthplace of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, as many signs told us on the way in).  Now, I know that I was already at a disadvantage in my American history, having mostly grown up in the West, but I had no idea about the Gullah/Geetchee culture in America.  It was gorgeous and interesting and sometimes so foreign and sometimes so familiar.  I don't know.  I was really moved by this place.  

And of course, Paul was super into the guided tour's focus on crab fishing.   I've never ever seen Paul volunteer in a crowd, but when that tour guide was like, "Who wants to hold these (live) crabs?" his hand was up before she even finished.  I think he almost giggled.

And did you know that gumbo is the Gullah word for okra??  Or that the phrase that, roughly sounds like "She's a' spittin' that long spit?" means "That lady is probably pregnant."??  I mean, it's so amazingly interesting!  OR that the phrase Kum Bah Ya is Gullah (meaning "Come By Here")?  ORRRR that the Geetchee culture is where the Brer Rabbit tales come from???  ORRRRRRRR that it's a culture only found on the coast of South Carolina and Georgia???????  

Come on!  It's so interesting!!!!  

I'm not sure how we can beat Pin Point this week.  But we're going to try with the Wormsloe Historic Site, which, from what I gather, is like the Colonial Williamsburg of Savannah.  As long as it doesn't rain.  It's a toss up on that front.  You just never know.