Oakland and San Ramon, California

Jimerica! says a lot of things. And I do my best to be accurate. But sometimes I make what a lawyer would call a forward-looking statement. Often, those statements turn out to be true. And sometimes not. Case in point; when last we spoke, I was going to spend a single night at ol’ buddy Nathan’s house in Oakland and then head back to Marin. But his couch turned out to be very comfortable. And since his apartment mate (and brother, Jared) didn’t seem to mind his brother’s unkempt and sleepy guest eating all of his Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips, I spent three days there. Would you like to hear about them?

Ok, so now we’re backing up to where I was driving from Marin to Oakland. I’m on my way to see Nathan. Nathan and I were both Peace Corps volunteers in Namibia, Group 35. If you were with me during my Tsunami Dog Blog days, you know all about Nathan. If not, his site was about 120 miles east of mine, and that made us close neighbors by Namibian standards.  Another Group 35 volunteer was Pam. Pam and I used to be running partners way back in our Peace Corps training days. We’d meet nearly every morning before sunrise to go for a run. I hadn’t seen either of them in over three years, so this was a very nice reunion for me. Here’s a pic (and please do notice the folks brilliantly photo bombing in the background):

Pam and Nathan, and beautiful photo-bombers in the background

After my evening with Pam and Nathan, I slept for about 36 hours on Nathan’s couch except for a quick outing to Oakland’s china town for some coffee and lunch. Nathan and his brother, Jared, had to work but they kept encouraging me to take advantage of the pool and hot tub their apartment complex had to offer. But, I was really quite happy spending a day indoors after a month of nature.

I was happy to discover that Nathan had found an industry he loves. Balls. Yes, balls. Nathan is now working as a sales person for a company that produces the energy bar (ball) called Bounce. They have balls of all different flavors. Nathan’s balls are non-GMO, gluten free, and delicious. If you see any of Nathan’s balls around, grab one! You won’t be disappointed:

After my one wonderful day of doing nothing, Jimerica! needed to get into gear. I had some other people in these-here-parts that needed visiting. The first on my list was Alice Impraim. Alice was also a Peace Corps Volunteer, and one of the finest volunteers I ever met. She worked hard, day in and day out, on her project. Her project was very work intensive and required constant dedication. She never wavered. She served in the same town as I did, Rundu. She was born in Ghana, went to college (I believe) in England, and then eventually ended up in California with her husband, who was a physician. As a child in Ghana, one of her schoolteachers was a Peace Corps volunteer. Many years later, as an American citizen, she became a Peace Corps volunteer herself and returned to Africa to serve. She still has close ties to her family in Ghana and is currently having a house built there.

Alice Impraim

And my final stop in the Oakland area was Rob Utter. Rob and I were good friends in high school and I pretty much lived at his house every weekend for a couple years.  Back then it was all punk rock shows, skateboarding, and getting into every sort of mischief that you would never want your parents, or any adult for that matter, to know about. The only rules at Rob’s house were Rob’s rules, and they were liberal. As a kid, that sort of freedom isn't easy to come by. However, as you get older you realize that some people you knew when you were a kid didn’t have it easy. Rob was one of those people. Back then he lived in chaos and often in fear. He was surrounded by drugs and poverty, and had to make some hard decisions at an early age help keep his family afloat. But, I also remember that he somehow managed to keep his head above the fray. He was given every opportunity to get pulled down into the quagmire he’d lost many friends and family to, but he didn’t. When I finally caught up to him in San Ramon, I met him at his beautiful home with his wife, Jenna, and his son, Logan. Rob works as a chef, his wife is an RN soon to be a BSN, and his son loves theater and gets involved in every play he can. I spent the next 7 hours catching up with Rob and getting to know his wife and son. They're an awesome family. Rob cooked dinner (I've been on the road for a month now. Home cooked meals are a real treat.) We talked about all our old friends. The dead, the living, the missing. It was nearly 10PM when I finally headed back to Oakland. But before I left, I got Rob to drag his wife out of bed so I could get a family pic:

Rob, Jenna, and Logan

And a shot of Rob and I:

Rob and I

I'm currently at my second stop after Oakland, so I have some catching up to do. As I write this, I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Fort Bragg, CA (NOT the Fort Bragg with the military base). I had one stop between here and Oakland that I will tell you all about in the next day or so (forward looking statement). Thanks for reading!