Cinco de Mayo - First Blog!

May 5th, 2011

CINCO DE MAYO!  The one day a year that people all throughout the U.S. celebrate a holiday that usually has nothing to do with them.  But, hey, it is a reason to eat Mexican food and drink margaritas and tequila shots…and lets be honest, do I even ever really need an excuse for that?  It is fitting for me that this would be my first blog EVER. 

Now that I am officially done with grad school (as of 11am this morning!) I will have a little bit more free time to do some of the things that I actually enjoy doing.  I have been wanting to start up a blog for a while now, and the time has finally come.  Hopefully, this will be a place for friends and family to come on and see what is going on in my life.  With life hectic as it usually is for everyone, it is easy to lose touch with one another and miss important big life events.  Hell, I didn’t even know my cousin Sam in Florida was married, let alone that she had a set of twin kids, until she found me on Facebook and I saw her pictures and new name.  This blog is also going to be a place for me to just write…to talk about things I think are interesting, things in my life I am happy/sad/frustrated about, life in general.

For those of you who don’t know, I just finished grad school at Penn State.  Yes, the time has finally come for you to call me master Luke or master Schaeffer, either one will work for me..just include the master in there.  I now have a dual Master’s of Science in Agricultural, Environmental, and Regional Economics (a mouthful) and Demography.  My two years at Penn State were filled with some big ups and big downs.  From getting to know some awesome friends to getting hit by a car on my bike, it was a heck of a roller coaster ride.  I learned a lot about myself and what I want in life, along with some interesting economics, so the trials were definitely worth it even if at times (a lot of times) I questioned whether it was actually worth being there.  But, in the end, I made it through and am a better person for it. 

Now, I am taking my talents with me and headed off on some big adventures and a new city.  Starting Sunday I am heading back to where the travel bug bit me and didn’t let go – Ecuador.  Vince Spina, the man and legend, first took me there with a group of about 20 other students back in summer of 2006.  I am not sure how much better my Spanish actually got when I was there because of being with a lot of gringos and going out to Mongos for 99 cent drinks probably too much, but it was still one of the best travel experiences I have been.  Now I am heading back to see some parts of the country that I didn’t the last time. (I’ll be writing more gritty details about the trip in upcoming blogs.) 

After Ecuador, I’m meeting up with my friend Glenn from my department at Penn State in Colombia.  When I tell people they, some people look at me like I’m crazy.  “Colombia!?” they say. “You’re nuts.”  I disagree.  As those of you who have been with me on trips before know, I do a lot of reading and researching before I decided to go to a place.  I understand the dangers, risks and challenges of traveling before I go.  In the past decade, Colombia has become one of the safest places in Latin America to travel.  Yes, there are still occasional kidnappings and bombings directed at political targets, but don’t we have those here in America too?  You take risks walking out of your door each day, right?  I am not going to let a negative history keep me from experiencing, from what I have read and heard, one of the most beautiful and welcoming countries in South America.  So, I’ll be galavanting all over for three weeks.  You’ll hear more about this in upcoming blogs as well.  This trip is really my last hoorah.  It is a time for a last bit of footloose freedom before settling down a bit with a job, maybe a dog (not a small white pu**y dog either, its gotta be manly according to my friend Becky) , and hopefully a good girl. 

After returning from this 35 day South American excursion, I’ll be heading back to the States to start up a new job with IBM in Washington, D.C. doing government consulting, whatever that means.  All I know is that I am going to have a chance to make government systems more efficient and hopefully save us some tax dollars.  God all knows we could use a little more efficiency in government systems!  I am excited for the move back.  I already have some great friends in the DC and Baltimore areas, both from home and those who I have met throughout school and various internship experiences.  I’ll be living with Chelsea Crooks for a month or so when I initially start training, which is going to give me some time to find a great permanent place to be.  Buying a new house may be on the distant horizon for me, but it will probably be down the road a little bit.

Anyway, that is the basic gist of my life right now.  I am on a Megabus heading to New York City to see my long-time friend Suzan for the weekend.  As per the usual, there will be shenanigans and lots of jazzing around.  Unfortunately it is too warm for a particular furry hat that almost got me in trouble on the subway last trip. 

I think I’m gonna end each blog with some sort of quote that either sums up the entry or is just plain good.  Today’s comes from Darius Rucker (otherwise known as Hootie):

"Thank god for all I've been, 'cause it led me there to this."