It's a Schmahl World

Life in Liberia: Market Day!

Here in Liberia, grocery shopping is not as easy as jumping in the car and heading to the Kroger around the corner! Unless you’re in a big city with a supermarket, buying food and other things takes a little more work! I’m fortunate to live in a big enough community that I am able to…

Update from Liberia: What I Did This Summer

The school year here in Liberia is similar to that of the US, it begins in September and goes through June, closing for July and August. There’s only two seasons in Liberia, rainy season and dry season, so they don’t call it summer break, but that’s what it felt like to me! So I wanted…

First Day in Liberia: Walk About Kim’s Community

After 27 hours of traveling we finally made it to Liberia! After finding Kim at the airport (!) we spent our first night at the luxurious Farmington Hotel right across the street. After a much needed night’s sleep, we met a taxi driver in the morning to take us on the bumpy hour long ride…

Mom & Kathryn Visit Liberia!

It’s been quite a busy summer and one of the many highlights was my mom and sister’s visit to Liberia! It was awesome having them here! It was obviously great to see them after many months apart but even better was being able to share my life here in Liberia with them. Try as I…

San Antonio’s Fiesta Week: Taste of New Orleans, El Mercado and the Texas Cavaliers River Parade

During my short time in San Antonio visiting family, I was excited to participate in a few Fiesta Week activities! The tradition began in 1891 as a one day event as a salute to those in the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto. The celebration has evolved into 10 day festival held each spring…

Cathedral Rock Trail: Sedona, Arizona

During our half day in Sedona, we knew we wanted to do at least one hike. After some internet searching climbing Cathedral Rock seemed like the best hike we could fit into our afternoon. Arriving at the trail head, we looked up at the beautiful red rock and the 608 ft rise in elevation we…

Biking on A Mission: Visiting Four Missions in San Antonio Texas

While visiting family in San Antonio, Texas, we decided to rent bikes and ride the trails to visit four different Missions along the San Antonio River. When missionaries came over to the Americas they attempted to convert the indigenous people to Catholicism. The Missions are the communities and churches built surrounding the missionaries efforts and…

5 Things to Know about Visiting the Grand Canyon in the Winter

The Grand Canyon is a breathtaking natural wonder any time of year, but visiting in the winter months can be very different from the peak summer season. When we visited last winter here are the five things we wish we would have known before visiting the Grand Canyon in December: The North Rim is closed…

Welcoming New Volunteers to Liberia!

I kicked off June with a week of welcoming a new group of volunteers to Liberia: Peace Corps brought LR-8, the newest cohort of education volunteers! I got the opportunity to to help out with the first week of their pre-service training (PST) in Kakata. The staff and resource volunteers (current Peace Corps Volunteers helping…

Spending Half a Day in Sedona, AZ

On our week long Arizona road trip, we spent our last day in Sedona. That morning we drove three hours from Page, Arizona, leaving us with only half the day left to explore. While this is in no way enough time to experience all that Sedona has to offer, here is what we were able…