Friday, January 11, 2008

Xander in seven pieces.*

1. I came into the world blue. I was born in August of 1983, unable to breathe due to a collapsed lung.

2. I have a small scar left by a Catholic Saint. As a toddler, I broke a terra cotta statue of St Francis; a shard pierced the right corner of my upper lip, leaving a visible scar that I still have.

3. My favorite book growing up was Alice in Wonderland. To some degree, I credit it with imbuing in me the interest in strange cultures and customs that lead me to study anthropology.

4. For five years I was a vegetarian. Then when I was about 18, I decided to stop.

5. For most of my childhood and early teenage years, I was very overweight. Then when I was about 17, I decided to stop.

6. I get heat stroke fairly easily when I go hiking. This happens even when I drink lots of water, eat salty snacks, and remember to rest in the shade. For some reason, I have a tendency to get heat stroke at major cultural and natural sights. I have gotten sick in the shadow of a pyramid at Tikal in Guatemala, while climbing the Livingstone escarpment in Malawi, after leaving the stone city of Great Zimbabwe, while ascending a trail at the Grand Canyon, and, most recently, after a day of getting lost at Khao Yai National Park in Thailand. Despite this, I still love hiking.

7. One of my childhood goals was to live on on every continent**. So far I've visited 5, and lived on 3. I hope the numbers will continue to grow.

*This entry is in response to a tag by the stylish Aphrochic, and the inspiring Caroline Gavin.
**Antarctica excluded. Sorry penguins.

1 comment:

AphroChic said...

I would dream to have a life like yours. So exciting! For now, I will have to live vicariously through your gorgeous photos!