4 Reveille! Fall/ Holiday, 2008 Barnwell, continued from page 1 Aloha counselor Erin Schreiner put Carolyn Barnwell in touch with Nancy Pennell before the summer of 2004. Carolyn spent the next two summers in Fairlee, and although far from the coral reefs of Fiji, Carolyn happily enjoyed the more temperate water of Lake Morey as a counselor in the Swimming Department. In 2005 Carolyn once again set her sights on acquiring more interna-tional experience by participating in a program sponsored by the Council on International Educational Exchange ( CIEE), spending six months in Thai-land. Carolyn spent five months based in Khon Kaen, in northern Thailand, working in small communities strug-gling with a broad range of issues from the negative effects of dams and mining, commercial agriculture, the spread of HIV/ AIDS, human rights, poverty, and many other pressing social and economic concerns. Follow-ing her sponsored study through CIEE, Carolyn remained in Thailand on her own, determined to make her way south in order to assist with tsunami relief efforts. Carolyn worked in Phang Nga, the province in Thailand hardest hit by the tsunami, living for the first time on her own in an international setting where no one spoke a word of English, and whetting her appetite for independent, research- oriented travel. Following her graduation from Middlebury in February of 2007, with a degree in Environmental Studies and Anthropology, Carolyn applied for the exclusive Watson Fellowship. The Watson provides a grant to graduates to pursue a year of independent study anywhere outside of the United States. Recipients of the fellowship may not reenter the United States for the year of their study, and are expected to pursue exploration and new experiences, rather than formal academ-ic research. Carolyn received the Watson Fellowship based upon her applica-tion, titled Islands of Justice, to explore vulnerable coastal communities in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. As she wrote in her application, " Tropical islands are romanticized, and it is time to look beyond paradise in our global era of climate change." To sum up Carolyn's trip in numbers, she traveled to six countries ( Palau, Japan, Fiji, Tuvalu, New Zealand and Mauritius), 23 islands, was ex-posed to ten languages and spent 368 nights in 72 different beds, only five of which were in hotels. Carolyn said the five nights in the hotels were the lone-liest of her trip, the rooms were dingy and she felt isolated from other people. As difficult as the experience was at times, being a guest of various host families made everything easier. Even with language as a barrier, being part of a family's life was a universal feeling that helped Carolyn to feel included and comfortable. Barnwell remarked that a year on her own was exactly the op-posite experience of the community found at Aloha, or even at Middlebury. The college and camp communities were dynamic and supportive, ac-tively encouraging goal- setting for the individual within the structure of the community. As a guest in so many dif-ferent communities during her travels, Carolyn often felt like an observer of a community, rather than a participant. In a letter to campers this summer from South Africa, Carolyn wrote, " I'm thinking about the feeling of com-munity at Aloha, the cool Lake Morey waters, singing in the evening with arms around each other, dancing in the Hale, and how great it feels to accom-plish your personal goals and support your friends' reaching theirs during the summer. I hope you are all learning a lot about yourself and each other, and appreciating all the gifts around you. Breathe in that clean, crisp air and look up at the stars tonight before you start dreaming... and know that there are Aloha maidens of all ages all around the world who would love to join you in that feeling!" Carolyn remains close to Fairlee having joined the Middlebury, Ver-mont- based company, Brighter Planet, this fall. Brighter Planet works with experts in the environmental move-ment to create practical solutions for anyone who wants to help fight climate change. See Carolyn's one- minute video, " Climate Matters" with some of her im-ages here: http:// vimeo. com/ 1719125. Left: Carolyn in Tuvalu with her host family. Above: Afternoon play in South Africa

Fall/ Holiday, 2008 Reveille! 5 expatriates living in Beijing. Although not deeply involved with students from local schools, Sam and fellow students occasionally visit local students and have even helped to raise money and supplies for a school for the children of migrant workers. Most extracurricular activities, particularly sports, are for the children of expats, although Sam's baseball team played local Chinese boys this fall. Chris, Susan and Sam continue to progress at the daunting task of learning spoken and written Chinese. Sam takes classes three times each week, and Chris has a tutor who comes to his office twice a week. Lessons are supplemented with flash cards and lots of practice by the family in their daily life. Initially the Albertis were using what they refer to as ' survival Chinese,' but are gaining proficiency in spite of the difficulty of a language that has so many differences from English. Their language confidence is buoyed by the welcoming friendliness of the Chinese, who respect the westerners living and working among them, and are support-ive of their efforts to use spoken and written Chinese. Although the Albertis miss friends and family back in the United States, they are thrilled with living in Beijing at a time when China is undergoing rapid growth and change. The family was in the United States during this summer's Olympic events, but, as ' China hands', felt the same pride in seeing China's stupendous games pre-sented to the world. Another fantastic Brookline were not easy; anti- Iranian sentiment was strong in the United States and Iran missed her mother and brother back in Tehran. After some soul searching, Iran returned to post-revolutionary Tehran in 1983, wanting to delve more deeply into her Islamic and Muslim roots. Shortly after her return, the 18- year- old Iran was introduced to a 29- year- old man looking for a wife. Believing that she could enter into a traditional marriage while maintaining a western woman's sense of identity and rights, Iran accepted the marriage arrangement, determined to make the union a success. Family and friends in the U. S. were shocked to learn of her decision but the traditional marriage proceeded in 1984 and within two months Iran was pregnant. In addi-tion to her routine duties of cooking, cleaning and other domestic chores, Iran began to do English- Persian translation at various conferences. At one of these conferences Iran was told about an audition that would change her professional life and eventually her personal life. Iran began working as an English- speaking anchor for the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, promoting the accomplishments of the Islamic Republic to English- speaking viewers. Over the next seven years Iran and her husband Karim experienced many transitions. Encouraged by her husband's family to pursue a better life, the couple moved to Albuquerque, NM, to live near one of Iran's uncles. Following this move the couple had a second child and Iran ventured into the next phase of her burgeoning ca-reer in journalism by taking a job at the Albuquerque Journal, writing classified ads. Although still living a traditional Muslim life at home with her family, bonus to life in China is easy access to other wonderful parts of Asia, con-sidered hard to reach places from the United States. Sam and Chris enjoyed the honor of attending the 2008 Red Sox opening game in Tokyo, the family spent last Christmas in New Zealand and recently returned from a fascinat-ing trip with friends to North Korea. Sam is already looking forward to Lanakila ' 09, finding his time at camp to be a relaxing change of pace from his school year in Beijing. He would love to attend all seven weeks of camp, but is torn between a full ses-sion, and spending the second half of the summer catching up with friends in Boston and seeing some home games at Fenway Park. Sam also needs to work within the confines of his school's longer academic year, the first day of school unfortu-nately overlapping with the last day of camp. If you see Sam next summer at Lanakila, be sure to ask him for more details of his exciting life in Beijing; he has lots more information to share. Ardalan, continued from page 3 Alberti, continued from page 3 See Ardalan page 6 Chris, Susan and Sam Alberti in Pyong-yang, North Korea and in the Forbidden City in Beijing.