Here is a mini tour of my walk from my “banda” to the “chuma” (dorm to school house). Every time I wake up to these birds and these mountains- the sights and sounds and feel of this gritty red dust, I have to convince myself again that I am living out my dream.
Location: Kimana, Kenya
The first movie I ever saw in theater as a child was Disney’s “The Lion King.” I must have been about five. I grew up with playing with stuffed animal lions and rhinos, rather than the conventional teddy bears. At 13 I began volunteering at the local nature center, assistant teaching summer camps. Junior year of high school I had my heart set upon volunteering with a missions group in Kenya along the Ugandan border. Needless to say my mother wasn’t thrilled.
Location: doylestown, pennsylvania
As my countdown to home is quickly approaching, even faster approaching are the deadlines for assignments. And I have seen the light at the end of the tunnel – two of my five final assignments were turned in (and might I add before the due dates) TODAY!!! This leaves me with two more turn-ins (one completed and ready to turn in tomorrow, and one still in the works), and a presentation next tuesday, and then its so long England, hello Pittsburgh!
Location: bognor Regis, United Kingdom
These past few weeks have just been absolutely jam-packed with work and preparing for assignments, and I find myself losing hours in the day, completely encompassed by my final assignments. This fact alone is quite terrifying, seeing as I cannot believe there is only 3 and a half weeks standing between me and “home for the holidays”. Although my experience in England has been fully exhausted through travel and cultural experiences, I find myself more and more ready to get back on American soil and experience the holiday season with my family and friends. This time of year is hard to be away from home, especially since I am fully aware that most of my friends are home this week for Thanksgiving, and I am not. I do, however, have elegant plans for a pizza and movie night with my friends to celebrate the Turkey Day. It is truly mind-blowing how quickly the semester has gone, and now, with the end of the term quickly approaching, I am buckling down and getting some work done. I recently traveled to my last “overnight” destination, so to speak (I have a few day trips to London planned, to see Wicked and go ice-skating and what not) and I recently returned from a weekend in Switzerland. I traveled alone, and got a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends. I saw some of Swiss Nationals (swimming), saw my old tap teacher, Fabrice, and was fondly reacquainted with chocolates, cheeses and breath-taking mountains. As for returning to Bognor, it was bittersweet. I came back with the satisfaction of a reuniting weekend, but with a certain sadness that I was not going back for a while. Hopefully I will be able to make another trip back in the Spring. I came back to a freezing cold England (we are expecting snow soon!) and was ready to hop back on the work horse and try to appreciate these last few weeks remaining in England. As England comes to a close, however, I begin to look forward to the simple pleasures of home: the Christmas music that awaits me, the cookies and home made meals from Mom, the family, and of course… Olive Garden. Not only have I missed this place more than you can imagine, I have dreamt of it almost every night (just kidding.. but I do miss it!). I also made a very specific request that whoever pick me up at the airport bring a bag full of Panera food, seeing as how it is next to impossible to find salad and soup in England!
Location: Bognor Regis, United Kingdom
With all the orientation programs and group activities, this is pretty much the first chance I’ve had to myself to reflect on the first week of england. In short, I’m in love. This country, especially the Bognor Regis area, is so friendly and laid back, it’s as if I’m on a vacation!
Location: Bognor Regis, United Kingdom
So I am only allowed to take two suitcases with me on my trip to England, and I am sitting here in a pile of shoes trying to narrow down the pairs but it doesn’t seem to be working. Packing is hard. I am terrified of even starting on clothes considering I may not have room for them with all the uggs, sneakers and heels I plan on taking. Oh well… at least London has great shopping! haha. Anyways, the summer has just flown by and I can’t believe that in about 3 weeks I will be on my way to seeing the world.
Location: my room, Pittsburgh PA