Coming Home

To those of you who still bother to check for updates, I'm sorry. It's been over a month since my last post, and it's been an eventful month.

I write this from my hotel in Delhi, just 24 hours before I hop on a flight to re-enter the Western world. I can't even believe how fast these past 4 months have gone, especially the last month.

About 2 weeks ago, the project I've been working on most of the semester (orphanage + school) was finally published, despite numerous technical difficulties – power cuts (scheduled and unscheduled), internet problems, and various other computer problems – that delayed the project. But in the end, it was finished close to on-time, and I think it turned out pretty well. I even have my own copy of the project report so I can show off my drawings when I get home to all who care to see.

With that complete, some of the staff and interns went for a little 6-day, 50-mile trek through the Himalayas for our intern “holiday” (British for “vacation”). It started with a 12-hour bus ride, followed by 5 days of hiking through forests, meadows, rivers, flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and packs (?) of donkeys for about 5 hours each day – with a 35 lb bag on my back – and then setting up camp each night.. Someone on our team calculated that we hiked through 23,000 feet of elevation change (13,000 down, 10,000 up), so needless to say, it was quite the workout. It wasn't exactly my idea of a restful vacation, but the scenic views made the physical exhaustion completely worth it. Overall, it was a lot of fun camping with my co-workers and a great end to the semester.

I feel like I need to provide some sort of summary for the semester as it comes to a close, but I don't even know where to begin with that. And I don't think I can fit that into a blog post anyways, so I'm going to settle for good old-fashioned, face-to-face chats with as many of you as I can this summer. All I'll say is that I've had some incredible experiences – professionally, spiritually, culturally, and otherwise – and I think I've grown in ways that I haven't fully realized yet. That sounds pretty vague and cliché, but...oh well. I think it's the truth.

I guess this is goodbye for the summer. I don't plan on blogging while I'm home, but I'm sure I'll be back on here sometime in August. Thanks again to everyone who kept me in your prayers and/or supported me financially this semester! It literally wouldn't have been possible without you. Can't wait to see you all!