The night before we left for the Dominican Republic we got yet another email from the US State Department about planned protests in Port au Prince the following day. We spent the afternoon trying to get in touch with the Embassy and talking to people at Espwa to decide whether or not it would be … Continue reading
It’s the three day countdown until I ship out for my year in Haiti. For the past two-weeks I’ve been tossing things that I might want next year into my “Haiti box.” Now that it’s only a few short days until the flight departs, the serious packing has begun. I’m attempting to travel as lightly as possible … Continue reading
An art professor from the US visited our program in India last fall and made a wonderful suggestion to us before we parted ways. She encouraged each of the students to find a new way of looking at Pune: a place that was slowly becoming familiar after 3 months of living there. She told us about her particular … Continue reading
Dear Ohio, I have to say I was a bit reluctant to move here four years ago. I liked the university and all, but I couldn’t help but think of all the Boston schools along the Charles River I had neglected in favor of this university in the dead center of flattened cornfields. It was a little … Continue reading
With only a few weeks left until graduation, I’ve been asked “What’s next?” with surprising frequency and consistency over the past couple of months. For most of that time, the question stressed me out and reminded me of the job applications I had floating out there in the world and the impending decision I would have … Continue reading
“In a sense it’s the coming back, the return, which gives meaning to the going forth. We really don’t know where we’ve been until we come back to where we were. Only where we were may not be as it was because of who we’ve become, which, after all, is why we left…” –Bernard Stevens, … Continue reading
I’ve been given a challenge. We’ll not so much a challenge as an insightful suggestion. After spending nearly 4 months in India, writing about some of my most meaningful experiences several times a week, I’ve now slipped back into the sometimes-comfortable, sometimes-overwhelming pattern of my final semester at college. Still grappling with reverse culture shock, … Continue reading
Hello again! Sorry for the big unexplained hiatus over Christmas and New Year’s Eve, I’ve been traveling with my family since the 26th to Galveston, Texas and Cozumel, Mexico. We returned home late a few nights ago to Boston after flight delays in Houston–with the temperature jumping from 70 and sunny to 30 and slushy. … Continue reading
This will likely be one of several nostalgic 2013 posts as the new year approaches. Today, I was looking through some of the photos I’ve taken this year and realized that I spent most of the big holidays and celebrations of 2013 outside of the country. Some of my favorite holiday/celebration photos are below. I … Continue reading
As the semester came to an end our conversations naturally centered around our excitement about going home: What’s the first thing you’ll eat when you get back? Who are you most excited to see? What will your pets do when you walk in the door? How nice is it going to be … Continue reading
Home&Away 