germany?

I'm sorry to be away so long. I feel like very little is happening in way of my plans, and so I'm rarely reminded of anything to write about.

Of course, it's not entirely true that nothing is happening. I'm doing well this semester and am fully confident that I will in fact graduate from USC on December 17th (which, by the way, is also my birthday). Everything seems to be in order for my move to Eisleben. I'm in the process of getting a plane ticket, housing is set up, and I get my visa and insurance settled after I get there... Kinda exciting. Kinda scary.

I'm also working on applications for Border Servant Corps and Lutheran Volunteer Corps so that I can spend a little time back in the states before running off in the Peace Corps. I've discovered that it's possible to earn a Master's degree while in the Peace Corps as well. That's an exciting prospect. If only I knew what I wanted to study next...

I still haven't fully processed what I experienced in Tanzania. I'm feeling nostalgic about it and wanting to go back, and trying to make myself remember that it was also a difficult experience. I'm not the kind of person who takes orders easily, and although I have no doubt that I have found my calling in social justice (particularly as it pertains to international concerns), I wonder how I will deal with a lifetime of Bishops looking at me and telling me where my place is within a new social order.

I guess I still haven't said anything about working at camp, either. That was also a mixed experience. I'm grateful to have learned a lot from my co-workers about living in community with people unlike myself. I also met a lot of people who are much much better than any other college students I know at separating out people's beliefs and the words they say from their being. That sounds vague, I know, but I can't find any better way of saying it. At the same time, it was a difficult job, and I often felt unprepared, inadequate, and unappreciated. I keep asking myself if I'd do it again... I think that I'm glad that I did it, and if I were to go back in time, I wouldn't take back the decision to spend my summer at Agape, but I also know I will never go back to camp...

Well, that's all for now. Homework calls.

wowzer.

I thought I would have a lot of time to update once I finished with exams and moved home. Boy was I wrong!

Semester recap: my dorm room is haunted; I'm not going to Ireland; I don't like Arthurian literature; I made a 4.0; I have awesome friends. That about covers it.

I got home Tuesday thinking I could kind of relax, prepare myself for the trip, read a good book, watch some junk tv, etc. and then immediately realized I had four days to unpack all of my stuff and re-pack it depending on whether I was taking it to Africa, camp, Columbia (that's right--I already packed for the fall semester), or staying here. Not to mention the fact that Smith is moving into an apartment on Monday, so Caleb is moving into my old room that Smith has been living in for two years, which means having to re-organize all the closet space in the whole house as well as moving furniture... It's been hectic, to say the least. I'm so glad I won't be here when the construction begins. That's right. My parents decided now would be a good time to renovate the bathrooms (okay, that was kind of forced by the floor that completely rotted out from underneath the house) AND add another room onto the house. Insanity.

Tanzania: I'm basically losing my mind right now. Everything is (hopefully) packed, but like I said I've had no time to relax, so my sleep schedule is all off, I'm moody and dehydrated and just generally not looking forward to this trip. Which makes me saddest of all, b/c I've been waiting for it for so long. I just know I've forgotten something completely essential and I'm going to get some horrible exotic disease because of it. It would be my lousy luck... But I am trying to think positive. This is going to be an incredible experience. It's an experience I am lucky to have. I think I'm allowed a bit of nervousness at least, though.

Camp: Excited, I guess? There are a lot of little things I don't really have time for, though, and that's definitely frustrating. For example, the medical form I'm supposed to have a doctor fill out at some point before getting to training? Right, I can totally do that in the 12 hours between getting back to America and showing up in Raleigh. Piece of cake. I'm glad Lauren won't be far away, though. It's a small--but nice--security blanket to have her around on weekends. I didn't realize, though, that my cousin was going to be in town all summer for an internship she got in Greenville. I'm a little bummed out that I won't get to see her much, since she goes to school so far away and basically has her life figured out and settled in Georgia. So far away.

So anyway, I'm pretty tired now, seeing as how it's after 1. It might not be a bad idea for me to sleep. Obviously, I won't tell you to be expecting any news from me directly within the next two weeks at least, but I hope that you will continue to hold all of us who are traveling in the light (or pray for us or think about us or whatever it is that you do in those kinds of situations). It should be a safe journey, but it's a long one, and there are a lot of nervous people involved. I hope to return in one piece so I can tell you all about it.