The Summer Odyssey begins

So we'll see how long I keep up with this. It's literally been 10-11 months since I last wrote. I became so bogged-down towards the end of my dissertation write-up that I allowed no time for anything other than my dissertation. Since then I've been home and I think part of me doesn't write on here when I am home because most of the people who might even attempt at reading this blog are FROM home. I am self-conscious enough about my writing, so it doesn't surprise me that I haven't "blogged" while I've been here. However, I have 12 days left here so... to no surprise I am ready to pick-it-up again.

I have kept myself fairly busy over the past nine months, even managed to save a little money (which unfortunately will be spent over the summer), and couldn't have dreamt of a better visit home with family and friends. "Home" is amazing in that respect; just when you think you know everything there is to know about it, it sneaks up and surprises you with new issues, new events, new people or simply gives you the opportunity to reconnect with people or a part of your life you had not seen or dealt with in a while. In my case, it's all of the above and all which I am extremely thankful for. From giving me a chance to connect with young people through track, to bringing a new sister-in-law into the family, to becoming TRULY aware of what it's like to be an aunt and to go through wihtdrawl when I don't get to see Aidan every few days, to simply reconnecting with my community and the people here---- I wouldn't trade-off the past nine months for the world.

But in that same breath, I know it's time to go again. Things have lined themselves up and I am ready to get in over my head again. Which is precisely what I think I am about to do. The itinerary for the next 2 months is a bit...exciting and exhausting just to think about, but I am looking forward to the learning experience. I am slightly worried that I am not up to par on issues like I wish I was or maybe should be. I feel I know what I am talking about when it comes to concerns of Eastern Congo, but move me much outside of that or Africa in general and I am a rather useless resource. So I've tried reading up more on and more on issues and events in our world again, I only wish I had more time. This isn't a test to see what kind of grade I'll get, this is test to see where I'll end up over the next 15 months.

So here's the layout for the next two months and then afterwards:
10-12 June: Washington, DC. Dropping a bag of clothes, meeting girl who I am subletting from for the summer, seeing a few friends.
12-16 June: England, UK. I fly into London that Monday where I'll spend the night with friends and then the next day will head out to the English countryside where I'll stay with family for a few days.
16-25 June: Geneva, Switzerland. I have a training (mental, physical, emotional, field type of training) there with a non-governmental organization by the name of Medair. Assuming the training goes well, I'll start working with them as a field-worker in September. (Both sides feel that work in September is nearly a done deal, I just have to do well at the training. I actually feel pretty relaxed about it at this point.)
25-28 June: Back to the UK. I was thinking of finding a hostel in Southern France (probably in Lyons) and staying there by myself for the remainder of my time but in Europe but what can I say... I am a family girl and I really want to see my "Edinburgh family" before I return to the States. I've missed them terribly these past nine months. While some will not be there (due to being in the field for research or having moved elsewhere), it will be nice to be our city again. So I'll head north to Scotland for a few days to be pampered by friends who are still there, cooked for, walks up Arthur's Seat, afternoons in the park, maybe even catch a play, and taken to some of my favorite pubs in the world before returning to the States. There really is no place like Edinuburgh!!
28 June- 18 August: Washington, DC. I have an internship in DC for the summer with Senator Sam Brownback. I have been placed on the human rights caucas of his office for my short 7-8 weeks duration there. The big question will be to see whether I can be of use to them or if I am just making them coffee. Either way, I am sure to learn a ton. And I do make a mean pot of coffee, so if that's what it comes to I'll still keep them happy. I realize that Brownback is a republican and I am democrat but I really just want to look past party division and see the bigger picture at stake; the work and collarboration between parties in doing this work. I am pretty nervous about my internship with Brownback's office, but I am bound to gain a ton from my short stay there.
19 August- early September??: Home. Pittsburg, KS. My brother is engaged and getting married on the 26th of the month and I wouldn't miss the wedding for anything. I couldn't be happier for him. He is extremely happy and my future sis-in-law is fabulous. I imagine that Medair and I will have sorted thru a few things and will have come up with a departure date by then. I should also know where I am headed at that point. It seems as if right now there are a few possibilities, those being Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, and DR Congo. Having just been in DR Congo a year ago, I would greatly like to return there, work there and get a better feeling for the people and situation there. The situation, the country and especially the people kind of stole my heart a year ago and I would greatly like to return there. But... time will tell. It wouldn't surprise me if Medair put together a relief team in Indonesia with the recent earthquake and I ended up there for a year.

I realize that numerous people think of me as a "traveller" which I can understand to a point. When I say I work with women and children of war-torn countries, a popular response is "oh you are such an adventurer." To me the work makes perfect sense and I could not imagine doing anything else right now, to others it SOUNDS as if it appears as a reason to go travel. To be quite honest, the "travel" schedule I have for the next two months is if nothing else exhausting to even think about. I greatly look foward to being in one place and working there for a while, without having to go from place to place to make things come together, while lugging 2-4 bags around. It's not to say that I am not thankful for the things I have seen, the education I have been blessed with, and the events I have encountered, but "travelling" like this is not quite the romantic picture we sometimes paint it to be.

My heart has a second home in Africa, in someways it has a first home there. That continent and the people there have probably given me more than I will ever be able to give them, but that doesn't mean I have to stop trying. I enjoy working alongside them and will do what it takes to get back to them. In many ways I feel very "green" there--- as if I have barely touched the surface on the issues there and that I still have so much to learn. But I also feel ready to grow in that sense simply because I have been building a base for the past few years when it comes to my knowledge concerning Africa.

So on that note, I am very ready to return--- assuming they are ready to take me. I only have a few stops first...