Summer 2010, at long last...

After two long, long weeks of papers, exams, more exams, I'm finally done!! (Well, not really. Spanish paper.....fml....but I'm almost done, so let's pretend like I'm finished.) It's kind of crazy how fast sophomore year flew by.  Too many developments academically, socially, extra-curricularly (is that a word?) and everything-else-ly to enumerate.  Changing majors and life plans a million times, going to Beijing and back, doing a week-long cross-country road trip with my family, making some awesome new friends, keeping some awesome old friends, experiencing a death in the immediate family for the first time in a while, learning squash (ha...) and a new language, and having a unbelievable time in the process.  But the point of the story is that it's been kind of exhausting and I'm so excited for everything this summer has in store...

Speaking of, I'll lay out my summer plans here, just in case you're wondering.

May: travel around the country visiting people -- not all my plans are set in stone yet but I'll be going to Napa Valley to visit Elena for sure!! That's from next Monday, May 17, to Friday, May 21. And hopefully Cleveland next and maybe Seattle with the parents at the end of May.

end of May to  July 4th-ish: Paris to study French with Sweet Briar College's JYF summer program!! I'll be taking 2 classes.  One is a typical French culture and conversation class, while the other will be a class that explores Parisian history through its monuments, which sounds so awesome.  I'll be living in a home stay while in Paris.  Also, I'm hoping to travel around Europe while I'm there.  On my to-visit list: London, Rome, Barcelona, and Madrid.  We'll see how that pans out.

July 4th-ish to end of August:  Lomé, Togo. I'll be working for the NGO Jeunes Volontaires pour L'Environnement, or Young Volunteers for the Environment.  I'll be working for the organization's climate change division, hopefully getting involved with some of their community development initiatives to educate people in the villages about how to live sustainably, given their circumstances.  Coastal countries like Togo whose economy is based mainly on agriculture are the ones most susceptible to even slight changes in the climate, yet they are the least equipped to deal with the effects of environmental change, so hopefully by going there I'll get a little bit more familiar with the on-the-ground perspective of the current problems and challenges facing them.  Togo is part of the Francophone world, and I'm told that I will be living in a home stay here as well, so it will be super interesting to live like a native Togolese person.  I'm sure after the excitement wears off, it will get frustrating and maybe challenging at times, but it's all part of the experience, and I'm excited but nervous.

Buttt that's kind of far off so I have to take care of a bunch of things here in the US before I leave (shots, visas, gifts for home stay families, bahhh there's so much to do!!!) INCLUDING MY SPANISH PAPER FML.

In the meantime: 4 days to Napa!!!