Looking back

When I planned this trip, I never even began to imagine that it would turn out being great as it has been. People always seem to ask about summer plans, and even telling them about this trip of a lifetime, it was still just so inconceivable.

There had been a while after booking the trip itself, but not flights, at I had gotten really scared about it. I knew that it was huge, and something about it definitely intimidated me. For a while, I considered not going to Prague and just volunteering in SA all summer-- how wrong I would have been to make that choice! I ended up pretty much just telling myself to suck it up because I knew they were just nervous jitters.

By the time I was actually leaving, I was excited! But never did I imagine it to be so great, especially Prague! Everything about living in an unknown, historical city, taking classes at the sights of events, and meeting some of the greatest people I've ever known, helped to make Prague an experience that will forever be special to me. I do wish that SA had turned out differently. If nothing else, it had been quite an adventure the mere ten days I was there, and does make for a good story! I'm mostly kidding, it does make for a good story, but it's really hard not to be effected by going there and seeing what these kids live in each day. I forgot to mention it in my last post, but had wanted to share this quick story . . . On my last day at Sunrise, the kids had been given two small pieces of candy each, a big treat for them. I was working with Chikondi, who refused to eat either of her pieces, because "mommy likes sweets and tells me that when we get them, to bring them home to her." No matter what I said or did, she wouldn't even consider eating them, and it was just so sad to me . . . Something SA has definitely done for me, is that it has really got me thinking about leadership and program development. The program I was with was a huge mess when I arrived. They're really eager for feedback though, in order to make the program better. So when I told them I was leaving, feedback was something they really wanted and that I was happy to give. Going beyond the "this program sucked" mentality and really working to see key issues and to convey them to DTR constructively has been an interesting process. So much of it, honestly, comes back to being detail oriented. I really do hope that things get better for them, because they do have a good foundation for the program, but just need to really work beyond that-- in my opinion.

Re-entry culture shock hasn't been terrible. I think the worst of it is that I don't even fully have my head wrapped around this summer, so to now have tons of people seeing me and asking all about it, I'm probably a lot more quiet about it than they might expect. Even to me, the whole thing is just so completely unbelievable still! If I didn't have the photos, or this blog to look back on, I'm not sure if I would believe half the things I did.

I really miss the metro and walking everywhere in Prague. I miss familiar sounds and smells. And I especially miss the people.

I think that my stomach is taking re-entry the worst. I've had a stomach ache for days . . . And it's not like I even ate that well abroad! Czech is a meat and potato type of country that prides itself on fried cheese. And I never want another peanut butter sandwich after SA . . .

I was uploading some photos to Facebook last night and was really in such disbelief that I had such an amazing summer and got to do all of those amazing things! It was just like, are you serious, I did all of these things?! I so honestly can't even believe that all of it happened. Even more so, I can't believe it's over . . . I missed my family and was excited to be going to Bayside, but I had prepared myself for a full summer away, so I'm not sure I was quite ready to come home . . . I'm just itching for more adventures, I guess!

I'm not sure when my next adventure will be, but I'll be sure to write all about it on here when it comes! I actually really enjoyed putting all (or at least most) of my thoughts on here. I generally keep my thoughts to myself unless asked directly about them, so it has been kind of therapeutic opening up and just sharing everything. Thank you to everyone who kept up with this over the summer, or even just peaked at it a time or two. I've recieved a lot of messages and emails from people telling me how much they have liked reading it and seeing my photos. Knowing that people are actually reading this,and even enjoying it, has been so great! So thank you! This truly has been the summer of a lifetime, and I'm glad to have shared it.

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