A blackbird watches a grave from the branches of a tree. On the freshly overturned earth, a white daisy with seven petals grows. Each petal shimmers with a drop of clear rainwater, one drop rolls off of its silken perch and strikes the blades of grass below. New life begins. The blackbird takes flight.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

I'm beginning this blog for one main reason: to record my experiences volunteering and traveling overseas the summer of 2008.

Here's my itinerary:

May 4-11: New Orleans, Louisiana
May 13-21: Paris, France
May 25-31: New Orleans, Louisiana
May 31-June 10: Bloomington, Illinois
June 11-July 4: Nablus, Palestine + Israel
July 4-August 1: Athens, Greece
August 1-August 29: ??? (Suggestions, anyone? Amsterdam's in the top 3 :D)
August 29-September 2: Valencia, Spain por La Tomatina

A friend recommended that I begin that journal before I leave--I'm taking his advice. Here it goes.

A quick note before I head to a meeting in 5 minutes:

It's the end of the semester again. I'm surrounded by familiar stacks of essays, that never seem to decrease. As soon as I finish a stack, another grows in its place. It's like some bad Greek myth. Like the last two semesters, I alternate each essay with an internet search of jobs I could have other than this one. The difference? This semester I actually get to apply to those jobs.

And in less than six weeks, I won't be within 10,000 miles of this office or these stacks of essays.

Don't get me wrong. I like my students. And I like teaching. But this isn't for me, and I've known that for 6 months now. I'm ready for the next step.

But first, I've got to finish taking this one. Next essay?

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

From my friend Nick Walker:
If I were you and had sometime to kill this summer and the ability to travel I would go to Taiwan or Turkey. Turkey to see the old byzantine churches and Taiwan because there is a lot of need there, as well as it being cool. Granted I have not been to either.

11:51 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nik,
Your summer plans sound amazing. Your energy, in fact, amazes me. I hope the trip is transforming and tiring (in that good tired kind of way).

Mari

5:42 AM

 

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