The End

Now that we are all home and Real Life has slapped me in the face and I'm pretty adjusted to the time change and we are blowing up facebook like nobody's business, I've been thinking about this trip and realizing that what made it so incredibly awesome is FRIENDS. I really did not think I was going to make friends on this trip. It wasn't a negative thought; I just didn't consider that it might happen. I was caught up in the geography and packing and photography and culture and didn't think about the actual people that I would be traveling with.

I spent the day at work, my first day at school with a new group of students, and I gave each class a little presentation on my world map. I told them about the long plane flight and the southern tip of the continent and visiting township kids and singing in a choir. I sighed to all of my colleagues about how wonderful it was and the sightseeing was fantastic and how jetlagged I am and my brain is scattered in a million directions. I couldn't convey to either group, though, that the best surprise of this trip was making friends with all of you.

We bussed, we slept, we drank, we dance, we sang, we posed, we snapped photos, we screamed, we hugged, we dressed up, we climbed, we cried, we laughed, we ate, we shared, we saw, we loved.

I know it wasn't all perfect and there were real moments of hurt. But as I've been thinking back on our trip today, I have not been remembering the history or the culture or the scenery. I've been thinking about the Robes and Slippers evening, dancing at the Irish pub, sharing the front seats of the orange bus, hugging on Latifa, idolizing Ben's camera, collecting shells during whale watching, sleeping twelve inches from your roommate, trying on clothes, mugging for the Go Pro, playing in flight trivia, jumping on the beach, laughing laughing and laughing.

Thank you for making this trip so wonderful. You know who you are.