I must agree that it is absolutely lovely to see this great group of people gathered in a collective sharing space. I miss having all of your sweet faces so readily accessible in our little Northwoods community. I suppose our village just grew into a more standard world-wide size!
To begin after graduation, my summer and most of the fall have been spent in a whirlwind of cooking, catering, and serving for three different employers while balancing the chaos of my cousin's monumental wedding. I worked every hour within my reach and played the dangerous game of seriously overbooking myself. But it has all paid off because, as of yesterday, my good friend from home and I just bought around the world tickets. Starting in February, I will be in India for 2 months, Sri Lanka for 2 days, Thailand and Cambodia for 2 weeks, Israel for 2 weeks, Europe for 3 months, and Brazil and Argentina for 2 months. I'm a little exhausted just thinking about it!
In India, I will be volunteering with the "Tibetan Aid Project" for ten days at the World Peace Ceremony in Bodh Gaya, then off to Delhi and the surrounding area to live in an ashram and volunteer either at a school or an orphanage or some combination thereof.
I don't have specific plans for Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, or Israel except that I'll be staying with family friends and I'll work on practicing the art of being a sponge to sop up as much of those colorful cultures as possible.
For the Europe aspect of the trip, I'll fly into Romania and somehow end up in England to catch the plane to Brazil. I know I would like to make it to Norway to see the cousins I've never met, but other than that, I'm open to adventure!
In Brazil I plan to WWOOF. I found a farm high up in the mountains that overlooks about 20 different cities, raises goats, and has a large organic vegetable garden. I'll be a goat cheese expert if I'm lucky! If I'm still up for traveling I'll head to Argentina for a while and then contemplate whether or not I'm ready to come home/ evaluate how many pennies I have left in my bank account!
My most recent revelation is that I am not responsible for saving the world. It is an egocentric notion on my part to think such a broad concept to be possible. This world trip is about listening to and actually hearing other people.
If any of you crazy intellectuals have any ideas for me and this experience let me know! And if you will be in any of the same parts of the world it would be wonderful to see you!
Bear Hugs,
Cerri
PS I'm terrified!
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