for those who continue talking about flowers: July 2010

I'll be leaving Chicago in about eight days. The date is approaching quicker and quicker everyday. For the most part, everything is falling into place. My scholarships have gone through, I've finished most of my research and I even managed to sublet my apartment. I'm excited and I'm anxious. But mostly, I think I'm anxious. It's a good anxiousness. Like the anxiety I get when I climb the train bridge, as a cause of the heights. A fear of being out my comfort zone, but with the understanding that I will gain a better perspective because of it. This last semester has been a bit rough. It was my first semester at UIC and it was a lot of work. The last seven months have been nothing but academia. That's the part that has hampered my spirit the most. It's not that I don't like research or an academic environment, it actually seems to be the environment in which I thrive the most. I feel extremely fortunate to have been afforded the opportunity to work under a great professor, researching a subject that is important to me. But it's the times in which I'm with people who are challenging their struggles that I learn the most. In the last ten months I have been greatly inspired by the youth that I have met and their tenacity in advocating for their rights. In hindsight, I wish I could've been more helpful--but like I said before--I'm still learning. Learning. That is the exciting part of this trip. Once again, I will be able to speak and meet people who are working towards a better life. A better world. I'm privileged to be able to do so. I know it and I'm grateful for it. For the next four and half months my classroom will be Central America. It will be stories that are imparted. The experience that is gained. I'm excited and I'm anxious. But mostly, I'm anxious.