Let the Circle be Unbroken...

For months I wondered what occasion would draw me back to the world of blogging. As crazy as it may sound, I could barely read these entries for months after my travel. They took me back to the places I loved and loathed...back to the seas, back to the shipboard classrooms, back to India, back to Burma... It almost hurts to go back. Now, after a year and a WHOLE lot of living, I have the privilege and opportunity to go back, not just to the journal entries, blogs, and facebook messages that I treasure-but back to the world, back to the countries that I miss, BACK to the unknown. I just got off the phone with my study abroad advisor. We are days away from finalizing my flight details. The financial aid office is being incompetent. I'm packing and unpacking my suitcase in my mind every night, you know-the usual. LOL. So, I take this opportunity to write and update you-my family, friends, and relative strangers... I will leave the states on January 3, 2008 to spend a semester in Europe. The first 2.5 months will be spent immersing myself in Spanish language and culture in Madrid. I'll stay with a warm, loving family (speaking prophetically here...lol) and road trip on the weekends. After my program ends on March 15th, I will explore Europe for two weeks before returning to the states on April 1st. For those of you who care about the rest of the story...lol I will graduate (on time) in May and I am currently job hunting in New York. I am in love with that city, and I endeavor to live, work, and play there for about a year before going to law school. Back to the travel... I need your help. After spending weeks in Southeast Asia and a brief stint in Barcelona-I am not a huge Europe fan. The weakening dollar depresses me, but I know there are great adventures to behold. Where should I go? Should I try to squeeze another ten countries into two weeks, or should I meander in Italy and the Greek Isles the entire time? I'd love to hear about your Eurotrips. (pun intended, although I should be careful since I have not seen that movie...) I look forward to sharing this experience with you. When I returned from Semester at Sea, people would often say, "Oh wow! That was such a ONCE in a lifetime opportunity!" Although I would smile graciously, in the back of my mind I knew that travelling the world was not a once in a lifetime thing for me. Semester at Sea was just my first trip around the world. It was not the beginning and end of a great adventure. That journey was just the starting point of a neverending journey. Perhaps you're not a fan of analogies-or maybe you can feel me on this. Either way, in the spirit of Mildred D. Taylor, I must let the circle be unbroken. The BEST is yet to come. Always, Rhonda

Now Playing..."Seasons" by Donald Lawrence.