things come together

It felt almost like this trip planned itself.

Back in college, I was convinced that if I returned to do Amigos again, I most certainly wanted to be in the Dominican Republic. Yet, when I applied last year, I selected Paraguay as my first choice - the most southern country of all. Having never crossed over the Equator and not knowing when I might ever return to the Southern hemisphere, it suddenly made sense to plan some additional travel after the program.

Realizing that the volunteer gig and my subsequent travels would keep me out of the U.S. for upwards of three months, it occurred to me that I might need to resign entirely from my job at the music school. With Joe departing for his traveling work assignments around the same time that I would be leaving for South America, it made perfect sense that I would meet up with him after my program and we would travel together for a while.

And thus, the near-term future was all laid out and completely, wonderfully, un-planned. The more I think about it, the more it seems like the most perfect possible way to spend the next year(s) of my life.

To start with, I get to spend an awesome summer with some cool teenagers - probably learning as much about myself as they will about their selves. (I'm really excited for them!) Then for a couple of weeks in late August, I will finally get to travel around the Southern continent to see some of the places I have read so much about - Buenos Aires, Brazil, Iguazzu... and we'll see if I can squeeze in a jaunt to Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Come September, Joe and I will be sharing our adventures - professionally, culturally, and personally. While he is honing the skills it takes to engineer a refinery, I will be writing, volunteering, possibly taking some classes. On weekends we will try to do some more in-depth exploring, he'll have to entertain my attempts at preparing local cuisines, and we will live the traveling life together. I think we are both going to learn a lot.

I hope all of you keep in touch - with recommendations on places to see, books to read, people to meet, or simply questions we should think about and discuss. I look forward to sharing this adventure with all of you.