I'm off!

Just a day and a half ago I finally arrived home in New Jersey; in just over two hours now I'll be leaving again. Sometimes life really does move at lightning speed. It's crazy how that happens.

I don't really have a lot to say, just that going to Nepal by myself is probably one of the craziest things I've done. I'm sure I'll be fine, but there will be a lot of things that I'll have to deal with myself there that I haven't ever had to before--changing money, communicating where most people don't speak English or great English, finding my way around, etc. I'll be in pretty touristy areas so I don't think it'll be a huge problem but it'll definitely be something I'll have to combat, on top of adjusting to time differences, eating foods I'm not used to, and so forth.

But really, I'm so excited! My plane ride is... you guessed it! Just about 18 hours long. And then add on top of that the connecting flights and it's about a full day of flight time just on the way there, and over a day of travelling, even without the time change. So I'll leave this afternoon and then I won't get there until Wednesday morning. Part of that is because of the almost 10 hour time difference but a lot of it is also just because getting there is going to take a long time. Crazy.

Look at my cool new backpack! This makes me even more
excited for trekking. Also makes me want to trek everywhere.

Well, I still have a little bit of packing left to do so... I'm going to do that. But if I don't get a chance to post while I'm in Nepal (which is more than likely) there will certainly be pictures and so forth up when I get back so be ready!

it is finished.

Finals are over! At last. Which is not to say that this semester is actually over yet; look at my desk for one:

I honestly don't know how I'm getting anything done here.
All I know is that I don't want to clean up that mess, let alone
start packing up all the rest of my stuff. Wah.

Despite the fact that I have really been longing for finals to to be over it's kind of sad now, because with finals over that means that I actually have to get to those things that are important to do, but not super pressing, like figuring out if I have everything I need for Nepal, making sure I have a ride to the airport, packing all of my stuff, etc. Darn. Also, my friends (all two or three of them, hah) are starting to leave! So it's a bit of a bummer deal, but part of me knows that it's time for a break. It's always good to be exposed to the real world or even environments that you haven't been exposed to in a while--in my case, home. It'll be strange being around little kids all the time and having to tell people where I'm doing and for what purpose beforehand.

Here's two semester's in retrospect:

• I went on a couple of dates. Yes, it surprised me too.
• I became a certified open water scuba diver!
• I lived in a blanket fort for a month with four other girls. (Yes, it was awesome.)
• I have gotten less sleep and done more work on a daily basis than ever before.
• I finally learned how to properly play the organ. And I played in master class. It was kind of a big deal for me.
• I gained some weight. In case you were interested in knowing.
• I learned about how stuff burns! Research jobs are awesome. 
• I am currently preparing to get one of the lowest grades of my entire academic career. Which is not to say that it's bad, but it's still quite momentous for me. 
• I went to general conference in the conference center. Awesome.
• I took a total of 38 credits of classes. Probably not one of the wisest decisions I have ever made. But I survived honorably I believe, thank goodness.
• I met so many amazing people who I am going to miss dearly this summer! *sobs*

stopping to think

Okay. Okay okay. So there's a lot of stuff going on in my life right now--end of the semester for one--but I think maybe what's more important to address is what's going on outside my own protective bubble. Today there was a bombing at the Boston marathon. Three were killed and well over a hundred were injured.

I can't even imagine what would motivate something like this.

When I first saw this on Facebook I can't say that I was surprised. Not because I expected an event specifically like what happened, today, or in Boston, but just because it seems like horrible things happen all the time. Just think. Colorado movie theater shooting, Newtown, and others that I can't remember (or maybe didn't even hear about at the time). But does that lessen how terrible these events are? I would hope not, but yet I think often it does.

I am the first to admit that I get caught up, quite easily, in my life and all of my own needs. At college I think it's especially easy to do that, and with my busy class schedule, I hardly have time to do the things that I want to do, let alone to do other things that I should do but haven't prioritized. Like reading the news. That would definitely be a good thing to do. But back to the Boston marathon bombing. When I first saw it on Facebook (of course) I essentially disregarded it. And that's what bothers me. I didn't even think about it, even to think about my friends who are living in Boston.

Shouldn't I be able to recognize when something big has happened? Do several people have to tell me about it in order for my mind to recognize that this is something important that I should be aware of? It's tough because there is always stuff going on in life; the question is whether or not we allow ourselves to become too busy to stop and reflect.

I am the first to admit that I take way too much for granted: of course my family loves me, because they always have. Of course I can go without eating veggies, because I'm strong without them. Of course I can walk home when it's late and dark, because who'd rape me? Of course I can go to a third world country all by myself, because who's to stop me? Of course there's a life after death, because it wouldn't make any sense otherwise. I take my health, my education, my opportunities, my family, my faith, and so much more for granted but it's realizations like these and life itself pressing forward that makes me realize that what I have right now will not last forever, and also that other people often are not as fortunate as me.

I actually was thinking about this earlier when I was reading up on Nepal. The average per capita income last year was $625, which was higher than it has been in the past. Six hundred and twenty five dollars. Yes, it is a whole different world over there but I simply cannot even imagine living on that little. I barely even work and I make more than that in three months. So often it's easy to get caught up in the intense political fire that is prevalent in America and forget all of the really great things that we have here.

Dang these kids are cute.

It also makes me think that perhaps I'm not spending my money in the right ways. Who am I to throw around thousands of dollars on travelling the world when it would take other people many, many years to just earn that much money, let alone actually save it up? Sometimes my classes make me overconfident, making me think that I actually know something of some importance, when in reality some of the most important things are ones that book learning can't teach me, and to which the answers to can never be found.

Anyway, just some food for thought.