Blogs from Arlington, Virginia, United States, North America - page 4

It's been a few days since the last entry dated Monday, 22 June. The majority of the time since then has been in the car driving. I left at 7:30AM from Laredo, TX and arrived in Wichita, KS around 7PM driving a bit over 760 miles. The morning was brutal. I went to bed late the night before and woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. As I was driving through Texas that morning I regretted the decision to just get up and make productive use of the time by getting an early start on the road. Hard to keep awake. Assuming more risk behind the wheel than I had felt comfortable with that morning until I got my second wind in the early afternoon. Decided to get the oil changed, tires rotated and ... read more

Go here to see ALL the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/rconnelly22 Well, it took about 2 weeks, but as I promised, I wanted to write a conclusion to my second amazing trip overseas. Europe was STILL under construction, and the sites STILL blew my mind. While I know I'm lucky to have opportunity to travel overseas, I'm in some ways proud of myself for "completing the continent" and doing what it took to travel again. A lot of times people talk about it, and just never follow through, and I'm proud that I have talked the talk, and walked the walk - TWICE, and because of it, I'm truly a better person. Like I said throughout, this trip was very different from my last trip over there. Summer vs. Winter. Mike vs. Heather. Eastern Europe vs. Western Europe. Comparably ... read more

More photographs... read more

I'm feeling more like I love Africa now that I'm home than I did when I was there. I miss it. I miss the people and the lovely spirit of togetherness. I miss the management style of "family spirit" that I witnessed at TASO. I think my mind was clouded by my longing for home - I really did have a good time. I learned a lot and now I am eager to go back.... Just not for 4 months.... read more

Since I've left and returned, something in me has changed, but I can't quite determine what. There's this fire in me to make my mark on the world and experience all that life has to offer. And now more than ever do I realize that the good comes with the bad...the sweet isn't so sweet without the sour. As I was experiencing Brussels and expanding my educational horizon, my 94-year-old grandfather passed away in his sleep on Monday evening. I'm still fighting (mostly with myself) the frustration I feel since my family didn't tell me until yesterday evening once I was back home. I'm frustrated that last weekend when I was boarding the plane to Belgium, my entire family was at Grandpa's side to spend time with him and say their goodbyes. However, he was obstinate ... read more