Final Thoughts

---

---

I am leaving today, this afternoon, in a couple hours. I sit here in a cafe, looking out the window of a second story building. As I sip on my double espresso, I am writing in my journal, reflecting on my trip, and feeling a deep sense of peace. There is a huge parade on the street below me. The waiter tells me that the reason for the parade is to celebrate an anniversary of something South American (I couldn't understand everything he was telling me in Spanish). Children march by in groups dressed sharply in their school uniforms. Toddlers holding balloons and carried by their parents follow and behind them is a group of teachers. Military groups march by with their huge shiney guns with knives on the tips pointed to the sky. After I finish my coffee, it is time to head back to my hotel, pick up my backpack and head to the airport. I walked away from Cuzco, from Peru, from South America carrying my large backpack serrinaded by the band with a triumphant brassy tune.

I am looking forward to having 3 weeks off when I get home to visit friends and family before I start my next job. I am also looking forward to having more than 2 pairs of pants. I am also looking forward to working with my guru this summer in Yosemite and cant wait to start grad school in the fall. The Bay Area adventure continues.

Some final thoughts about my trip... the things I have learned or want to take with me...

-Dont be so busy! Before I left, I was able to get two new jobs for the spring, a new job for the summer, apply and get into grad school, and plan a trip to south america. phew. I am happy all that hard work is paying off, but I have been distant from some of the most important people in my life. I have ben writing half-assed emails and forgetting to return phone calls. Sorry to all those who this may sound framiliar to. I promise to allow enough time in my life to breath and give space to those I love.

-Be open to meeting new people. I love how easy it is to met new people while travelling and I hope to take a bit of that home with me. I have a lot of practice with the quinticitial questions of meeting people while abroad... Where are you from, how long are you traveling, etc. Do you think that will work in SF?? :)

-and last but not least, I dont have to carry the weight of my country on my shoulders! At first I had a very heavy feling in my heart for all the awful things the US has done and is doing to the rest of the world and somehow felt responsible for it. I wanted to apologize and was almost in tears for what we have done. But really, I am not a part of the problem! I am trying to change things, trying not to use up the worlds resources, supporting wastefulness and consumerism as little as possible, and trying to use as little oil as possible. I dont follow the American dream (nightmare) and I leave a small footprint on the earth. And most people from around the world are intelegent enough to realize this once you open up and reveal yourself. Hopefully I left a good mark in people´s hearts along the way.

I know others have certainly touched me along the way.

---