Coming HOME!!!!

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It's been 16 months and finally tomorrow night the plane I'll be boarding is America-bound!! Will be arriving into JFK at noon on Weds and into Vermont at 6pm!

I'll have a little less than a month to relax at home before heading back over here on Jan. 11. I'll be in St. Louis visiting family from the 26-30 and in NYC Jan 3-5. The rest of the time will be hanging out at home - so hopefully I'll get to see all of you!

I just submitted my last paper yesterday so I'm officially done with school - til next semester, anyways! I only have to take 1 more class next semester and write my thesis (ugh!) but excitingly enough I just found out on Thursday that the research grant that I applied for to conduct fieldwork for my thesis was approved. That means at the end of January/early February I'll be heading to Liberia for 2 weeks to talk and interview former refugees about their experiences. I'm extremely excited 1) because I've been wanting to go to Liberia and finally I can go and I don't have to pay a dime, 2) It's a great opportunity and I'm really looking forward to it and 3) because frankly, without the research grant I would not be able to write on this topic so I would have had to change it!

Another exciting thing that recently happened is I was named to be the new President/Director of STAR (Student Action for Refugees)!! I've been the Academic Advisor for the past 3 semesters and am now assuming the new position, effective as of Weds. So I will be a bit busy at home (not ALL my time will be spent on my couch watching tv and movies while fattening up on foods I've been without) planning some events for next semester, still doing some work on the current English language curriculum and getting visa for Liberia sorted along with interviews.

Graduation is currently set for June 15, 2011 - soo you're all invited and of course, invited to come n visit before that as well. No big travel plans are set for next semester as, besides Liberia, I'm really going to have to be focused on writing my thesis. As for after that - I'll give you a heads up - no need to ask when I'm home...NO CLUE! Honestly, no clue! I don't plan on coming home unless I get a fabulous job. Am considering taking the US foreign service exam in February but its not high on my list of priorities. Will be applying for jobs all over the Middle East, East and West Africa. Would consider staying in Egypt if I got a good job. That's all I know!

Anyways, hope you're all well and am looking forward to seeing everyone. Really don't know how I'm going to handle the cold as the recent trip to London was a shock to my body and it was a lot "warmer" than it currently is in VT.

Love to all!
D

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