Let the countdown begin. I had a moment Tuesday when I realized that I have only have two more days of tutoring left, 1 more week of day camp, and two more Sundays at East End. This summer has seemed to go by so much more quickly than last summer! As I thought about leaving Church Hill, East End, CHAT, the kids, my host family, my neighbors, and all my friends here, I almost panicked. This fall I am going to be studying abroad in Istanbul, Turkey, so once the internship is over I probably won't be back until mid-January. It's hard to leave a place I love so much and where I feel so loved to go to someplace I have never been before, I don't speak the language, and the closest person I know will be five hours away. When I moved to Italy after high school, it was a similar situation- a great unknown with the only certainty being a huge language barrier. While it might sound crazy, I love those first few days- when you have no idea what's going on, when everything is new and strange, and everywhere you look there is potential. This is my bread and butter- I can't wait for that first week of classes of Koç University. And yet I feel my heart being tugged by everyone I love here in Church Hill. Thankfully I'll be back in just a few months!
I am curious to see how my experiences this summer and my time studying abroad impact and influence how I think about both of them. They're pretty different- helping run a day camp in inner city Richmond and studying art history and Turkish in Istanbul. I wonder what it will be like to be at this small wealthy private university (sounds a little bit like UR, hmmm....) on a hill top by the Bosporus. I know I'm going to see things differently because of my experiences this summer. While I'm excited and yes, a little apprehensive, about my semester abroad, I want to make sure that I continue to focus on where I am now. So here's a quick and by no means inclusive list of things I'm grateful for this summer...
-Community wide parties: block parties, birthday parties, cook outs, yay!
- Care packages from home, including homemade strawberry jam, english muffins, fiber bars, and Japanese plum vinegar (still haven't figured out what I'm supposed to do with that). I love my mom.
- Laundry drying on the line outside
- Getting bike grease all over myself while I try and fix my bike
- Sprinklers, gatorade, and kickball (see Will's blog post)
- Catching up with good friends over a delicious chicken sandwich at Capt. Buzzy's.
- Getting a big hug from Chanan this morning
- Dad helping me talk through my finances
- Volleyball down by the river
- Hanging out on the sidewalk with friends
- The bounty of fresh summer produce and even better, sharing it with friends and neighbors
- Lawson and Romesh's generosity- I swear every time I come home, Romesh asks me, "Have you eaten yet?" no matter if they had dinner hours before
- Popsicles, sno-cones, and ice cream
- Kids stopping by all Saturday and getting to hang out with them outside of the normal CHAT activities
