Umm... about last summer

Hi everyone! So... having abandoned my blog half-way through the summer of 2008, I'm picking it up again with serious plans to keep you really updated from here on out, as I travel in New Zealand.

But before that, I wanted to share a brief rundown and pictures of what I've been up to for the past 15 months or so since I stopped keeping this blog. I'm trying to keep it short, so sorry if it's unclear or too full of adjectives and exclamation points! :) Also, for those of you that were following the blog last summer while I was in Africa, I've finally added my photos! They're amazing if I may say so myself - take a look! Unfortunately, the colors seem a bit dull on the blog, but you should get the idea.

After Africa (July/Aug 2008... where the blog left off), I went to England for 10 days to visit some friends I'd known when they were refugees in Mwange Camp, where I worked in 2005 and 2006. They've been resettled to England and I had the most AMAZING time visiting with them for over a week. I couldn't bear to leave and took the last train back to London the night before my plane left England! I feel so lucky to be friends with these wonderful people!

(Me with Etienne and Berthin in Leeds, England)

(The whole family - and friends - waving goodbye from their living room in Hull, England)

From England, I went to India.

(ya know...)

I spent a week traveling around with my new friend Kerry, who turned out to be a wonderful travel companion. We had a fantastic time visiting Agra, Jaipur and Pushkar, and having many little adventures!

(the ghats of Pushkar, India)

We returned to Delhi after a week and met up with 11 other students and 2 professors from Stanford, and began our seminar on "Gandhi and his Legacy." The 15 of us spent the next 3 weeks in Delhi and Ahmedabad, talking with NGO leaders and activists, Gandhi scholars, and all sorts of amazing people. It was a really incredible personal experience for me. Happy to talk more about it if you're interested.

I had an amazing last year at Stanford. Basics: Totally in love with my house community at Franklin's Tower.

(typical Franklin's Tower family dinner!)

Lots of difficulty with my thesis throughout the year, but it ended up being a wonderful academic experience and felt good in the end. My wonderful thesis community of the Public Service Scholars Program (PSSP) at the Haas Center was one of the best parts.

(PSSP fall retreat!)

I loved activism/volunteering with my wonderful friends and peers in STAND and Plant It: Earth. I spent most of the weekends hanging out, doing little trips, hiking and (let's be honest) doing a lot of homework with my boyfriend Michael, who graduated Stanford in '08 and is now in graduate school at Berkeley, just an hour away.

(one weekend, Mike and I went to SF Opera at the Ballpark!)

I was able to break away for a few weeks in March to go to Peru with my wonderful friend Nora, who was a German exchange student in my high school and has been a great friend ever since. I've visited her in Berlin a few times, but this was our first trip together since New York City when we were seniors in high school in 2000! We had a fantastic time.

(flowers in Arequipa, Peru)

(Hiking in Canyon de Colca at dawn)

(Girls on Taquile Island, Lake Titicaca, Peru)

(Bamboo and dew on the Inca Trail)

(Me and Nora - we got up at 3:30AM and were the first people to Machu Picchu!)

Graduation week was such a whirlwind of activities and last visits and final papers and family visits... totally exhausting! But I was very surprised by how amazing it felt to actually get a diploma and realize I finished!

(Getting ready for the Wacky Walk!)

(I took this shot of Will - friend since freshman year - as commencement began)

(with my thesis advisor and friend Prof. Clay Carson)

I'd hoped to spend a relaxing summer in Colorado Springs, but I ended up traveling all over the US for almost all of it! To start, my mom and I did a roadtrip back from Stanford with all of my stuff, stopping at Sequoia, Death Valley and Zion Nat'l Parks.

(none of the national parks were as wonderful as driving back into Colorado!)

Annie, who's been my best friend since we were 11 years old, got married and I had an amazing time being her bridesmaid.

(Annie and Kevin and the REAL rainbow during the reception!)

Michael came to visit and we camped out for two nights in the Great Sand Dunes! We lost our tent on our way back the 2nd night and wandered around the dunes for hours as night approached... oops!

(our footsteps in the dunes)

I visited my friend Bill - who's been a buddy since freshman year at Stanford - in southwestern Colorado and (pretended to?) help out with his research on Sudden Aspen Decline (SAD).

(a gorgeous grove of aspens that are not suffering from SAD)

We also did some hiking in the San Juans. Lovely!

(Columbines at Sharktooth (?) Trail, San Juans, Colorado)

I went to Tennessee for my cousin Hunter's wedding, and had a super time hanging out with family at the family farm in Athens, TN and with my cousins and longtime friend Therin near Nashville.

(Cousin Madeline, Aunt Lark, and me at the rehearsal dinner in Chattanooga, TN)

(Madeline and me with Great Aunt Helen, age 89, at Hunter's wedding in Ooltewah, TN. Mad and I caught the bouquet, much to the distress of the sorority sister bridesmaids...)

(AMAZING FOOD FROM THE FARM!!!!)

I spent a week on Cape Cod with extended family on my dad's side, and was so happy to catch up with everyone!

(the Bell cousins, sans Audrey)

Then I went to Seattle with Michael's family. Mike, his uncle and I did an amazingly beautiful hike in Olympic National Park and had incredible, sunny weather - in a place that has something like 350 days of rain/cloud a year! We misjudged the mileage, though, and ended up doing 32 miles in 36 hours, or, 22 miles in one day. Haven't decided yet which one sounds more hard core... That part was not an experience I wish to repeat, but the scenery made it a spectacular experience nonetheless.

(me and Mike, day 1)

I then spent a week visiting Michael in Berkeley. We took a long weekend to drive around Sonoma county and do some hiking. I got to stop off and see my friend and former roommate Stephanie, whom I totally love!

My mom and I took a trip to Montana, where we stayed in my uncle's new cabin/ranch. It was totally gorgeous, and all the Lewis and Clark history around there turned out to be extremely interesting.

(old tractor on Uncle Jenk's ranch)

(Bannack, Montana ghost town)

We also stopped by Yellowstone and Grand Teton Nat'l Parks before coming back home.

(I *knew* Yellowstone had, you know, geysers and stuff - but knowing and seeing are 2 different things. So cool!)

(View of Tetons over Colter Bay marina at dusk)

(Me and Mom... and the Tetons)

I'm now visiting my sister at Williams College, and we've been having a great long weekend together. I'll stop back by New York on my way out to visit my grandparents, and then will have one week back in Berkeley seeing Michael before I head out to New Zealand... Finally! I promise to keep you updated!