Thinking a lot about my upcoming trip to Chile. I leave a week from this Friday on the 29th, which is coming on really fast. I've decided to not think about any logistics or packing until Sunday, and just enjoy the peace until then.
I don't think I've ever felt as deserving of a summer break as I do now, which I think is a very good sign that Valpo is a good school for me. I got involved in a lot during the year, and stuck my toes in a lot of activities. I found a lot of things that kept me busy that I'm stepping up next year like the Torch (school newspaper) and the Social Action Leadership Team. I got super lucky and landed the photo editor position for next year. The last week I've done a really good job of taking things slowly, and just relaxing. During Christmas break I went nuts trying to see as many people as possible and I just got myself exhausted really fast. Recently I've been reminded by some friends of the importance of enjoying everyday life, and relaxing our focus on the future and ideas like "I'll be happy when I achieve x." It's important to have those aspirations, but not to get so caught up in them that they are the only place we find happiness.
Back to Chile:
Here's an image from Google Maps that show's where the YMCA I'll be staying and volunteering at is. Valparaiso, Chile is a port city in central Chile and is neighboring the beautiful Viña del Mar. Valparaiso is also about 1 hour from the Capital, Santiago, and 3 hours from the foot of the Andes mountains (where I hope to hike and ski). Chile has one of the most stable and model economies in South America, many thanks to President Aylwin in 1990, and the current president Michelle Bachelet (the first female president in Chile).
The main piece of preparation I've done is email my friends to set up some accountability for the trip. Being my first time out of the country in a different culture with a language I am not yet fluent in for two months I wanted to have some people checking in on me and how my relationship with God is, my emotions, and the cohesiveness of the group. I'm pretty excited for how effective the emails I'll get will be. I have really solid friends, and I think having them ask me some deeper than usual questions will help to motivate me to write my thoughts down.
Made it home in 15 hours. We started at 5AM and made it back at 9PM. I went with two other people so it only costed us about $60 each with tolls. It was really great to drive back and see the slow but drastic change in terrain. Upstate New York is really cool, and the trees were awesome.
I slept in today, went for a run, and then saw some friends in Medford and watched the Celtics game at the Summer Shack in Cambridge. They have awesome grilled cheese and the game was good until the 4th quarter when we blew it and lost by a few. At one point in the game, Alston, a Magic player was so happy he got a call that he kissed one of the refs, turns out he got suspended after!
It's good to be home, but I'm thinking a lot about my friends at school and the people (especially seniors) in SALT! Chile's on my mind too, so I've definitely got a lot to be thinking about and mentally preparing for.
I just caved and got a Twitter account, so we'll see if it consumes my life or not hahaha. 
"And I so hate consequences
And running from you is what my best defense is"
-Relient K
So I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, even though I've finished off 3 of my 4 finals. Before we discuss Macro Economy I'l follow up on the run: Kyle, Austin, and I tied for third, behind two runners on the track team, coming in at 22:05, 7:12 minute miles.
Back to now though, I'm thinking of Economy. I've elected to take the final with the Monday section instead of Tuesday so I don't have it hanging over me, but that all depends on how much I get done between now and tomorrow afternoon. I haven't looked over any of the review sheets, and I have no idea how prepared or unprepared I am. I think I have about a B+ in the class, maybe if I go check on that it'll help me get motivated. Even writing this is getting me a little more ready, so that's good news.
I'm sure it's super exciting to be reading another age old lament of procrastination, so I'll just end this now and get to studying.
Tomorrow morning is the Social Action Leadership Team's 5k to raise money for a sustainable well in China. I'm pretty pumped. Running has become more and more enjoyable for me since I came to college. My best time is 21:58, on Thanksgiving break, so we'll see how tomorrow goes.
It's also the last weekend before finals, which don't start until Thursday (we still have class on Monday and Tuesday), so I'm pretty excited to be done with my first year of school and on to the summer. I leave for Chile exactly a month from today, so I'm pretty exhilarated for that too. It's kind of crazy how fast this year has gone, and how little time I'll be home before going to Chile, so I hope to have a lot of peaceful, slow days this summer.
I signed up for classes this week and I had a little extra room so I decided to take first semester Greek. I'm really interested in learning how to read the bible in it's original Greek, and I've been you can start to do that after two semesters. It will also leave my options open for adjustments I may make to my major in the future.
My class list:
Greek 101
Hispanic Literature
Political Developing States: Latin America
Comparative Economic Systems
Theology: The Christian Tradition
That's 17 credits, pretty manageable, I hope. Plus I will also get an additional credit because I'm working with the Torch (the school newspaper) next year.
Listening to: God of This City, by Chris Tomlin
It reminds me of going to Passion Boston: http://www.268generation.com/2.0/splash2.htm
