Hey Everybody!
It's Thursday night and instead of scavenging our snack totes for food we find ourselves here, reflecting on the past 24 hours as well as the entirety of our week here (By the way, PASTA FOR DINNER!!). Last night, we stood at the highest point of West Virginia at Spruce Knob under the navigation and direction of mountain-mama Casey. As the sun fell beneath the horizon and the last few rays glittered onto us, we felt successful. After all, it only took us 1 hour and 30 minutes & two gallons of sweat to summit the peak. Thankfully, we lazy kids received a ride back to Ulan Bator (the main yurt) and spent the last few hours of the night reflecting on our day by way of zen meditation (thanks to Nic) and fun games (thanks to Dan). However, we soon succumbed to exhaustion and headed to bed.
This morning, we mountaineers slept in and sluggishly scavenged the breakfast totes for the remaining food. We finally met the mysterious Charlie (who is a woman) and learned to nature journal. Though we worked hard, the day flew because we knew it was the last night at TMI. We are excited to return to Naz, but it is bittersweet knowing that we have to leave this beautiful place.
Quinton: Well, the week is almost over and I know I'm going to miss this place. The mounatains are so gorgeous and the weather has been fantastic (to think, I was nervous about being too cold). This trip has been an AMAZING experience and I feel as though all of us here have become a family.
Farzona: It was so exciting to come here because I really miss nature because back home we have a lot of mountains and I was missing it. I made really new, AWESOME friends, had fun, shared my culture, and learned about service work in America. This week has been wonderful, but I miss Naz a little bit. Ho-ho :)
Katie: For me, the week began with a little bit of uncertainty; I was unaware on what to expect, learn, and who I was going to be sharing the experience with. However, TMI is the type of place that enlightens you on such concerns almost instantly. The work was fulfilling, West Virginia is beautiful, and the people here are wonderful. It is also important to note that Hawthorn trees are KILLER. Anyways...The experience itself was an ephemeral one, but I know that its lessons will be everlasting inside of me. Peace out.
Love the photo! All of the wonderful Peter Pan shadows and the fantastic journey you have documented, can't wait to hear the details. Please leave the sticky things with bugs behind, Pop-tart (Boy). Hope you all plan a show and tell with pics for us parents and friends who are so very proud of all of you for doing something good with this break!Naz "do good things" crew sounds like they will return tired and content. Congratulations on a great trip and a job well done!
Posted by: Shelly Carmel | 03/15/2012 at 10:45 PM