I Decided to Come Back from Spring Break.

The SMC group lunching at Fort Sumter.

It's been an active few weeks for this student-blogger, so in the words of Lil Wayne, sorry for the wait.

Like I briefly mentioned last time, I spent my spring break week in Charleston, SC kayaking with other SMC students thanks to the Wilderness Program. At that point warm weather days for us had been few and far between, so even the buggy south was a nice reprieve from the frigid north. The weather was beautiful, the kayaking memorable, and it was a nice way to wave au revoir to my time as a student-instructor in the WP. As I write this now graduation day gets even closer, which is a source of relief (and just a bit of stress).

Since I presented my thesis research last Tuesday, March 31, the week after spring break was spent heavily on working out the remaining details of my project. I still have yet to write the paper, but once I do the rest of the semester will be (relatively) smoother sailing until the end.

A dragon statue in the desert near Anza Borrego.

More importantly, however, than spring break or my thesis is the voyage I took to LA for an extended Easter weekend. I got out here last Tuesday night (I flew out of BTV mere hours after presenting my thesis), and will board a plane to return tonight around 10.45. I spent the trip visiting with my boyfriend Trevor, who graduated from Saint Mike's last May. He's been out here doing a year of service with the LA EUIP program, through which he interns at an Environmental Charter School in the city. It's been a year of long distance, so a reunion was overdue to say the least.

We spent the week visiting the desert with Trevor's parents, who were still in town at the time. We've also been to the beach, spent time with people who've been part of Trevor's community this year, and eaten so much delicious food. Imagine a city filled with every 'Little [insert country name]' you can think of, and you're darn close to an accurate representation of Los Angeles' culinary scene.

Unfortunately, I return to the airport (and reality) this evening, but the last few weeks of my final semester have much to look forward to. P-Day, Saint Mikes' spring festival, is coming up, I plan to see Guster at Higher Ground with my friend Bri at the end of the month, and soon enough I'll be finished with homework and projects well into the foreseeable future. After graduation, I'm traveling to South Dakota for a final extended service trip with MOVE. After that, I'm moving to San Diego to work in a kayak shop. A spring of lasts, but with an eye on a summer of firsts.

Until next time, and thanks for reading.