Every Ending is a New Beginning

The first of the month, my last day of student teaching.

It's been a bitter-sweet day. I had my last two classes today, and I received many cards and gave many hugs and reassurances that everyone was going to be fine when I left. I received an antique telescope as a parting gift from a student, which is probably one of the coolest items I have received ever. Some people reading this blog know that I have a glass jar at home filled with letters, notes, cards, and special items from people I care about. This glass jar with a silver lid provides me with pick-me-ups and reminders of my work, my friends, and my family; it gets me through the day at times. I'm pleased to report that I will have to get a bigger jar when I come home, because I have received some pretty awesome stuff (some of it too big to fit anywhere convenient). I feel loved, and I feel blessed.

In addition to the love from students, I have received some remarkable hospitality from my friends on staff here at Woodstock. Dinner parties, potlucks, tea times, "Community" marathons...it's crazy. It's wonderful. These people are hard to leave.

While I'm obviously sad to be going, I do have an incredible itinerary in front of me for the month of November, and I can't wait to get started! Because there is safety in numbers and I want people to be able to know where I am, here are my destinations:

Nov. 4-8: New Delhi and Agra
8-18: Rajasthan (Jaipur, Pushkar, Jodhpur, Udaipur)
19-22: Mumbai
22-26: Goa
26-29: Hampi
29-30: Bangalore
30: KLM Bangalore => New Delhi => Amsterdam => Minneapolis

This month promises to be eye-opening, mind-blowing, totally exhausting, and incredibly exciting.

Let's go.