Hey there, stranger. I sincerely apologize for the long break from my writing; it’s been about eight months since you’ve heard from me. I just wanted to quickly hop on here to give you an update and explain my extended absence.
I am back in the United States; I flew into Grand Rapids a couple weeks ago, thus completing the international travel portion of my graduate degree. I was in Montréal from January through April. Our cohort spent about ten days in Bogotá in April, then we spent the entire month of May in India, traveling from Mumbai to Hampi to Bangalore to Jaipur to New Delhi. The original plan was to spend ten days in Mumbai, ten days in New Delhi, and then ten days in Beijing, but China required two-week quarantines for all international arrivals, so that was no longer feasible. After India, we arrived in Milan and I spent the first two weeks of June bouncing around northern Italy – Como, Florence, Venice – before settling in Bologna for a month, where I finished my course-required writings. Then I embarked on a two-week solo trip through Europe I planned for myself, seeing Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris. I am spending the month of August writing my thesis, and, once that is submitted, I will have completed my master’s degree! I expect to return to work in September and will find a new home later this fall.
The reason you haven’t heard from me in so long is because, frankly, it became too much work to maintain my blog while fulfilling all my school obligations. The rigor and pace of schoolwork in Montréal was much more demanding than Dallas, and, once we started our international travel, there was no time to sit and write something thoughtful. Although I had to take a break from my blog, I have flourished as a student and I’m very proud of everything I’ve accomplished to date. Once I finish my thesis, I promise I will post new entries here. I will summarize each portion of the MMIAM travel-studies, and I have a few more specific topics I want to write about.
Thank you all for your patience and understanding. There is so much I want to say and so little time to say it. But you will hear more from me soon.
My MMIAM Journey 