Summer Work

In three days I am leaving on an odyssey to Tajikistan. Much like the great wanderer, I will make a few unavoidable stops on the trip to Dushanbe. Wednesday May 12th will mark the commencement of my travels with a pit stop in Tennessee. My Motherland if you will. It will be short and certainly not an actual exposure to the people or culture but is perhaps more of a homecoming than any other leg of the trip. The following night, I will transform into a foreign and international setting among alien residents. Amsterdam will be my first stop on the opposing side of the Atlantic. Hopefully, I will be met by friends. Talitha Van Den berg and Molly Andrews. If I am lucky enough, Hilde and Vivianne will be there too. I do not assume such great fortune but I will be happy with a familiar face. From there, I will make my way to Istanbul, Turkey and my first place of temporary residence. No familiar tongues, exciting surroundings, and caution. After my stay, I will finally make my way to Dushanbe Tajikistan. My practicum Mecca for the summer. Working for Silk Road Science and Engineering as a project developer for next years water and sanitation project, I will seek to find the voices of the local community and harmonize them into a single comprehensible manifestation for next year. I hope to take surface water samples for heavy metals and pesticides to process when I return to New Orleans. Until Wednesday, I am packed and anxious to rejoin the world in wanderlust for something greater than myself.