The world is changing (200 Days!!)

Guess what came in the mail!?


If you guessed my passport, then you would be correct! Yes! My passport got here today! The first small increment of time I set for myself has finally come to end. I feel like I should celebrate in some way. In all honesty, I have been more than a little impatient for it to arrive. I have compulsively been logging in to my blog, desperately wanting something, anything, to write about, but I only end up looking at the pictures of the Economy rooms and finding my own misspellings and typos. But today, I got my passport! It is the first step on a long road to getting ready for SAS. I really look forward to filling up the pages of the passport with the future adventures I will have.

With my passport the helpful folks at the passport place sent me a little leaflet that says 'With your U.S. passport the world is yours!' and, as corny as that little phrase is, I am really beginning feel that way, both about my education and, naturally, my new passport. I'm really beginning to feel like I am standing on the edge of becoming the person that I want to be and that Semester at Sea is going to be the event that pushes me into who I want to be for the rest of my life.

Wow. This got to be a mushy, public service announce-y entry. Oh well.

In other news, I have been watching the events in Egypt unfold with rapt attention. I am in awe of the courage of the Egyptian people. I have always loved Egypt. I was taken at a very young age to the Denver Museum of Natural History to see a King Tut exhibit, and as I gazed at the mummies and golden tombs I was hooked by the terror and mystery. I have always been fascinated by the histories of ancient Egypt, and the sheer volume of their history. And now, as they throw off the shackles of an oppressive regime, I get to watch and read along. The fact that something of this magnitude is happening in a country that I have adored since my childhood in my lifetime, I feel as though this is another defining moment in my young adult life (if not for the entire world).

It has become clear to me, now more than ever, we need to be citizens not just of our home countries, but of the world. Watching what is happening in Egypt on television and reading about it in the news has really re enforced my view that global education is going to make a difference in the world.

The world is changing, and I intend to help be the cause for that change. In my own small way, I am standing for the people of Egypt. I'm rooting for you, Egyptians. Thank you for being an inspiration in a world that needs your voice.