This summer I am going to Mozambique and Swaziland with my wonderful friend Amelia. In Africa we will be traveling with Amelia's sister who is currently serving in the peace corps in Mozambique so we will be in good hands! A few weeks after returning from Africa I'll be off to Cambodia, where I will be teaching English and Art to HIV/AIDS victims.

Preparing for so much traveling is nerve wracking and anxiety inducing to say the least. I find myself homesick for Oklahoma and the Southwest in general. Today I was talking with a friend here at Colby College who is from a town in Texas only a couple of hours away from OK. We were reminiscing about that part of the US and one of the things he described about the summer there is the fact that the air

conditioner gets turned on so high that you find yourself wearing sweatshirts inside when its 100 degrees outside. I love that.

So, before I look forward and embark on my upcoming journeys, I'd like to take a second to reflect on the beauty of the Southwest.