So… I just wrote this somewhat poetic, very inspired-sounding post and nearly finished it before realizing it sounded nothing like me and I should really write in a much more open fashion. Let’s do this. If I can be entirely honest, on the night before leaving on this trip (I’m considering the start of my trip Friday, March 5, because that’s when I left UC) I had a huge emotional breakdown and essentially did not want to go on this trip at all. My dad had driven from home to bring me my backpack, and seeing him made me extremely homesick, something that hasn’t happened in all of 3.5 semesters of college. Among the reasons for not wanting to come were exhaustion from school, not wanting to spend more money, huge desire to go home (so unlike me), and other stressors. It would be a huge simplification to say that I’m happy I came anyway. In doing this program, I’ve realized that the impact we can make stretches farther than just doing the hands-on work of building. This importance became clearer just a few minutes ago, when I was telling my roommate about the trip. Without going into details, her general feeling is that the flooding and damage that resulted from Katrina is a non-issue and that the city itself shouldn’t exist. As we all know, the city and storm are more complex than that. And for the sappy stuff - I feel like I walked away from this week with a group of friends. I don’t know what more I can say on this… I love you guys and really just had a great time. Thank you for accepting me into the group and answering my frequently silly questions. I had a great time and learned so much. With much love, Sara