Five days and I'm off again. This time it is to Colombia where I'll be fulfilling a promise to work with two children's/women's charities, lending a hand on a political campaign (for a candidate I actually believe in) and generally keeping my father company. In the meantime, I am working to make sure that everything is in place for my return to London on 1 September: organizing 'Take the Lead' materials and ensuring that contacts are in place for my fieldwork research.
I'm an old pro at packing up and leaving and have developed something of a jet-set lifestyle in the last few years, but I have to admit that the thought of being away from London for a month makes me a little sad. So there you go, Tom was right when he insisted (against my best protests) that I would come to love the 'Big Smoke.' Though, I maintain that the reasons are not those he anticipated. I've found a fantastic church, have made some wonderful new friends and reconnected with some old ones, and more than anything I have discovered a passion for this place, for its brokenness and for the hope and the beauty that are found on its streets. I love the people I live with (how could you not love 'kitchen floor theology' and garden read-ins), am blessed by those I interact with, and am invigorated by the opportunities before me. For the first time in a very long time, I feel at home-- in my own skin and in my world. So, it's only one month, but I can't help thinking that I don't want to miss a moment...
