Blog for my Loewenstern Fellowship

Hello readers!

I just wanted to let you all know that I have a second blog, specifically for my Loewenstern International Fellowship. I was recently awarded this Rice University fellowship to pursue a service internship in Nicaragua over the summer of 2016. I will be working with Foundations for Sustainable Development at a family health center in Nancimi (rural Tola), Nicaragua on a sexual and reproductive health education program.

My interest in this fellowship arose from my previous Rice Global Medical Brigades trip to Nicaragua. During my trip I saw the pressing need for sexual reproduction and proper hygiene education for female adolescents. Through the Loewenstern Fellowship, I will have the opportunity to explore these gender-specific issues prevalent in rural areas in Nicaragua more in depth and help develop a sustainable outreach project to educate young girls on basics of reproductive biology, instill safer sex and hygiene practices, and increase their overall self-confidence.

I will be sharing updates from my pre-trip preparation, in-country experiences, and post-trip reflections in this blog. Please feel free to check in there to follow me on my journey!


Best,
Michelle

Reflections on the Rice GMB Nicaragua Trip

To begin this post, I wanted to give a HUGE THANK YOU to my friends, family members, GB staff, fellow brigaders, and club officers who helped make this trip possible. I feel eternally lucky and grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua with my Rice peers and volunteer with Global Brigades. Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who helped contribute to my personal funds and supported my team's efforts. Our trip could not have happened without the support from our donors across the nation. Without their gifts and love, the 888 patients we were able to see and 3 large families we built sanitation units for would not have been served.

Upon reflection of everything I learned about myself and the world whilst on brigade, it is difficult to grasp the fact that I was only there for 9 days. Our hybrid medical, dental, and public-health brigade was unique in several aspects; through this sort of double-sided clinic and construction service approach, we were able to get comprehensive exposure to the health issues we hoped to tackle including an in-depth look into the roots of these problems. Listening to professors' lectures about neglected tropical diseases or reading books about sources of health disparities in the developing world cannot compare to the incredibly eye-opening experience of visiting the insides of low-resourced Nicaraguan family's homes, viewing firsthand their dirt floors teeming with parasites and unsanitary living conditions, and then listening to these community members discussing their symptoms and chronic conditions resulting from these living situations in medical clinic.






This trip greatly reinforced my interests in global medicine and my aspirations to become a doctor. While on brigade, I saw how essential possessing certain skills is to effecting meaningful change. I was challenged and stretched to use my knowledge of the Spanish language to communicate with the patients and utilize the triage vitals-taking skills I learned in EMT class to take vitals signs from massive influxes of patients in short amounts of time. The doctors, pharmacists, and dentists had so much value to the patients who walked miles and miles and waited in long lines for hours in humid, hot and sometimes rainy conditions just to receive their evaluations, medical input and treatments. Shadowing the doctors during consult and seeing their work's impact on the community members' lives was inspiring. I am even more driven now to continue working towards improving and gaining the education that will equip me with the skills and knowledge to make a lasting difference in people's lives.




I found the interactions that I was able to have with the community members to be the central, most valuable component of my experience. It is the humanistic side of medicine that compels me to work towards the career path of a physician. During the brigade, I treasured the opportunities I had to connect with the community and learn about individuals' day-to-day lives, experiences, and dreams for themselves and loved ones. I enjoyed listening their stories, watching their cultural shows, and tasting their food. I was touched that they were so willing to open up their homes and hearts to share bits of their lives to us, and I hope that one day that I can be a doctor that patients can trust to do the same.

I left with a changed perspective on the way I live my own life in the states. Seeing how the people made the best they could out of the little resources they had was heartwarming. It made me reflect on how I should be more appreciative and happy with what I have back home. Back home many of us have so much, but still somehow live in a constantly dissatisfied and unhappy manner. This trip made me step back and look at my life and what I need to change to lead a more happy and simple lifestyle.


This trip ultimately left me feeling motivated to continue educating myself and improving my skills to be able to return in the future better equipped to care and provide a source of hope for these people who unfortunately lack the voice and resources that they deserve.

Rice GMB Nicaragua Days 1-3

Rice University Global Medical Brigades: Nicaragua Medical/Dental/Public Health

Today marked the end of the second full day of our brigade. Already the trip has opened my eyes to a different world than I have ever been exposed to before and has shown me the power we all possess to make a lasting difference once we decide to leave our little comfort bubbles.

Thursday Night:

After months of preparation and building excitement for our trip, our team of 32 Rice students landed at the airport in Managua, Nicaragua on Thursday night carrying suitcase after suitcase filled to the brim with medications and medical/dental supplies that the Rice 

community and friends and family back home so graciously helped fund. As soon as we stepped out of the airport, though it was dark, it was evident that we were no longer in Los Estados Unidos. The weather was reasonably warm with a level of humidity comparable to Houston, the urban air smelled like a mix of smog and trash, and some Nicaraguan vagrants approached us speaking in Spanish and aggressively attempted to help us carry our bags to our trucks(the GB security quickly shooed them away).

Since we arrived so late on Friday evening and because our GB compound was located a 2-3 hour drive away, we had the wonderful opportunity to stay in a hotel in Managua that was equipped with nice amenities such as warm water, A/C, a gorgeous central swimming pool, and complimentary Nicaraguan-style breakfast. We stayed in rooms in groups of 3-4 people, and I was able to room with Jodie and Saheba, two very sweet friends.

Friday:

After a nice breakfast (platanos, papas, arroz, judo, etc.) we embarked on our long 2+ hour bus venture to the GB compound located in Estelí, Nicaragua. The long bus ride was a great way for me to see some parts of the country. We traveled from Managua to our compound in Turicentro Estelí and passed through rural stretches as well a few bustling urban areas on the way there. 

In the more populated areas, the streets were full of life. Children dressed in school uniforms shared bikes with each other while husbands zipped their pregnant wives around on mopeds and groups of giggling schoolgirls crossed the streets. We stopped at a gas station for a bathroom break, and the convenience store was packed with kids around our age/ a little younger. The native people look very pretty and healthy here with a range of darker to a more golden light skin tone, big round eyes, and a variety of light and dark full heads of hair. 

Our bus also passed through more rural areas with cows on the sides of the streets and old men carrying bunches of iguanas (?) by their tails. The majority of the people in these areas were seen out and about walking on foot with children playing barefoot around their houses and in their yards.

The GB compound that we get to stay in is quite large and well maintained. The compound is run by in-country staff and everything from food, housing, site leaders, security and drivers is covered by GB. The compound contained learning areas, which I assume are for local children that they bring on to teach about physics, culture, history, mathematics, and more. The compound also contained 3 pools (1 containing water), multiple cabanas, a cafeteria, and a pharmacy area where we sorted our donated medications. 

After we arrived, we ate lunch at the cafeteria and proceed to spend several, several hours packing meds… we opened up hundreds of boxes of medications and counted out pills and tablets and wrote their dosages on them to ensure easy distribution during our clinic days.

It was amazing seeing all of our medications unloaded. It gave a more tangible feel to all the work we put into fundraisers as well as all the donations we received.

Saturday:

Today was the first of our three mobile clinic days. We visited San Gabriel, a rural area hidden amongst rolling mountains The community was located over an hour drive’s worth away from our compound. During the bus ride I was able to see many parts of the community. The poverty was very striking.

Amongst the farmland lay little makeshift wood shacks assembled from fragile looking sticks and wood pieces where it was evident full families lodged. Clothing lines were hung from tree to tree and crowded with small children’s clothes. Stray cats, dogs, and little children ran around barefoot on unpaved floors most likely harboring parasites that could eventually enter their bodies through their feet. Meanwhile mothers carried babies or balanced large bowls containing water or other items on their heads. I have never seen such living conditions in the United States. I could never imagine these large families thriving with so little. 

We set up our clinic in a cleared out community church. When we arrived we were greeted with a surprising scene. The entire little grassy/rocky area in front of the church was packed with community members consisting of mostly women and children with a few elderly men. When we filed out of the bus they stared shyly and curiously at us.

The community was very friendly and gracious towards our brigaders. They had hung up posters reading “WELCOME RICES UNIVERSITY” and even had a small children’s dance performance prepared for us all. During our meet-and-greet, the in-country staff of translators, helpers, and 2 doctors introduced themselves to us and our two American doctors (dr. Helmers and Dr. May introduced themselves to them.

After we finished with the introductions, our brigade began rolling. Our clinic consisted of multiple sections:

- Triage:

Here we took and recorded vitals signs and principal symptoms for the doctors. This involved a lot of patient interaction and Spanish speaking.

- Consultation:

This is where we could shadow both the American and Nicaraguan doctors who evaluated the patients, diagnosed them, and offered them treatments and general lifestyle advice.

- Dental:

At this station, we aided dentists in general check-ups and treatments including extractions and cavity fillings.

- Pharmacy:

Students at this station helped hand out medications and ensure that the community members received the correct written and verbal instructions regarding dosages and storage conditions.

- Charla:

Here students interacted with the several young local children while their parents were waiting for medical services. For this station, our team prepared a hygiene workshop to teach them about proper brushing and flossing, gave them fluoride treatments, and taught them about proper water sanitation.

Today I was lucky enough to work both charla (morning) and consultation (afternoon) stations.

As soon as I began the charka with Olivia H. and Shannon, a beautiful 8-year-old Nicaraguan girl with fair hair and round hazel eyes rushed towards us and gave us each individual kisses on the cheek. Soon after more and more children flocked to us tentatively with reserved but intently interested facial expressions.

The charla was a fantastic way for me to practice my Spanish. While Olivia H. took the lead on narration, I had many additional opportunities to share some of my knowledge, ask the children questions, have them demonstrate brushing/flossing and teach them a few English phrases. They were super cute and well-behaved. I helped the cutest little girl floss her little teeth though they all had huge gaps between them. Better to ingrain good habits sooner than later though! After our dental and water presentations we handed them individual ziplock bags containing a toothbrush, a roll of floss, and travel-sized toothpaste. The kids went crazy attempting to gather as many as they could from us…” Muchacha! Muchacha! Cepillo, cepillo por favor! Para papá, para hermanita en casa.. para abuelo enfermo.” I was corned off by 30 or so hands of children and parents begging for more. It was so interesting seeing all of these people begging for toothbrushes. It crushed my heart because it would never been something you would see in any community in the United States that I have lived in. As Olivia A. mentioned to me later, the children were probably all excited just to have a possession to claim as their own.

After we had gone through our prepared curriculum, we moved on to games. Though the age of the children ranged from more young to older, the older kids were amazingly patient with the younger kids. Additionally all of them were extremely respectful and inclusive towards us. Their manners were much more tame than children I have tutored  back in the states and it was evident that they had grown up with an understood culture of respect towards elders. We taught them “pato pato perro” (duck duck dog), “rojo luz, verde luz” (red light green light), y “Simon dice” (Simon says). In return they shared us some of their most popular games: “gato y paloma (sp?)” (cat and mouse), a complicated group game, as well as “quartel (sp?)”, their version of capture-the-flag requiring piles of rocks to mark sides. Though the children were not at optimum health, they had ceaseless energy and ran us all out under the beating sun. Their bright faces, giggles and teasing faces had all of us brigades on our toes after lunch up until we left for the day.

Lunch was absolutely delicious. The wonderful GB staff packed us individual boxed lunches containing rice, chicken, vegetables, and a sort of special chips, and a mixed fruit punch. It was my favorite meal thus far.

After lunch I was able to pair up with Katie P. to shadow Dr. Thaddeus May, an internal doctor from the Baylor College of Medicine. He spoke impeccable Spanish and was able to communicate directly to the community members during his consultations. I tried my best to follow along and translate general ideas to Katie.

We saw several, several patients. They just kept on coming. Many of them complained of issues affecting multiple systems. Most women complained of back and joint pain, most likely due to carrying heavy items and walking long distances every day. Children complained of headaches, eye aches, vision issues, rashes, diarrhea, and general viral infection related symptoms including sore throat, coughing, fever, and vomiting. We ensured that everyone coming through took anti-parasite medicine. For those exhibiting viral-infection-like symptoms, the doctor prescribed them multivitamins. He also prescribed a lot of Ibuprofen and Tylenol amongst others. I also had the opportunity to see patients coming in with other issues including UTIs, consistent vaginal bleeding, pain in other parts of the body, anemia, and asthma. Others saw cases of renal infection and even tuberculosis. The doctors mentioned later that some of the patients exaggerated and complained of multiple problems in order to receive extra medications to stock up for their families for future cases of illnesses. 

I have shadowed doctors back home, but the experience in Nicaragua was much different than that in the U.S. I found people here to behave in am such more respectful and thankful way to doctors. Though they could talk for a long time in response to questions about their medical history, they did not do so in a negative, pessimistic manner. They consistently smiled and laughed throughout and listened quietly while the doctors gave advice (such as diet changes, breastfeeding tips, etc.). Additionally the number of young mothers here was startling. Most of the mothers we saw were 18-20 years old with 1-3 year old children. In fact, after I told one of the kids my age, she asked me why I didn’t have a little baby. It was strange for me to see girls my age sitting across the table balancing two babies on each knee, living in such different conditions with such huge differences in burdens and roles. Picturing myself in their shoes was too difficult to fathom. 

At the end of the day, we found that our doctors and dentists were able to see a total of 280 patients from the community. It was AMAZING to see our group’s impact. Having a paper total of donation money for meds back at home evolve into actual bags of pills that these hundreds of Nicaraguan people walked home blew my mind. I still am in disbelief at the sheer numbers of people who walked up to 15 miles and waited in long lines all day under the hot sun in order to receive GB medical and dental services. 

Human Echolocation

"The Boy Who Sees Without Eyes"

Goodbye, Friends

Today is July 28th.

My entire summer slipped away right before my eyes. I only have three more days left in my home town before my family departs for vacation in Kauai. Once we arrive home from our trip, I fly out the very next morning for Houston, so these three days will be the last three to see several of my friends before we leave for school.

It still has not truly hit me that I will be done saying good-bye to the friends I have made over the last 18 years in a couple of days. I have been friends with some of these wonderful people since near birth. I have been blessed to have been able to maintain many old friendships as well as develop several more new ones over the last few years in high school. I'll dearly miss them all when we are all miles apart.

Just yesterday I said goodbye to my good friend of a number of years, Naba. Her family has just moved to Saudi Arabia, and she's leaving to spend the rest of summer there before college. She's only one of many of my close friends whose family has moved away from our hometown... It sure is strange driving through the neighborhood and seeing other people's cars parked in my friends' old houses. My whole town is changing before my eyes. I know it's crazy to hope that everything will freeze in time and stay the way I remember it all looked in the past, but I secretly wish for that. Instead, old buildings are being torn down and completely unrecognizable buildings are being constructed in their place. When I return for winter break, I have a feeling I won't be able to recognize my high school due to the major construction that has been/is still going on. Roads are being repaved. The tree outside my house was recently cut down.. my elementary school was just re-painted.. the city's newly revamped library will be done with construction in a few months.. the dirt field on the other side of town will soon be transformed into a bustling shopping center.. half of the stores in the mall by my house will be torn down to make room for new ones.. my acupuncturist will be getting a new office.

One of my closest friends, Annette, is currently doing intense summer physical training at the Westpoint Military Academy in NY. I currently cannot communicate with her via Internet nor phone. I need to send her something via snail mail soon. I don't know when I'll see her next.

Still more friends are spreading all across the country. We are all going our separate ways... following different paths... discovering and carving our own definitions of success..Everyone and everything is changing and moving on. My town. My friends. My family. Me. It's all exciting and frightening at the same time.

I have heard several warning stories from people who say that it is only natural to lose contact/break off with high school friends after college. Some others re-assure me that it is definitely possible to maintain high school friendships and tell me about that their high school friends are some still some of their closest friends even several decades after graduation. I don't know what will happen. I don't know how the natural course of time will change each one of us. I sure hope that I will maintain contact and meet-up with several friends during breaks. Still yet, I hope to embark on insane adventures and exotic trips with a few, fulfilling all the life plans we painted for ourselves during high school (Helena.. Zion spring break, Vietnam next summer, yes. Ahhhh.... oh yes and all of the people I mentioned Forrest Fenn's treasure to..). As much as I hope to have things go according to current plans, I understand that life doesn't work like that. People get busy. People move away. People make new social networks. I understand.

The only promise I can make to others and myself is that I'll always cherish and be thankful for the great memories I've made with friends & family over the past 18 years. Thanks for all of the relationships and great times, everyone. You've all touched my life in some way or another and made my life worth living. When I think of the most rewarding times over the past 18 years, money and red marks on paper don't come to mind. Instead, I think of... cheering on my sister proudly finishing her first lap of freestyle by herself at the other end of the pool.. finding the bottle cap in the preschool sandbox while digging to China with Marissa .. watching my parents laugh and drink from each others' strawberry lemonade glasses during their 25th anniversary dinner.. carelessly jumping from rock to rock on the jetty with Anna after biking back from Santa Monica for the first time.. getting all my friend's college acceptance news via group iMessage.. taking pictures of Annie hugging her teeny puppy (now very large) for the very first time.. running for a high-five with doubles partner Cody during freshman year after a long point.. finishing my butterfly race and seeing Taylin going absolutely crazy freaking out and cheering for me at Bay League Finals... finishing my first lap driving in the parking lot with my dad for the first time...celebrating my grandmother's 80th birthday in the Yosemite National Park, one of her favorite places in the world.. throwing off my graduation cap (symbolically) alongside my classmates.. counting up the $40 third-grade Janet and I (and siblings) made after a long-day's hard work at our lemonade stand.. Nicole and I finally somehow managing to lug a huge tub of sand up from the beach to my car without dying of rib-shattering laughter.. frantically but victoriously running down hotel stairs in Xuzhou with Helena.. finishing another day at the hospital with Naba.. freaking out over our amazing guess of the temperature of the SciOly thermo container with Lauren.. seeing my friends' attempts at cheering me up whenever I was down.. Kellie taking me on a nice walk at the beach on the day I really needed some distraction.. reading Leah's yearbook message about how we both fulfilled a goal during senior year that I predicted we would in her yearbook the previous year ;)... successfully squeezing 6 people into 2 beds during sophomore year... and discreetly and silently getting 6 people out of one window onto the hotel roof.. successfully making it through a long summer of Elite with Annette.. making Sarah happy by taking her to Chipotle on her b-day during a Peter Pan rehearsal break.. finally getting my backhand over the net after a quick badminton lesson with Shawn.. assembling a functioning mini roller coaster model with Annette & Carina for Euro ..Ashley and I putting our hearts and souls into our first Fauver debate.. getting our tennis senior gifts.. standing up onstage amongst classmates/friends at our last China tour concert in Shanghai for our final bow.. getting excited with my boss about another last-minute discovery to add to my research poster the day before my presentation.. harvesting the elementary school garden with Growing Great.. and so, so, SO much more.

Thanks for the memories, everyone. I'll never forget you all. Thanks to modern-day technology-- namely Facebook-- I really won't. I might never see some of you again. But I don't need to see you again to happily reflect on happy shared times of the past. :)

I never got the chance to say my proper good-bye's to many of you, so good-bye.

However, I think it is more much necessary for me to say my proper "thank you"'s. So thank you, all, for making my 18 years of life full of happy moments and learning experiences.

I'll end this post with a couple nice group pictures/ summer highlights.

Hiking in Topanga Canyon (Santa Ynez trial)
Me, Shawn, Kimi, Will, Helena, Naba

Surprising me on my 18th with dim sum.
Kellie, Marissa, Annie, Me, Abby, Leah, Anna

The Bund in Shanghai. The final stop of our China tour.
Annie, Marissa, Taylin, Taryn, Kellie, Anna, Me, Helena

Tl;dr I love you all. Goodbye.

The Collaborative Creativity Project

My good friend, Helena, and I have started this poetry/visual arts blog to exercise the right hemispheres of our brains and laugh our hearts out at the same time.

Please check it out if you have the time :)


http://thecollaborativecreativityproject.blogspot.com/

China Trip: Days 6 - 12 ( A Reflection)

As you probably could have guessed, I got increasingly busy over the second half of the trip.

This post, almost a month later, will be more of a short reflection about the trip rather than a detailed summary of everything that happened.


I had an absolutely AMAZING time. The trip was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was my first time in China, let alone the continent of Asia, and the cultural experience was wonderful. Even though, we did not have much time to truly immerse ourselves in the culture of the country because we were on tour, I felt like I got a good feel of what life is like during my short time there. All the cities we visited were rich, so I did not have many encounters with more poor urban and rural lifestyles, but I did observe some from far away.

It was an interesting experience... looking around and feeling like I fit in with everyone else. Unlike the Caucasians on the trip, I didn't blatantly stand out in crowds. Being outside was definitely different in that regard. It was a welcomed change.

My favorite parts of the trip were definitely the performances, the visits to the more rural, mountainous regions, and the food.

The performances..

The Chinese audience members behaved very differently than Western audiences. They were never able to keep completely silent. If I looked out during the middle of a piece, I would most likely see family members turning to each other and pointing at certain instruments or young children bouncing and clapping their hands or conducting in their seats. Often times, people would switch seats or walk up and down the aisles as well. Mr. Park said their behavior revealed that they were enjoying our concert. They were just enjoying our music in a different way than those in the Western hemisphere. It took a while to get used to, but I completely understand. Their movements and chatting was their way of interacting with the performers onstage, and this interaction was pretty cool. Though back at home, people would take their talking as their lack of attention to what was going on in front of them, I felt as if it revealed their close attention even more.

The meet-and-greets at the end of each concert were great experiences as well. Although most rushed towards the blonde musicians to take pictures with, many were interested in talking with us to learn more about our culture/ language and ourselves as unique individuals. At our last concert at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, I met my favorite audience member, an elderly Chinese lady who excitedly came up to me, shook me, and talked to me in Mandarin. Not understanding one word, I kept on repeating " Sorry, I am an American" in Chinese. She finally understood and talked with her friend who tried translating her praise for me. Finally the lady tried speaking one English phrase she had apparently learned in the past "I love you!". It was very cute, and I was so happy that she enjoyed our performance so much. I was happy that an audience member made a bond with me while watching. Usually when playing in an orchestra you don't get that 1-1 performer-audience bonding. But apparently I finally made a lasting bond during that last concert. I took a picture with her while she attempted to speak some more Chinese to me.

The young audience members were especially cute. After the same concert, I was standing next to Helena. Oh my! We got bombarded with people coming up to take pictures with us. Helena's blonde hair and talented harp skills kept them rushing at us. LOL. One family came up to us and spoke very good English. The father showed Helena an iPhone video that he took during the concert. While Helena was playing her harp solo at the beginning of the Across the Stars piece, his little daughter put on her serious performer face and played an air harp in her seat, intently trying to copy Helena. It was the cutest thing ever!

Performing for the Chinese was just another reminder that music trumps so many differences that plague society. Our orchestra was able to overcome the language barriers and interact with the audience the same way we are able to communicate with our audiences at home.

The venues were all very modern and impressive. It was an honor playing in all of them, especially the last concert hall in Shanghai, which was architecturally amazing in the exterior and interior.

The visits to the more rural parts..

I especially enjoyed our time in Hangzhou which included the visit to the tea house and Westlake. My grandmother was born in Hangzhou by the lake, at a time when the city was much less industrialized and full of construction and overwhelmed with the busy urban lifestyle found in Shanghai. The scenery was gorgeous and looking out into the little boats on the water helped me imagine how simple life was in the past when residents were more in-tune and connected with their natural surroundings.

Suzhou was also gorgeous..

The food..

OH Gosh. I legitimately gained weight on this trip. I ate too much at EVERY single meal. Each hotel breakfast had a very nice selection of dim sum dishes as well as soups, porridges, and noodles... And each lunch and dinner (minus the fast food quick performance dinners) oh my. Family style with SO SO MANY dishes and options. I scarfed down each meal as if I hadn't eaten in days. 

I almost forgot. I loved the people too!!!

I am so happy I got to experience this trip with some of my closest friends. The trip would have not been the same without them. This trip was an amazing way to celebrate the end of a great four years of high school with some of the greatest people I have hung around with over those four years. 

I didn't have the chance to make any lasting friendships with the locals, but I did befriend our tour guide, Leon (his English name)! His English was fantastic. I was able to ask him questions about Chinese life, especially over the second half of the trip and shared my American experiences as well. He had never left mainland China and was curious about Western life. On the last day he asked for my WeChat, so now we are WeChat buds and have chatted a few times about China and cultural differences.

From left to right: Me, Leon, Helena, and Taylin

There were so many more amazing aspects about the trip, but for the purpose of keeping this post short and reflective, I will have to save them to explain another time.

I'll end with a hearty THANK YOU to everyone involved on the trip. The parent chaperones, the siblings who accompanied the musician students, Mr. Park, the other teachers who came, the tour organizers.. we were definitely a large, tough group to keep in line 24/7. Thanks for everyone's full constant attention to us students. I had the time of my life thanks to the help of all the organizers. All the parents were so attentive to my bug bite/ allergy issues and kept on checking up on how I was doing at every moment of the day. It was nice knowing that they genuinely cared about protecting all of our well-beings, and it was really amazing how they put our needs in front of theirs all the time. I am so thankful for them for creating such a wonderful experience for me and the rest of the students.

I lied. I'm not quite ready to end this post. This trip helped me realize how much I enjoy international traveling and learning more about more cultures... especially my cultural roots (Vietnamese and Chinese). I really hope I can do international service in Vietnam next summer. I hope to also continue learning more languages and improve my Mandarin... I have found out that my suitemates at Rice University are from Nanjing and speak Mandarin, so hopefully I'll learn some more from them! Traveling is a wonderful way to not only learn more about the rest of the world, but more about my own self as well. By traveling, you put yourself in positions that you would never experience in your comfort bubble at home. One of my greatest goals is to travel more.

Until next time, China!