Last night I got to talk to Liana on the phone and it made me very, very happy.

Sometimes, it doesn't help to try to go back and retell everything that you've done "since the last time you wrote" but, I'll try to do it in the quickest possible way:

1. We went to hear Ben Rogers from Christian Solidarity Worldwide speak in D.C., it was very interesting and good. He spoke quite a bit about what the situation is in Pakistan and Burma. (1/10)
2. I got to go to a conference in D.C. called living and loving your neighbour in the city. It was really cool to meet some interesting people and have some encouraging talks. (1/11-12)
3. I got to hang out with Nathan, we went to church, saw Melody Blanchard, and then drove home to the Eastern Shore, MD. (1/13)
4. We were honored to have Francis Collins (who was/is in charge of the Human Genome Project) come have dinner with us (which I got to prepare) and speak to us about faith and Science. (1/14)
5. We had Peter Flannigan who was an investment banker in NY come speak to us about education reform particularly in NYC. (1/15)
6. I got to go with part of the group to a panel/lecture about current affairs in Latin America. The speakers were a former Ambassador to Brazil and a current Foreign Service Officer (I have not heard a more dynamic speaker in a very long time! It made me want to join the State Department). (1/17)
7. We had a guest speaker Ashley Berner who came and spoke to us about Religious Education in the UK and the US. The thoughts and insights that she had were very interesting. (1/19)
8. Some of us went to volunteer to do inventory at a little independent bookstore in town. It was a long job but it was kind of fun! (1/21)
9. We had a "silence & solitude" day where we tried to spend most of the day reading, praying, reflecting. . . (1/22)
10. All this time we've had class but it's too much to mention. A handful of us went Ice Skating this day. (1/23)
11. We had a "life together" meeting. The Hutcheson's (friends of the Academy) came to speak to us and took us all out for dinner. It was incredible. (1/24)
12. I worked this weekend which was real nice. I also watched two movies "Once" and "The Lives of Others" (I liked them both but the German film "The Lives of Others" was really good). (1/25-27)
13. This week we've focused mostly on prepping our research projects and getting ready for Alumni weekend that starts today.
    
14. We are going to be cooking for approximately 80 people this weekend. It's pretty crazy. I'm excited for the challenge and the sense of accomplishment that comes when you do something big like this.
    
15. I have to get back to work!