Leaving On A Jet Plane

Well, Shane and Erika are currently on a plane, on their way to Europe. Soon, I will also be on a plane, on my way to Europe as well. We're not going to the same place, however. Nor for the same reasons. They are going for purely selfish reasons, while I am going to help people. I am going to be in Frankfurt for a few days at the end of the trip, however, and it is possible that I might see them there.

My plane leaves in approximately 8 hours. I am, at last, all packed. I decided to pack very light this time. I'm only taking one bag and my carry on. Hopefully I am not underpacked. Once I'm there, however, there's not much that can be done about it. I have packed a few extra items of clothing in my carry on, because luggage occasionally tends to get lost on its way to Kosovo.

This is my second time going to Kosovo, and I'm pretty excited about it. Last time I was there, in the summer of 2001, I was involved in the construction of a medical clinic in the small village of Semitisht. The project this time is a little bit different.

This year we will be working in the city of Suva Reka, assisting with the establishment of an English language institute. The University system in Kosovo is extremely corrupt and students are often only admitted after paying a series of bribes. As a result, many of the poorer students are unable to gain admittance to a university.

World Servants, an organization based in Minnesota, has been working closely with the leaders in the city of Suva Reka in order to establish an institute where these poorer students can receive some form of post-secondary education. Our team from Lake Avenue will be assisting with this endeavor this summer. Our goal for this year is to complete the construction and refurbishing of several classrooms that will be used for this purpose.

I'm sitting here looking at my big ugly brown bag that has been with me on several trips. This bag has gone with me as I have backpacked across Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France, wandered through the United Kingdom, served as a camp counselor in New Zealand, passed through Albania, helped build the aforementioned clinic in Kosovo, and had more fun than a person has a right to at Oktoberfest in Munich. The bag is looking somewhat worse for all the wear, and something tells me that this might be the bag's last trip. Most of the straps are broken, the zippers quite often get stuck, and it is quite dirty, even after having been washed several times. Obviously, this ugly brown bag holds a great deal of sentimental value. I guess I'd better make its last trip a good one.