Pittsburgh, the beach, vacation . . .

I am writing this post as I look out at the Atlantic Ocean at our beach cottage for the week here at Emerald Isle, North Carolina. It is a family favorite spot that we have been coming as long as i have been alive (seriously). In fact there still exists a phone booth where apparently the rest of the family found out about my birth some 28 years ago.

Earlier this week I visited Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, the seminary I am seriously considering attending. I stayed with my friends Chris and Eileen who live in Pittsburgh (Chris just graduated from PTS). They did a fabulous job showing me around and were very hospitable. After visiting this seminary, I have to say I'm quite excited and I would say Pittsburgh is solidly my first choice. My meeting with the Dean and Missions Director put to rest any doubts I may have had and assured me that engineers and scientists can do just fine in a seminary environment where more of the people have a liberal arts background.

I also had the opportunity to visit the ITeams headquarters in Chicago on Wednesday during a long 6 hour layover. It was so great to see everyone and I forget sometimes just how friendly and helpful the people there are. They enjoyed seeing me and getting updates on how things are going in Bolivia and of course with Lidia too.

And now, I've reached the best part of my vacation - some R&R with my family at the beach. For me it is much needed as this has been a very stressful spring in Trinidad for the folks at La Palmera. And for me too. It feels good to be back on American soil even if it is for just a brief time, but I am also looking forward to heading back on Saturday night and being back with everyone again in about 10 days.