back in action

After wandering through Southeast Asia without internet access (or, in China, access to non-censored internet, including this blog), I'm back in the US. I'm still a bit woozy from the nearly 30 hours of travel; a sense of disorientation that will not wear off anytime soon considering I'm flying out to Seattle tomorrow to visit my newly engaged sis. Strange, to be traveling in the States (toilet paper? air conditioning? no smoking?) and with my parents nonetheless, although I'm looking forward to it. My trip's not all pleasure though--meeting with some professors at U of Washington to discuss PhD options, so I'm actually quite nervous. It's hard to believe that after all that work and anxiety just two years ago, that I'm about to plunge right back in again. That I have no idea where I'll be living or doing this time next year, although I have my dreams. I've caught a bit of a travel bug, that's for sure--both literally and figuratively. Literally, as I'm still sick, after nearly 3 months of chronic GI infections (I never knew there were so many ways to be ill. Forget nutrition as a public health concern in China... I think perhaps they should get soap and sinks outside toilets and consider washing hands before meal preparation before getting to the contents of those meals!) Figuratively as in I've fallen in love with the itinerant lifestyle, and am already daydreaming about my next venture (Argentina next summer, con suerte). In any case, I'm going to backdate all my travel writing and photos on this blog before school starts again, so here goes...