Summer of 2005....

Can you 'spot' me in this photo?

This was how I spent my summer of 2005 in the United States. Photo was taken with my co-Fulbrighters before we sailed off to our canoeing activity (my first!) at the Saluda River in South Carolina. Imagine 18 different nationalities living together for 6 weeks and exchanging not just knowledge and ideas on US Foreign Policy but sharing respective cultures and identities! This was one of the best moments of my life and perhaps the highlight of my life as a 'single' person. ;-)

At the end of the program, we realized that despite our cultural differences, we share universal values of love, peace, and unity.

The above photo depicts our first outdoor activity on the first Saturday of our 6-week program on the Study of the U.S. Institutes on U.S. Foreign Policy hosted by the Walker Institute of International Studies, University of South Carolina. Our Brazilian colleague, Flavio, was not in this photo... we were also joined by American staff members of our Program.

Reminiscing my three years of friendship with these wonderful people, I dedicate this blog post to these friends and colleagues I dearly miss!

I hope to cross paths with you all again. :)