Well, so here I am back home, after a 24 hour epic journey which involved pushing my luggage trolley at full speed through a very crowded Heathrow Terminal 3, where I had to check in for my connecting flight between London and KL. Still, the pertinent point is that I'm back home in one piece, not to mention that my luggage managed to avoid an unwanted round-the-world odyssey that I feared would happen. Physically, I may be in one piece, but considering I have had little more than 3 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours, mentally I'm not quite together.

The past 10 weeks in the States have been, probably, the happiest time in my life. Not because of the US as a nation...staying there has opened my mind, and dispelled a lot of illusions I might have had about the country prior to going there. It's a great country to live in...if you can tolerate the fact that the high quality of living is built on the back of the downtrodden both within the country and (mostly) without. It was also not because of Baltimore as a city...it's a pretty dull city to be honest, and apparently the 2nd most dangerous city in the US. The Hopkins campus is pretty pleasant, but I can't imagine living there all year.

Here's the reasons those 10 weeks will be a long-cherished memory (in no particular order): Rafael, Esteban, Miguel, Gara, Bess, Marie, Raquel, Scott, Bonnie, Cheri, Olaide, Tom and Mel. I will never forget the fun that we've had in that time. It's probably the first time I've met so many people of my age group whom I can both get along with and share a common passion in science.

I also loved the freedom that I got from earning my own money, and having the freedom to lead my own life. When I'm in London, I'm fairly stingy because it's my parents' money I'm spending, so having my own paycheque was liberating. I traveled quite a lot, to DC, NYC, and Philadelphia, and all that opened my eyes immensely and well as being great fun in the company of my friends.

It's been great. Adios STScI SSP 2004.