Yesterday marked the end of one month since the start of our program and our arrival in Tahiti. Perhaps unrelated, but serendipitously, it was also the start of a free, three-day weekend for us students; the first large chunk of time we had completely at our disposal. It was also the first day of what was predicted to be a week-long monsoon... Aka: rain, and lots of it.

My family and friends would be able to tell you that, in general, I am not a super spontaneous person. I like plans. I like check lists. I like knowing what I'm getting myself into. So it was a shock even to myself when I decided Saturday morning, spur of the moment, to "get out of town" for a few days. In the course of two hours, I had booked a bungalow, packed my bags, and headed out for the bus to the far end of the island. My destination? Teahupoo: the small community famous for its breathtaking surf break. For me, however, it was the quiet remoteness that drew me to it. The beach at Teahupoo is literally at the end of the road; to go any further around the island requires a boat.

Getting to Teahupoo, I found out along the way, is a little more difficult than one might expect, especially as an obviously-foreign, car-less student with very broken French. Thanks to a compassionate French couple who gave me a ride to Papeete, and a kind local bus driver who literally kicked me off the bus in front of my bed & breakfast, I made it safely to Teahupoo several hours later.

"Four weeks!" I thought to myself as I sat looking out my bungalow window over the ocean. The rain poured down outside, and the ocean waves looked angry as they hurtled themselves upon the reef. I could almost hear them crashing behind the howl of the wind and the pounding of the rain on the roof.

A lot has happened in four short weeks... So many lessons learned and memories made. And despite my best intentions, I saw how I had devoted so much energy to experiencing and adventuring, that I had left so little to processing and reflecting. There is no way on earth someone could go through the last four weeks with us and not come out the other side different. I don't know that I have any answers, in fact I'm pretty sure I have exponentially more questions every day. But I think there is something to be said for knowing what it is that you don't know. Sure, it may be frustrating and worrisome to have your perceptions challenged and your expectations proved wrong---it's never easy to look critically at yourself, your culture, your priorities, your world view and see the flaws---but without that reflection, that critical self-assessment, that awareness of all that you don't know, how would you ever move forward? When I'm comfortable and confident that I've got everything figured out, I have no reason to challenge myself or to push my boundaries. In the discomfort of recognizing all my questions, I am driven to pursue answers.

So four weeks in, I'm trying to stop; to take the time to ask questions; to see that part of being a student is admitting that you have so much to learn; to be grateful for all that we have seen and experienced so far.

I apologize that this post is so different from all the others, (uncharacteristically philosophical for me :) but today is a free Sunday, and a rainy one at that, so if there was ever a time, it's now.