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Supriya recently returned to the United States after spending a year abroad in Israel. I didn’t know all that much about the history behind the political and social conflict of that area, but Supriya did an admirable job explaining it to me. I wonder if there ever will be peace in the Middle East. There is so much anger, animosity, and distrust that has been built up over the years. It’s being ingrained into the minds of the children. It’s the children that need to forget the sins of their father to bring about a better tomorrow.

Over steamed salmon and snow peas, we talked about the more pleasant aspects of her year in Israel. I spoke about my desire to travel around the world for a year, providing her a country by country itinerary. One of the great things about having sold my software is that I’ve made great contacts with folks around the world. The world is certainly a smaller place when you have customers in over 22 countries. If I do take a year off to travel, I’ll be sure to contact a number of people with whom I’ve stayed in contact over the years. Assuming they still remember me, it’ll be great to meet the people behind the emails!

I haven’t been taking that many pictures the past few days, primarily because my 1GB MicroDrive is completely full from my shooting in Minnesota this past weekend. Four days, 750 shots. That’s roughly equivalent to 21 rolls of 36 exposure film ranging from ISO100 to ISO800. I don’t even want to know what the developing costs would be like for 21 rolls of color negative film!

I’ll cover more in my official photojournal of the wedding in Minnesota, but I did want to say that I really enjoyed my time out there. I arrived in MN with relatively low expectations of the place. After all, it was Minnesota, not Paris or anything like that! I was, however, pleasantly surprised at the beautiful flatness to the state, the farm houses and silos, the dusty country roads. It had the feel of an All-American city, the kind of that I think of when I think, “Heartland of America.” Having grown up in the suburbs of San Diego, I don’t know what growing up in the country must feel like, but it must have been fun.

Supriya’s off to Law School in D.C. this coming Friday. We’ve known each other since our time in Paris, France while students at Stanford. Leaving everything behind, friends, family, familiarity, and the Internet, she entered a whole new world for the past year. Now she’s back — perhaps changed from the experience — certainly wiser and more knowledgeable than if she stayed in the States for that year. I can only wonder what changes would occur to me if I left for a year to explore, adventure, and document. I can’t wait for the opportunity to present itself.