So many things I feel like I want to update about!
First, 10 days until I leave! Wow... it snuck up on  me! This next week and a half will probably have a lot of errand-running and last minute preparations in it!

This week at work I was helping out one of the engineers finish up a project in Egypt they did this summer. I was given a SketchUp model drawn by the team's structural engineer of the structural system of this theater/music studio building. My job was to redraw the structural grid plans in CAD. Other than the fact that I don't know all the technicalities of drawing a structural grid, it was quite the project because the SketchUp model was in inches, my CAD drawing was in millimeters. And the model's dimensions were slightly off in a lot of places---so all in all, it was quite the learning experience! After asking a lot of questions of the engineers in the office, I finished the grid drawings and we got them sent to the engineer and we're just waiting to get them back with adjustments made! Working on all of these other projects around the office has made me really excited to get started on my main project this term--the one in Sudan! only a couple weeks away!

This week I will be going up to Minturn, CO, (near Vail, in the "high country" as some call it around here) to meet the architect that is coming on our trip to Sudan. He's been on multiple eMi trips before and owns the firm, Blueline Architects, in Minturn. I'm excited to see what his firm is like and start talking about our work in Sudan! I know that week in Sudan will be a crazy challenging week--like a weeklong design charrette-- and I hear the electricity goes in and out a lot! Gotta get an extra battery for my computer! But I can't wait to get back into design and this time something that will be built!

Oh! I also wanted to update with details about my crazy travel schedule. I am super excited because I get to visit so many different eMi offices! The 5 days in Uganda was definitely a surprise addition that I didn't expect, but it will be great because we are going to have our design review in that office. I also have a friend, Brice, from Minneapolis who will be in the Uganda office that week too! I love random encounters with friends abroad! While I'm in Egypt, one of my best friends, Sara, will be visiting Cairo for a week, so I get to spend time with her there too. And then, the stop in the UK office was mostly me asking for an extended layover there so I could visit the team there, and I can't wait! Overall, the month will be full of traveling and new experiences and lots of learning and designing---it'll be great!