The Group

Here we are in the New York airport, where most of us met up to set out on the journey. According to recent tradition, we had to begin with a jumping picture!!! (left to right- me, Sam, Aubrey, and Katie....not sure what Sam is doing=) There were fifteen people on our Learning Tour- from all areas of the world and from many different walks of life. Here’s a glimpse of our group~

David Radcliff- here’s a name known by many. It’s kind of difficult to describe David- he’s the head honcho of NCP, travels all the time, and gives mesmerizing speeches about all he learns to share the stories of those far away. You never really know what’s going to happen next on a trip with him- a chance meeting with someone along the way may lead to a 45-minute conversation and a new benefit effort. “Pizza, I don’t know about that……”

Katie- is a fellow BC student who shares my dinner table and many of my friends. I counted her in my circle of friends but after 54 hours next to each other on a plane, countless hours on a bus, being hotel roommates, and basically taking a trip to BURMA together, I realize I didn’t really know her at all.

Sam- joined Katie and I in Bridgewater for the trip to the airport and beyond. Sam is a BC alum, camp kid, veteran BVS-er, and dairy farmer. Foremost, he was a great entertainer- sharing stories in the airport and other places. You never really know what he’ll say next but that’s what makes him so lovable…..

Kay- I met Kay at YAC last summer- we were standing around making small talk when she mentioned she was going to Burma in January and I was like “NO WAY! So am I!” Thus began our adventure together- Kay is a freshman at Manchester (one of Bridgewater’s sister colleges), and the most enthusiastic person I’ve met about seeing the world and learning more about other cultures.
“I love this place, I love the culture, I love the people, I love you guys, I love life!”

Alex- lived in my Tower last year, thus I was her RA. She graduated from BC last spring and is now on an extended tour of Southeast Asia, keeping us posted via her own blog which cracks me up! Burma was only the beginning of her travels.

Turner- is also a freshman at Manchester and was a fun addition to our group. He and Tracy almost missed the plane to Singapore, lost their luggage along the way, but made it to Burma with us- they only had to spend 4+ days in the same clothes……
“so….what kind of bikes did you see in Switzerland?”

Dawn- lives in Arizona, leads music, organized most of our musical endeavors on the trip=)

Aubrey- Dawn’s 16-year-old daughter- she was Kay, Katie, and my partner in crime for all our crazy adventures.

Tracy- also luckily made it to Burma with us, minus her luggage. She’s from Indiana and it graduating from Bethany soon.

Kat- lives in Singapore but is a native Californian. She mostly definitely had the shortest travel time of all….

Emily (“Auntie Em”) - is a native of the Shenandoah Valley but spent the last two (???) years working in the South Pole. She officially had the best facial expressions ever.

Weeks- is an electrical engineer who also just finished working in the South Pole. There was never a dull moment with him either.
“see? See? It’s the Asian guy I told you he was in this music video!”
Katie: “that’s Eminem….”

Gretchen- informed us she’s a traveler- but usually in the form of cruises and such. This was her out-of-the-box experience=)

Sherry- from Indiana and heard of NCP through a 4-H presentation that David did. She thought Learning Tours sounded cool and decided to join us=)

Moe (pictured here) -our most fabulous tour guide ever! He led us the entire ten days and was very informative in his knowledge of the land. Our favorite quotes from Moe: “let’s roll!” and “whatever……”