This is not making resisting the urge to jump on a plane Monday (and deep-six my ability to make rent) any easier. On another note: it's hard to overstate the

This is not making resisting the urge to jump on a plane Monday (and deep-six my ability to make rent) any easier. On another note: it's hard to overstate the profound influence of teachers and professors who go out of their way to introduce students to unusual or special experiences (including dragging them halfway around the world). Thanks to mine, for example, I might experience some extra degree of enlightenment in the next life, (or less time in Hell in-between, depending on who you ask). Lives changing. Thank you also to the institutions who enable and support these rare and rich souls.