All the villages in the canton of Gorouol, including Kolmane where I spent my off time, suffer from a lack of electrical access.

So one August, during my school holidays, I decided to learn more about female genital circumcision.

And on my weekends I would go up, just like all the other tourists, to the top of the Empire State Building, and I'd look down on this landscape, on these ecosystems, and I'd wonder, How does this landscape work to make habitat for plants and animals?

One of the reasons that I took my year off was to spend more time with my family, and this really tragic thing happened where my sister in law, her intestine suddenly strangled one day, and we took her to the emergency room, and she was, she was in really bad shape.

Good grief! I realized my priorities were all out of whack. So in some odd way, this sabbatical in Russia is my alternative to a double mastectomy a positive one, to be sure, but the same kind of reset button experience.

Good grief! I realized my priorities were all out of whack.   So in some odd way, this sabbatical in Russia is my alternative to a double mastectomy a positive one, to be sure, but the same kind of reset button experience.

So one August, during my school holidays, I decided to learn more about female genital circumcision. I decided to witness a girl undergoing the practice, and perhaps see her cry and bleed.