Nepal Service-Learning Trip

hi all,
i had one of the best times of my life last week on our trip to Nepal. 17 students from Education City (7 from Cornell) and 2 Qatar Foundation Chaperons visited MY COUNTRY and trust me, it was an amazing trip. It was the first time that such an event had been organized by Qatar Foundation aimed at improving international understanding among students and also to develop a sense of social service, but the whole trip was more than just that! And whats more, the cost of the trip was also born by Qatar Foundation, students had to pay only a small amount just to show that they were truly interested. We had raised US$ 1500 for the service project that we had planned to do, which was building a wall around a primary school, located on a hill, so that students wouldn't fall off cliffs.
As the group included students from all branch campuses, there were not many people I knew who were in the group. But it didn't remain the same for long, for as soon as we landed we had started interacting with the "strangers" and by the end of the trip, we were all sooo closely bonded that I am missing them so bad as I write this!!
Our scheduled activities were in itself more than sufficient to make a wonderful spring break or for some, a life changing experience, because most importantly it included the aforementioned service project, where we were literally digging out dirt and dumping it in a ditch to fill it up while some others were actually putting the cement and building the wall (u can guess, we let the engineering students build the wall while we decided to sit back and prepare an emergency medical team in case any one got hurt!!!). We interacted with the local students and some have become good e-friends with us! A big realization for most people was the fact that people in the developed countries take for granted so many things which for people in the developing countries means life or death, like something as simple as a wall. Apart from the service project, we also went white-water rafting (an amazing experience) and stayed in a jungle for two days: with tigers roaming around our cottages at night....one of them even came into our bathroom...(supposed to be a joke..again!). But yeah, even though the tigers couldn't walk into our rooms, it was a scary experience all the same! And we also enjoyed the elephant safari and the verry scary jungle trail on foot (where the guide said he couldn't guarantee our survival and was giving us tips on what to do if a tiger or a bear appeared!)
haha...i can go on and on about this trip, but i guess u wouldn't be interested in the extra details so I will stop for now! in any case, a similar trip will be organized next spring break as well to some other country and to get in, all you have to do is to be the first one to apply...and I, for one, am going to apply the minute the notice comes out!