My travelling boy

Today is my biggest boy's 11th (!) birthday. And he's not home. In fact, he is on the other side of the ocean for one whole month.  This adventure, for him, has been organized by CISV, a worldwide organization that brings children from all corners of the world together in order to build peace though understanding of each other's cultures and beliefs. He is in a "village" (camp, really) in Denmark. He has planned for this all spring with his delegation of two girls, two boys, and a leader. They will do all sorts of typical camp activities, but will also present a national evening all about Canada to the campers (involving maple syrup, mini sticks games and a Canadian rap). Each of the delegations from each country gets to do this. At a typical CISV village, there are seeds of peace building planted, plots of pranking, excursions around Denmark (he hopes desperately to be able to visit Legoland) breaking language barriers in creative ways and plenty of silliness. (I've seen photos of him covered in red paint).  He will undoubtedly come back changed from this journey, in big ways and small. He is growing up. And today, I really miss him.