It is so crazy to think that after weeks of preparation, I've finally made it to the final few days of my countdown! So what have I been doing these past few weeks to get ready? Let's see...Shopping for Africa things...packing up my "you only need this in America" things...celebrating with Yay-Africa! parties...and eating as much delicious American food as possible of course! (Cheese curds at the State Fair anyone?? YES please!)
I think I'm just about ready to go. I know need one more trip to the store for last minute things like chapstick and batteries, but other than that I think I've got everything I need. Ready for my crazy packing list?? While reading this, please picture fitting everything into one of those giant hiking backpacks.
- Shoes. Running, Hiking, Sandals, Flip Flops.
- 3 Dresses. 5 Skirts.
- Shirts (all with sleeves and high neck lines)
- Sweaters.
- 1 sweatshirt. Long sleeved shirts. Leggings for cold nights.
- Socks and underwear
- Long black pants and a huge men's tshirt...for daily running purposes!
- Raincoat...can't wait to experience monsoon season!
- Towels. Bedsheets. Mosquito net. Sleeping bag.
- Medicine. to fight off nearly any illness I may suffer from.
- Hand sanitizer. First Aid kit. Sunscreen. Bug Spray.
- SteriPen water purifier. Water bottle. Flashlight.
- Camera. Kindle. Phone. Ipod. Laptop. and chargers for all of these things.
- Deck of cards. Bananagrams. DVDs.
- Bible. Journal.
I would also like to point out the lack of pants, jeans or shorts on this list. Women in Tanzania do not typically wear pants, and definitely never wear shorts. I guess this means that I will be wearing skirts and dresses ALL of the time: school, days off, nights and weekends included! So I must ask, what if I have to bike to school or into town? hmm....
Unfortunately, I have no news to report on my placement in country. However, I do know that for our first week in country we will be staying at Mpingo Farm Stay about an hour north of Dar es Salaam. We will spend our first week of orientation here, before heading to Iringa for two weeks of training. We'll have courses on teaching, the Tanzanian education system, health and safety, and basic Swahili to help us adjust to life in our new country. We will get our final placements once we are in country, so as soon as I know, I will be sure to let you all know as well!
And now I would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has been so supportive in these past few weeks!!! All of the cards, phone calls, messages, hugs, thoughts and prayers mean so much to me! I have had an overwhelming amount of donations from so many people, and I am so blessed to be able to say that I have been able to cover not only my program fee, but my flight to New York, all of the purchases I've made (which has added up to way more than I predicted), as well as my student loan payments for the next year. This calls for a YouthWorks "Yay God" shout-out for sure! God has truly provided for all that I need this next year, which is simply incredible. So THANK YOU again to everyone who has been so generous!
For those of you who are curious as to how we will keep in touch over the next year, I will keep you posted on an address and phone number once I am in a permanent place. For now, I do have email and Skype and will hopefully have relatively decent access to internet. My email is emartin421@gmail.com and my Skype name is elizabeth.martin421. I am leaving it up to each of you to send me your email/skype name/address (for an authentic Africa postcard!). I would love to keep in touch with people, but without this info it'll be impossible! So, I'm expecting a full inbox of emails with a bunch of addresses!
And with that, I'll leave you to translate my countdown: SIKU SITA :)
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