-Travel Plans & Goals-

Here is a little look at when I’ll leaving and a few of the things I’m hoping to experience while abroad…

I will be leaving Minneapolis, MN on January 18, 2009 with 5 other girls.  From there I’ll be flying to New York where we will be staying the night!... I might also be meeting my parents there as they will be in New York for some communion and liberation meetings.  Hopefully they will take me out to dinner so I can see a little of New York before leaving the United States!  Then the next morning I will take a 15 hour plane ride to Johannesburg, South Africa and then to Port Elizabeth from there!  We will be arriving one day earlier.  Then starting the 20^th of January our whole group of 30 CSB/SJU students will be starting the orientation the University of Nelson Mandela University has planned for international students.

On a different note some of my goals for while I'm away will be: too run along the beach weekly, take a surfing lesson at Jeffery’s Bay, have a volunteer experience other than where I’m assigned to volunteer, get involved in an NMMU organization or club sport, go bungee jumping, go to Victoria Falls, attend mass in a township church, stay in a hostel, snorkel, eat a new type of food weekly, journal daily, and numerous other things.  These are for the most part things that I personally want to accomplish, as they are not things we are planning to do on our trip as one large group.  All of the things we have planned I will write about as they occur but I figured writing down my goals will help me to remember them and actually complete them while I’m away!

The one other very exciting thing that I will do in South Africa is hang out with my parents!! They bought their tickets this week and will be visiting about 2 months into my trip.  They will have the opportunity to see where I volunteer as well as a few other things they are planning.  I could not be more thrilled or thankful to know I will get to see them during my time away and share my experience with them!  I can't even begin to imagine what it will be like to greet them at the airport in Port Elizabeth, I'm miss them enough right now so I can't imagine what that will feel like!  I imagine I will be talking a million miles an hour :-) 

As for my emotions as I now have less than two months before I leave I’m still feeling extremely excited but everyday it becomes more and more real.  I have officially submitted all my paperwork for my visa and got my last shot today...  There are still a few things I need to look into as my dad instructed me on the phone today… one thing being “teach mom how to use skype!”  But as for right now I enjoying my last few weeks of the semester with my friends I’m most excited to see my family soon for Thanksgiving as I’ve gone almost a month and a half without seeing them which is the longest amount of time I’ve ever been apart from them (good practice for when I’m abroad I suppose) but I’ve never been more anxious to see everyone!  

For tonight I will end with the quote which sums up my goal for living each day from Fr. Guissani: "Live for the love of something happening now!"

The beginnings!

As I was on a run today I started out with the motivation of wanting to be in tip top shape for running on the beach outside of my apartment in South Africa, that was until I picked up my pace and was overwhelmed by the beauty of the sunshine right here in St. Joseph, MN. It's a beautiful day and I felt overcome with excitement and gratitude for everything in my life! Therefore I decided it was time to start tracking the planning and emotions I'm experiencing as I prepare to study abroad in Port Elizabeth South Africa for four months!

As I ran and felt the slight warmth of the sun making running conditions perfect and looked up at the clear blue sky I was struck by the comfort of something my mom has always said... that she loves looking up and knowing we are all looking at the same sky, the same sun, the same stars, and the same moon. Thinking about this I felt absolutely certain that as terrifying as it is to think about being away from my family and all that I know for four months, I couldn't be more certain and at peace with how wonderful this experience will be for me. It's so comforting to know that no matter how far from home I will be, and the fact that without a doubt I will experience homesickness, we all are under the same sky that was made by the same Creator.

And finally as I was on my run I found myself thinking about this "life changing experience" I'm about to have. I keep hearing over and over again how I will come back so different, but I decided I don't think that describes what the experience has been for me thus far. Planning for South Africa and meeting more and more people has not necessarily changed me, I think it has made me more me... it's helped me to become the "Megan" I was made to be! I feel confident in myself and what I will be able to offer to the people I will encounter in my volunteering experiences and simply the people in my group, but I'm also confident that

I will learn plenty from them as well which will help me grow more and more into the girl I was made to be. I may be changing throughout this, but I'm changing into the girl God made me to be!

I want to share my experiences and reflections with my family and close friends so they can experience everything with me! I also want to have this collection of my journey for myself so that when those homesick days hit I can remember that I'm not too far away from home and that I have so much to be thankful for!... Soon I will write about my travel plans thus far and my hopes and goals for my trip!

*Both pictures included were taken on the beach right across from the apartments I will be living in. They were taken at sunrise.