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 20th 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!"
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