Greetings

This is my first blog ever and I realize that the people who may (or may not!) be tracking my blogspot are people who know me. But, for the sake of the few strangers that happen to stumble across it and become intrigued, here are a few important facts that you need to know:

1. My name is Hallie.
2. I'll be turning 20 on Aug. 8. :)
3. I love the city of Minneapolis.
4. I attend the University of Minnesota and intend to graduate with a BA degree in the fall of 2011. I am a Global Studies major (governance, peace, and justice branch with my region of focus being Africa) and a French minor.
5. Food is fabulous.
6. So is music.
7. I love my family very much.
8. Laughter is the light of life.
9. Even though I love the city, I miss being able to see the stars at night and the smell of the pine trees in my hometown of Pine River, MN.
10. I'm still figuring out who I am, so bear with me.

So, as many of my friends and family members are aware, I am re-locating to Senegal as of August 29th at 7AM. I was thinking about how I could quite possibly loose my mind if I completely disconnect from the people I love here at home, so what better way to adjust in Senegal than to keep a blog?

I realize that it is only June 21st, but time sure does fly, and to be completely honest, my mind has been plenty busy preparing for this new journey. I wake up every morning and focus on the daily tasks at hand. (Usually consisting of an hour trek to the Mall of America to work at The Limited... I have no vehicle and the light rail serves me just fine.)
For those of you who are not familiar with The Limited: The Limited is a clothing store geared toward the hardworking yet fashionable and social business woman. A.K.A we sell suits and other work attire with the occasional semi-formal dress thrown in.
I do enjoy working there, but it's frustrating to see how much people focus their monetary energies on buying bags upon bags (usually plastic) of endless crap that they don't need. Now don't get me wrong...I'm definitely guilty of spending money on worthless crap too, but sometimes I get tired of seeing it occurring on a day to day basis. (Perhaps I should get out of the merchandising industry, eh?)

Anyhoo... I'm starting a rolling list of things that NEED to get done before I leave including: purchasing some sort of backpacking backpack for my 8 month venture to Senegal, acquiring my student visa, copying my passport to send to the travel agency, creating a packing list, filling my prescriptions for malaria meds and travelers diarrhea (oh joy!.. :/), and saying goodbye to all of my friends and family.

Wow, after I write it down, it doesn't exactly seem all that complicated. It's amazing how we build things up in our minds to be these great obsticals, when in reality, they're no more than just a small bump in the road.

I suppose that's it for now. There will be updates throughout the next few months as my grand departure quickly approaches and thereafter as my journey begins!

I've just decided that I'm going to end each blog with a quote. This one has been quite the motto for me and I think it's more than fitting to conclude this first blog with it:

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi