It is now safe to say that the butterflies in my stomach are now constantly fluttering. I am SO EXCITED to embark upon this new crazy exciting adventure! There have been more tears since my last post... but more excitment and anticipation as well. For example: This morning I walked in through our NEW front door (which looks amazing by the way, good job papa bear) and saw my mom baking her famous wild rice bread in the kitchen and immediatly started to bawl my eyes out: hugging the life out of her like I was 5 years old heading to summer camp for the first time. Only this time around I'm not 5, I'm 20; and I'm not going to summer camp for a week, I'm going to Africa for 9 months. It's pretty amazing how we all grow up, create our own path, and somehow become independent of our parents. Pretty dang amazing indeed.
The newest news: I found out about my host family! I'll be staying with a 57 year old woman named Maman Anne Marie Badji. She is a civil servant and has a son who lives in France with his wife and children. Not quite what I was expecting, but I'm still extremely delighted and hoping for the best.
Packing is finished! I managed to fit everything into a 55L backpack and will also have my regular backpack as a carry-on. Who knew I could pack up my life into 2 bags? So... AMANDA, be proud. :)
This time on Sunday, I will be in Washington D.C. catching a flight to Dakar.
"It is always with excitement that I wake up in the morning wondering what my intuition will toss up to me, like gifts from the sea. I work with it and rely on it. It's my partner." -Dr. Jonas Salk
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Ch-Ch-Changes
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, things have been crazy busy. But here's what's new:
1. I am now 20 years old.
2. I completed my last day of work at The Limited. (yay!!)
3. I ate 3 cakes over the course of a week with 2 other people. (Jason and Mans... I'm pretty sure I gained like 5 pounds.)
4. I bought a 55L backpacking backpack for my year abroad in SENEGAL. :D
5. I have officially moved out of my apartment in the cities, and man... let me tell you... it was SO much more emotional than I thought it would be. Saying goodbye to all my friends was sad.
6. I'm getting super anxious about leaving.
Packing up and cleaning the apartment took much longer than I thought, but the actual moving out part went smoothly. (THANKS MOM!) The hardest part: saying goodbye to Amanda. We've been living together for the last 2 years and have gone very few days without seeing each other... I'm really going to miss her. But thank God for Skype right?! :)
Enough of the sad though. On to the exciting! I canNOT believe how fast time is flying. Seriously. I leave in just a few weeks and I feel like I still have SO MUCH to get done. How do I really prepare for this crazy adventure? I think the answer to this question is fairly simple...I can't. No matter how much I imagine what it's going to be like, I can never truly be 100% prepared for what is coming next in this next phase of my life. And I suppose that's the beauty of it too.
Anyhoo... my brain is mush. So I'll just leave you all with this:
"Time may change me, but I can't trace time" -David Bowie
1. I am now 20 years old.
2. I completed my last day of work at The Limited. (yay!!)
3. I ate 3 cakes over the course of a week with 2 other people. (Jason and Mans... I'm pretty sure I gained like 5 pounds.)
4. I bought a 55L backpacking backpack for my year abroad in SENEGAL. :D
5. I have officially moved out of my apartment in the cities, and man... let me tell you... it was SO much more emotional than I thought it would be. Saying goodbye to all my friends was sad.
6. I'm getting super anxious about leaving.
Packing up and cleaning the apartment took much longer than I thought, but the actual moving out part went smoothly. (THANKS MOM!) The hardest part: saying goodbye to Amanda. We've been living together for the last 2 years and have gone very few days without seeing each other... I'm really going to miss her. But thank God for Skype right?! :)
Enough of the sad though. On to the exciting! I canNOT believe how fast time is flying. Seriously. I leave in just a few weeks and I feel like I still have SO MUCH to get done. How do I really prepare for this crazy adventure? I think the answer to this question is fairly simple...I can't. No matter how much I imagine what it's going to be like, I can never truly be 100% prepared for what is coming next in this next phase of my life. And I suppose that's the beauty of it too.
Anyhoo... my brain is mush. So I'll just leave you all with this:
"Time may change me, but I can't trace time" -David Bowie
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