As I'm sitting here watching mindless daytime television for the last time in a very long time, I've decided maybe I should check to see if this ol' sucker still works! And wouldja look at that-- it does!
So, I'm sure you all know by now that I'm leaving for another journey to East Africa in 10 days. This time, it's for school. I'll be taking a full course load (5 courses) with McGill professors as we travel through Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. I haven't chosen any classes yet (and won't until the program starts), but in case you're curious what kinds of neat things I'll be studying, check out this website.
I have a week of orientation in Montreal, so I'm heading back north on Friday. I've been told that orientation will consist mostly of professors trying to sell us their courses, but there will be some Swahili lessons as well! Also, it will be a great opportunity to get to know the other 34 students before having to spend three months camping in tents with them.
Yep, that's right... Camping. While some nights we'll be staying in lodges and maybe even hotels, I've been told that the majority of our nights will be spent in two-person tents. Anybody got any advice on how to keep the lions and mosquitoes at bay?
After the program ends on March 26th, have about two months to do whatever the heck I want. The first week will be spent as a beach vacation with the other students, followed by a week of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro! Then, I'm hoping to find some sort of internship or volunteer work before coming back home to Boston on June 9th.
That's a REALLY long time from now though. Right now, I should mostly just be focusing on packing. As you can see below, I am still extremely unorganized.
But look! Pappy will be so proud that I'm taking a Sudoku book!!
Santa gave me all sorts of neato gear for Christmas...how is he always so smart?! Among many other handydandy things, I got an awesome 65L backpack, a really cozy sleeping bag, a compressible pillow, and a nice little pocket knife (courtesy of my awesomepossum brother, Mike!) I think I'm being much smarter about packing than I was last time, but I guess we'll find out as time goes on whether or not I have everything I need! (I definitely won't forget the Nutella this time!)
Anyways, I guess I should get started on my chores (and back to this incredibly riveting Lifetime movie...har har har). Sorry that this post was a bit less than thrilling, but have no fear! More exciting times are just around the corner! Hopefully I will have adequate internet access while in East Africa in order to maintain this blog. If not, welp, we'll just have to catch up in June! :)
Aunt Suz and I are incredibly excited for you and will think of you each night in our cushy bed. Don't worry about the lions, there's not enough meat on your bones.
ReplyDeleteI'm getting a fantastic mental image of you at one of the campsites, eating Nutella right out of the jar while lions wait expectantly in the background.
ReplyDeleteAlmost! A bunch of us were eating spoonfuls of Nutella at our campsite in Lake Naivasha while monkeys and hippos were lingering nearby! (Yes, I shared!)
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