One Month To Go....

I'm having some serious issues writing my aspiration statement, and completely freaking out about what to pack... how does one go about packing for two years with only 2 bags and 80 pounds! I think my focus on things like what to bring and what shoes to bring is happening because it is impossible for me to focus on what is about to happen.

I have expectations for training and then later my volunteer service, but how well can one really prepare oneself for life in rural Africa? I guess make sure you have the right shoes...

I feel so overwhelmed with things to do! I envy the PCV's who received their assignment back in April, they have had so much more time to prepare themselves (or maybe freak out...) I feel like I have SO much to do in so little time, I have about 5 million lists going! Luckily three people are coming to look at my room this week so hopefully one of them will work out, but even once I find someone to rent my room there will be the additional concerns of when they move in, when I move out, getting all my stuff packed up, or rather distributed to different people, and even just the administrative stuff that must be done! On top of this I need to pack, work, and pour over blogs/books/reading material to be as prepared as possible, and somehow I know that I could read every piece of literature on Zambia, Peace Corps, the Community Health Improvement Project (CHIP), and what it is like to live in a mud hut in a Zambian village and I would still be unprepared!

I was relieved to learn today that you can get an internet phone and you can email/facebook on a fairly regular basis. I was going to start to feel very alone if I couldn't at least email!

Some things I know I will need:

1. Solar Head Lamp

2. Tevas (or some variety thereof)

3. My iPhone (purely for musical purposes)

4. My journal

5. tons of pictures of my amazing support network

6. SPF 50

I'm going to start reading " A Few Minor Adjustments" tomorrow.

I swing back and forth, sometimes many times a day, between sheer terror and utter excitement! I don't even know what to expect! Today I was reading a blog written by a girl that is about a year ahead of me in her program and just reading about what she is doing in Africa made me so excited because it really is what I want to do with the rest of my life (in some form or another)

I really appreciate and respect that I will be working to build sustainable health programs, for there is nothing worse than creating dependency in the health care sector. This is going to be such a different population than the one I deal with on a regular basis and I wonder which will be more challenging?