Soooooooo ready to go

I'm a little tired, so this post will be brief.

I'm in Philadelphia right now, and just got back from the clinic where I received (surprisingly) only one shot (H1N1). Luckily my arm won't be too sore and carrying my bags won't be as much a chore as I thought.

Today we get a little rest, then some meetings and I'm sure another night out.

Last night, most of the group went out for a nice dinner (paid for by our lovely government and I assume, some of your tax dollars. So thank you, that steak was delicious!) and then some of us went out on the town for drinks, parlor games and bonding. I've been lucky enough to already make a great group of friends. We're all in the same boat, and we know that having a close group of friends is going to be important. So we shared stories, lots of hugs and laughs, and we're all looking forward to spending time together over in Africa.

It's easy to see a lot of the anxiousness and apprehension wearing off as we're all getting to know each other very quickly. Coming from many different walks of life, we all have a lot to teach each other in the coming months, and we're all looking forward to hearing stories, sharing memories and probably a few tears along the way.

But I'm overdue for a nap. So I'm going to lay down before heading out with my new friends for a good lunch. Tonight we will most likely go out and stay out, since we have a bus to catch at 2am heading for NYC. From there we will board a plane and begin our trek to Zambia (!!!).

Just know that I feel like I'm truly ready to begin this adventure. I know that I have a great group of like-minded kids here and we're all ready to support each other with anything we need; and I'm going to need it, since I wasn't able to bring my guitar with me :( Turns out it would have cost a pretty penny to get it overseas, and although extremely disappointed, I'm confident that I'll be able to bide my time with more writing and reflecting since I won't have my favorite outlet to accompany me.

Missing you all already.

Two two two two two two two weeks.

It's about that time, isn't it?

Time to start double checking all those lists which have been piling up on my desk, on my desk top and in my head.

The other night I haphazardly threw a few pairs of shorts in my suitcase, just so I could say that I started packing; a rather uncharacteristic thing for me to do, since I tend to leave everything to the last minute.

It's two weeks to this day, that I will be boarding a plane headed to Philadelphia to meet with my fellow volunteers and begin the whole shebang of preparing ourselves for Zambia. I have had the pleasure, already, of meeting a few of them online; casually chatting and slowly making friends the digital way. It's such a comfort knowing that I will already know someone before I even leave my family and friends here in Lincoln, and I'm sure they feel the same way.

Not really quite sure what I want to say in this entry, but I do know that my leaving is all that I can think about.