3 Days

In 73 hours I will be boarding a plane to Istanbul and then on to Kigali.

Since my last post I have... Finished the semester with satisfactory grades. Spent some solid time with friends. Registered for my last semester of classes. Felt incredibly grateful for really fantastic family. Packed like crazy. Played with the cat and his new toys from Santa. Obsessed over new music and grapefruits. In short, nothing too crazy... except maybe the grapefruits.

I have also reflected a lot on where I am and what my goals are in relation to some of the people around me. My departure for Rwanda seems to have become a shifting point in my trajectory. I cannot say that I am not content with what I've been doing but I think a lot of the bumps and bruises along my way could be avoided by being more thoughtful with whom I choose to spend time.

Side note.. I handed the pharmacist five prescription slips yesterday evening. He read through them, looked at me, read them again. I explained that I also needed my asthma medication filled and gave him the additional two prescriptions. His response, What exactly do you have planned that you need these? I could only laugh. And cough because one of the slips was for a zpack since I also have bronchitis. We talked it out and I explained that I will be leaving for Kigali. People are generally so confused by my destination that he didn't ask any more questions.

I'm going to try to post before I leave but I'm not sure that will happen. But in my next post, I will try to give an explanation of what I'll be doing during my internship and such.

25 days

I originally planned on writing weekly until I leave but hey, at least I'm writing.

The more I'm learning about Rwanda the more difficulty I am having reconciling what I believed to be true with what really is. The possibility that I have been inadvertently contributing to causes that are counter to my own is getting to me. All I can do from here is make mindful and well informed decisions based on the most information I can gain about a topic. But then again, I thought that was what I was doing before. I want to be a good global citizen and I'm not sure that I know how to anymore.

However, this article gave me hope. Not in the information that it provides but in the fact that someone is providing it.

Whoever said a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step should have mentioned how stinkin' hard those first steps can be.

30 days

In full disclosure, I have never written in a blog. I don't do personal writing well and I have no idea how consistent I will be in maintaining a steady stream of information during my trip. That said, I am in the middle of preparing to leave and starting a blog was on my check list. There is no time like the present.

This week I bought my plane ticket, told a few important people in my life that I am leaving, was injected with 4 immunizations, had a health and safety travel consultation and began packing which also means making a list of things I still need.

Hopefully this week I will solidify my course schedule, finish up a few final papers and continue learning as much as I can about Rwanda.