Countdown...to bugs?

So exactly one week from right now, I will be about to wake up to get ready to leave for the airport.  Rather, I will most likely be restless all night because I will be so nervous/anxious/scared/excited to leave for Mozambique!  In case you didn't know, I leave next Tuesday, the 29th @ 7:30 a.m. from Houston to Philly.  We have orientation in Philly, then leave @ 3 a.m. to NYC and our plane leaves there on the 30th in the late morning to head off to South Africa, then to Maputo, Mozambique!!  I have so many things to do before I leave: pack, finish my Rosetta Stone courses, and say final farewells to everyone.  I didn't even get my final medical clearance til last week, in case you were wondering why I am just now starting to pack and buy stuff for my trip. 

During my first 3 months will be specifically Pre-Service Training.  I'll only have internet access once a week.  Please write me!  I will post my address before I leave.  Even though I'm sure whoever reads this probably already has it.  I'll post it anyway. 

The only thing I am NOT looking forward to are...can you guess?  BUGS.  SNAKES.  SPIDERS.  Anything that crawls, slithers, flies, slides, runs, or basically anything that is not a mammal, I'm not looking forward to...Oh, rodents also, since I'm pretty positive those are mammals.  Don't laugh at me if they're not.  Yeah but bigger animals like lions, cape buffalo...not so scared.  Ok, I say that, but they must be least likely to get into my home...and Bear Grylls taught me how to scare them off if I hear their foot falls. :-)

You're probably now thinking about how much time you think I'll last over there.  I'm trying to prepare myself ahead of time.  I'm trying to tell myself ahead of time, "ok, for every bug/creeper that I will come into contact with will just be a sign from God that I am making a difference in some way."

You know what, if each pestering creature I am to come into contact with represents a child I can teach something to, or represents a myth about HIV/AIDS that I can disspell for someone, or represents the number of moments that are to positively affect my life forever, then maybe I can adjust more easily to Africa and all its creatures.  Great, right? 

Hopefully my future creepy, crawling, flying friends are not planning to throw me a house warming party upon my arrival. 

The beginning of many more...

This is my new blog site where you'll be able to find entries that describe my journey in Mozambique as a PCV.  This thing was kind of complicated to set up, but we all know that computers are not my forte...I'm not sure on what exact day I leave yet, but I'm sure it will be around 9/28 or so.  I will definitely be overseas in a month!