people need to see that far from being an obstacle, the world's diversity of languages, religions and traditions is a great treasure, affording us precious opportunities to recognize ourselves in others.
-youssou n'dour, musician

[one of the quotes on the starbucks cups. ]



i have lots to do, lists racing through my head. i don't know where the time went because it feels like this trip is so far off. truth is, i'll be on the ship heading out to sea at this time just seven days from now. that is a lot to take in. i think saying goodbye, or see you later, to all of my friends and family is making this week daunting. i get nervous & anxious, though i simply can't let it get to me on the eve of this huge trip. i have to finish packing tomorrow, i want to be done with it and have everything squared away so that i can relax and spend time with my family before i leave. i've been wanting this break to hurry up since before it started and now i feel like its over too quickly. i'm going to miss everyone, very much. and the ineffeciency of communication will prove to be a challenge. i just want everyone to know that i will be thinking of them, that i still want to know whats going on in everyone's lives. email me stories from home, it'll mean so much to me. and i'll do my best to keep emailing and updating all of you with my whereabouts.

bedtime. packing in the morning, wish me luck--

FIVE days til nassau, SEVEN until embarkation. [ !!! ]

bermuda, bahama, come on pretty mama....

just SIX days until i'm on a plane for the lovely bahamas and 80 degree weather!!
(which is making the snow and temperatures in the twenties much easier to deal with.. :D )


i entered a lottery for morocco's trips last night and decided on a student planned safari in namibia, which i'll get more information on tomorrow. i have a big long list of things to do tomorrow, so here's hoping it all gets done; it has to!

stream of consciousness--

here are just some goals i've set for myself, some silly and some serious; to accomplish before i leave for the bahamas. i think you could call this a glorified to-do list.. (i don't suppose that posting my goals (or, to-do list) on here will have any effect on the actual completion of said goals or tasks, though i think its a wonderful form of procrastination!) most of this has been written as i think of it, sort of catcher in the rye, if you will. essentially my thoughts as they have popped in my head.

- set up email forwarding. figure out how to post via email. finish contact list/address book. figure out how to post pictures.

-figure out how to make all my music live on my external harddrive so that i can free up valuable space on my computer for more important things, like the millions of pictures i plan on taking. (note to self, get more memory cards!)

-hide nearly all of the clothes that are not going on semester at sea so that bec doesn't wear them all (and look better in them..). similarly, pack up all the remaining school stuff for the fall & get it out of the room.

- let all the banks know that i will be in foreign countries, using foreign banks and to please, please, please not freeze my account.

- do all the laundry that is piled up on the floor, so that organizing-hiding-packing can be completed. while all the clothes i own are being washed, wear bec's. with permission.

-decide which shoes to bring. this is a tough one. i only have 2 bags. but i have a bunch of shoes. sneakers for lots of walking, sneakers for less walking/around the ship, black flip flops, brown flip flops, comfortable flats that are more dressy than flip flops but not quite party shoes, party shoes, slippers, dressy sandals, etc. clearly this many pairs of shoes are not an option. but coming from a girl who wears brown shoes with brown outfits, black with black and never a combination of the two; i have work to do. i need to be flexible. to wear black with brown; to simplify.

- fill prescriptions. take course of typhoid meds. get some dramamine. bring extra band-aids. find the band-aid blister stick, which i swear exists but bec doesn't. i googled it, and its out there. now word on how useful it truly is, but i figure it might not hurt to have it on hand.

-similar to the shoe predicament listed above, decide which bags to bring. my hideous computer backpack is coming along for the ride to house my laptop. my two wheeled duffels will be along as well. but then what? i'll need the biggest "purse" imaginable for my carry-on, so as to fit all my extra electronics (external harddrive, video camera, digital camera, cell phone, ipod, etc.). i'll also be packing my small messenger bag & my little backpack. and then a wristlet. and my wallet (big or small?!). and my money belt. then an empty bag to pack things in when my suitcases are stuffed at the end of the semester? this will be a challenge, i need to really decide what is multi-purpose and only pack those sorts of things.

-decide on a sim card for the international cell phone i have yet to purchase. i should probably have ordered these things a while back. (opening a new window.. ordering now.) (the sim card at least.)

- figure out classes for fall 2009, freak out about life, think about grad school just long enough to freak myself out, worry about paying for grad school... enough about that; i'll tackle this one in may.

- find a job for the summer. no more coffee shop, though it's a hard habit to break. find something in philly, nyc, boston, nh.. anywhere they'll take me. and pay; though its unlikely that an internship will pay. remind myself that i need the experience & i'll take anything i can find.


i think this is enough procrastination for now (as i have posted twice in the same night & accomplished nothing on the to-do list.), off to waste away watching dvds with the girls.

i must be dreaming.

as i have said in practically every blog thus far, i have a lot to do.

i am so ready to be on my way, and i have quite the to-do list to tackle before i board my plane to nassau in just 14 days, 16 hours and 31 minutes.

it feels like i have been in prep mode for months now, and the waiting is driving me nuts. however, at the same time, i feel like i am being rushed. its hard to wrap my head around the fact that this is truly happening. it was a long fall semester, and i am relieved its over. so much happened. being able to focus on the trip has made all the difference in the world. but here i am today and i have visas in my passport, suitcases next to my bed, lists on scraps of paper stuffed in my purse, a list of emails and addresses a mile long, new clothes, and a new video camera ready to record the whole thing. i have all these things that make the trip real, but i can't help but feel the need to pinch myself. i guess it is supposed to be hard to be mentally prepared for a chance like this. this trip has been a dream of mine since i first discovered semester at sea on the unh study abroad website. never would i have believed that i would be here. two weeks from departure day.

this post sounds similar to some of my old ones, but i cannot help but to return to this feeling of overwhelming gratitude. i get sentimental. i'm overly emotional. i can't help it, that's me. i don't have the right words to tell anyone how i'm feeling when they ask me about this trip. there will never be enough words to truly thank all of my family and friends for supporting me.

i am leaving behind all i know for a ship filled with strangers. when i come home in may, the strangers will have turned to family, just as those strangers at unh have become. it has been important to remind myself that this is not the only adventure of my lifetime, more another chapter; though an amazing one at that. so much of my life has already been shaped by semester at sea, and i know that will only increase as my 100 days go by.

2009

where did the year go! so much has changed, and i will forever remember 2008 as a year in which i decided to apply for and plan the biggest adventure of my life. as the year is coming to a close, i am so unbelievably ready for 2009 and my trip around the world.

i think that 2009 will be a year of growth for me.
i am stepping out of my box, and challenging myself.


so over 2008, bring on 2009 please!