Raindrops on Roses

I put in my two weeks notice yesterday at work. I leave in two and a half weeks. WHAT.

This realization has made me think about all the things I will miss while I'm gone:

• Iced capps from Tim Horton's
• Unnecessary (but necessary) trips to Target 
• My dogs greeting me when I come home
• Obnoxious conversations with my friends 
• My family 
• My hair straightener 
• Netflix marathons
• Sleeping in (though I don't do that much now)

Things I won't miss:

• Ohio weather
• Working at a movie theater 
• Ohio weather 
• Working at a movie theater 

The game plan for th next two weeks is:

• Pack ALL the supplies
• Watch ALL the Netflix
• Drink ALL the iced capps 

It's going to be a busy few weeks!

Kwaheri and 16 (kumi na sita) more days! 

Round on the Outside, High in the Middle

The School for Field Studies is a third party study abroad program, so I did not expect there to many (if any other) students from OSU accompanying me to Tanzania. I recently obtained my class list, though, and it turns out that there is one other OSU student besides me going. I didn't realize how relieved I was that a fellow Buckeye was going to be with me until I saw that list.

It will be nice to have someone to connect with. Though I have never met this girl, I am grateful for her because it will kind of be like there is a little piece of home with me for a month. I've been texting her and she seems like a pretty cool person: she double majors in zoology and anthropology and plays the ukulele!

I think the best part about her being on this trip is that I will have someone to take O-H-I-O pictures with/won't think it's weird that I want to take said pictures! For those of you not familiar with Ohio State traditions, one of them is to gather four people (or an inanimate object) and spell out OHIO with your arms.

For example (pictures not mine):

We have already decided that a giraffe would be an excellent candidate for the "I"!

The director of my program has created a Facebook page full of pictures taken with the students (wanafunzi) who are currently there for the first summer session. They are nothing short of amazing! I think the pictures I take will be the best souvenir I come back to America with. I definitely sense a scrapbooking project upon my return!

Until then, kwaheri and 23 more days!

Sleepless in Ohio

It is currently 2:44 am and I cannot sleep.

It could be because I took a two and a half hour nap in the middle of the day.

It could be because I binge watched six hours of Orange is the New Black and my brain needs time to unwind.

Or it could be because there are now less than 30 days until I depart for my trip.

I told everybody who has asked me if I'm excited about my trip that it felt surreal. Now it is finally starting to become real. I found out that I was accepted into my study abroad program in November. It was snowing day, one where I spent the afternoon traipsing around outside in the cold working on my project for ecology. It seemed so far away when I told people I was going to Africa in the summer (majira ya joto). Now it is summer and my body is as red as a tomato from being outside in the sun and I don't have homework to distract me until I leave.

I hope that the next month both flies by and drags on. I'm ready to leave but also still a little unprepared. I'm excited but nervous. I am a hot mess of contradictions.

In the mean time, what I hope for the most is that a magical sleep fairy will sprinkle some sleep dust on me and I'll be out within in the next five minutes!

Kwaheri and 28 more days!

She's Making a List, She's Checking It Twice

I find myself, when I don't want to read or watch Netflix or flit between social media websites, making lists of the things I still need to buy for Tanzania. I also make lists of what to pack, in which suitcase to pack it, and how much/many of it/them I need to pack. I'm constantly refining these lists. Meticulously checking things off while, still, adding on new things that I have just thought of that I'll absolutely need when I'm over there.

I am a Virgo. A Virgo is are nothing if not organized.

I am nearing the one month mark to my departure date and I still feel like there are a million more things that I need to buy. Among that list are:

• One ream of printer paper (I guess my tuition doesn't cover this)
• A mouthpiece replacement for my Camelbak water bottle (aka my new chew toy)
• Multi-chambered tupperware (very practical)  
• Pretzel M&M's, SourPatch Kids, and Flaming Hot Cheetos (the essential snacks)
• Cargo pants (I will be the envy of all my friends) 

(Sidenote: Don't take me down the travel aisles at Target or Walmart. I feel the need to buy every little bottle, even if it's men's deodorant.) 

One of the hardest thing about traveling to East Africa (I think anyways) is the packing and preparation for it. There won't be Targets and Walmarts just around the corner to run to in case I forget something. I have had to sit down and think of every little thing that I'll possibly need during my one month stay there. It has been very tricky trying to determine how much I will need of everything and if something is even worth bringing if I won't use it almost every day. 

I've been told that there will be a little shop (duka) a short walk away from the camp I'll be staying at. But who knows what exactly it is that the shop carries or how much it will  have in stock. I am not, usually, inclined to leaving things up to chance. So I depart for Tanzania carrying a mini pharmacy, grocery store, and restaurant within my suitcases. 

Kwaheri and 31 more days!