FYI

Just a friendly reminder (from the Big Apple) that I  have more posts that what shows on the first page! There should be a button that takes you to next page at the bottom!

Thanks for following me and my journey!
Kwaheri!

And Then There Were Two and a Half (Days)

Today is July 9th. It's 76 degrees, cloudy and rainy (big surprise for us Ohioans).  

Today is July 9th, which means tomorrow is the 10th. July 10th means I have to start taking my malaria medication. Beginning my malaria medication means that there are only 2 more days until I leave...

aldfadlfja'djfjgdsfdklfjal;df (imagine that's me internally screaming because that's what I've been doing the past week). 

At this point, fear, anxiety, panic, and a whole host of other negative emotions have taken over my current state of mind. I had thought that I had already accepted and understood the gravity of this experience I'm about to embark on. But I guess I haven't, because it's currently crushing me like an avalanche. 

I'm hoping that when I finally on a plane and we're taking off is when a wave of calmness will wash over me.  

To keep myself distracted, I've been practicing my Swahili, reading Game of Thrones, watching House, and obsessively packing and repacking (and repacking) my suitcases to make sure that I meet the weight limit. 

I honestly thinking the packing has been the most stressful part of this journey. I have been asked to bring a lot of (heavy and space-consuming) supplies with me, and unless I want to pay an extra 160 dollars to check another bag, I cannot exceed 50.5 lbs in luggage (mizigo). Talk about a real challenge. I'll basically be wearing the same five outfits and will only have a travel sized hairbrush. But hey, I guess it could be worse. 

I'm very much looking forward to the sun and warmth and dry heat that Tanzania has been promising me as opposed to the clouds and cold and humidity that has ruthlessly oppressed Ohio all summer. 

Here's to hoping that I finally get to experience beautiful weather in couple of days! 

Kwaheri and 2 more days! 

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! 

Peace, Love, and Elephants

It has been mentioned that I kinda, sorta, really love elephants (tembo). I don't even think "love" is a strong enough word, honestly.

Here's how much I love elephants:

-My iPad case has elephants

-My phone case has elephants

-My purse has elephants

-9/10 times gifts given to me are related to elephants 

-I have an elephant tattooed on my left wrist (yet, people still ask me if I like elephants when they see it?) 

Basically my love for elephants can be explained by Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem "How Do I Love Thee" (Let Me Count the Ways). 

If I'm every sad or stressed or mad, I just look up pictures of baby elephants because they are honestly the most adorable things. 

Example: 

You smiled, didn't you? How could you not?

I don't know when my love for elephants began. I've just always liked them. It must have started with my grandma, because she loves elephants, as well. I remember, instead of having a rocking horse, my grandma had a rocking elephant. How rad is that?! 

Seeing a herd of elephants in the wild is what I'm looking forward to the most when we go on our expeditions. The pictures I take while I am over there will probably be primarily of elephants. My friends and family are probably going to be like, "Weren't there other animals over there Abby?" In fact, some people think I'm going to Tanzania solely to study elephants (I wish). I've mentioned that I want to study animal behavior. Ideally, I will study elephant behavior. I think elephants are incredible. They are so intelligent, emotional, unique, beautiful (the adjectives could continue for forever). 

I would love to work in an elephant orphanage in Kenya some day, though it will be under tragic pretenses. I just really hope that I can create a strong, lasting bond with a calf in need! 

(Side note: the idea that an elephant is lucky if its trunk is up originated in Western culture.)

Kwaheri and 36 more days!