With less than two months until I land in Entebbe, Uganda for eight weeks of volunteer work, I think it is finally starting to sink in; I AM GOING TO AFRICA. A small, nagging panic invariably rises up at what appears to be scheduled times throughout my day peppering me with questions; (morning) "I hope you are ready for a busy day, you aren't going to workout today are you? NO TIME" (afternoon) "You should probably stop reading the newspaper and write down a To Do list of things you haven't done." And yes, the questions that keep me up at night; "Do you have all your vaccinations? What else do you need? How many things can ACTUALLY fit in your travel bags?" Where/what will you do with the rest of your stuff?"
Really. I could make a list of 1,000 things I feel need to be done and yet I have to keep reminding myself, it WILL work out! I can't believe the support and the positive feedback I have had from my family and friends and when I see the overwhelming generosity both financially and with kind words and shared stories, I know I will be fine. With these amazing people in my life, how could I not? :)
listen caitie. i've just realized you're the most interesting person ever. first. definitely relate to you on the whole 'relating to characters in books' thing, are we that egotistical? second. your little bird walk with the two sided gum paper. genius.
ReplyDeletei love you.
let's meet again.
love. jamie.
Hola Caitie! Que tal?
ReplyDeleteI hope you're well. I thought it might help you to know what I found really necessary during my trip around South America.
First, you MUST do all your vaccinations! Make sure you take medicine against malaria (you might need to take it before as a prevention, check this in the hospital). I had medicine against aches (of all sorts), upset stomach (you will probably need a lot of these!!), constipation, vomiting, first aid kit, hand sanitizer (you won't be able to wash your habds properly sometimes. This will help you avoid having 'extra-life' inside your stomach...) Water is dangerous, think about how you will drink. You should probably take pills to clean your water. Be prepared to be sick, it will happen, but it's all right.
When you have all of this and you look at the local people around you, you might feel stupid. They don't have all of this. But they are used to more bacterias than you are. But it is true that it is unfair: we have everything for our health, and they don't. Well, I have no answer to this...
I liked having pictures of my family, friends and my country. It was a nice way to create a contact with people and start talking. Overall, they loved looking at my pictures.
Don't take too many clothes. It is useless. In south america, I was wearing everything much longer than I do here.
All right, that's all I think of just know.
Your blog is great. I think this is about to be the greatest experience of your life. It will be really difficult and painful. I'll be thinking of you.
My experince was amazing. Far beyond everything I had imagined. Much more difficult and rewarding.
Take care,
Isaline