Feelings, nothing more than feelings...

I am QUITE emotional right now. This trip represents so much to me: getting away from the stresses of my life and career, using my teaching and skills to give back to humanity, letting go of negative thoughts and past relationships, embracing solitude and fortitude of the self, and being the best friend I can possibly be to two of the most important women in my life. I have been enjoying intense conversations with my friends Suzie and Dave, analyzing my ever-present existential dilemma / search...

*What does it mean to be a human being in the 21st century?

*What does it mean to be an artist?

*What does it mean to live in the luxury of the West while 1 out of 6 people are in poverty and don't have enough to eat globally?

*What responsibilities do we have to make this world a better place and how much of that responsibility do I want to take on?

These questions consume my soul, and until I find those answers I won't know truly who I am or who I am meant to be. Thanks for the inspiring conversations guys, I always appreciate them! =)


GETTING READY
I am very excited to volunteer!!!! I bought a book of Raffi songs (I was going to bring nursery rhymes, but the language barely makes sense to me, much less trying to teach it to non-native English speakers). How on earth was I going to explain "Humpty Dumpty" or "The Old Woman that Lived in a Shoe"...? Raffi is much more appropriate to the task at hand: "Thanks for the sun in the sky, thanks for the clouds so high..."

My mother's friend had the brilliant idea of my bringing a harmonica! My guitar skills are sadly lacking, and there is no way I would drag a guitar through this crazy trip but a harmonica sounds perfect! I've been working a bit on my Swahili, but will upload the language CD's to my IPOD and do concentrated study over the next two weeks. I do have about 20 hours of plane time to get through!

That same friend urged me strongly to try to fit all my belongings into a single carry-on pack. For those of you that know me, that is a herculean task, but I am going to try my darndest! My nightmare would be losing my luggage, and with all the flights I am taking unfortunately that is a real possibility. The idea of stripping down my life to the bare essentials is quite appealing, so I am confident I will live up to this task!

My mom and I are going shopping right now to pick up my last-minute necessities. I must say she has been great about all this -- a slight panicky conversation now and again, but for the most part she has been incredibly brave about sending her baby girl to Africa.

In a moment of inspiration, I broke down and bought a Global Network BlackBerry yesterday. With the rebates and my Verizon credit it was less than $99, and this way mom can email/text me anytime she wants and receive a relatively timely response (Verizon assures me this will work in Tanzania, but we'll see, hahaha)! Seriously, this was a brilliant idea, and a steal! Unlimited email and web surfing anywhere in the world for $65/month; I feel happy because it will also take the edge off the loneliness when it inevitably seeps into certain moments. When feeling sad and disconnected, post on Facebook! =)

So friends, fear not, I am well within reach over the next two months. In fact, incoming texts are only 5 cents each, so keep texting me as if I'm still in Jerz!