At the moment I am in Amsterdam getting ready for my flight tomorrow morning at 10am (ish). Among the items on my to-do list for this evening: laundry; print resume and scan of doctoral diploma (thanks for that pops) needed to prove to the Tanzanian Immigration officials that I have the skills and qualifications to work/volunteer in the country; buy a sweatshirt (I am concerned that I will be cold at night in Tanzania); call parents (make mommy feel better); write postcards; eat a good meal (with my crazy dietary issues who knows what I'll be able to eat once I am there); review Swahili note cards; commence malaria medication; SLEEEEEEEP!
SUMMARY OF TRIP THUS FAR...
Admittedly things got off to a hectic start. After throwing the July 4 bash (thanks again Tim for coming out to be with me and do the craziness once more!!!!) I had a week filled with pages of to-do lists, little sleep, and sensory (emotional) overload. Once I finally arrived in Vienna (midnight Monday July 13) I said hello Katja and Sofia, took a shower and fell asleep for the next 16 hours.
Vienna was fantastic. Talking with Katja till 3am every night, spending quality time getting to know Sofia (her 5 year old daughter), walking around this magnificent historical wonderland... what more could I ask for?
Following this I spent 3 glorious days in Berlin. What a city! Inexpensive, gritty, raw, REAL, filled with amazing artists and intellectuals and amazing encounters. To say everyone that moves to Berlin falls immediately in love with it is not an understatement. My friend put it best -- it has all the vibrancy and energy of a huge city (it is several times larger than Paris) but it is as laid back as a small city (like Montreal or Barcelona). At some point I will write more on my observations of the culture, politics, history, etc. but will leave that for when I return to the states. Sadly, I met a great conversationalist 1 hour before I had to leave for the airport. Hopefully we will continue our conversation in the future.
I've uploaded some photos to Flicker (I'll attempt to put some directly on the blog as well though since I have yet to explore that particular feature it may not work in the remaining 40 minutes that I have on this computer)...
Well, this is it. Tomorrow at this time I'll be in Tanzania and I don't know how much internet access I'll have. Yes friends I'll take tons of pictures and send you each a postcard from there! At the risk of being redunant, thank you once again for your support. Everyone in my life / path has been incredible, including the many friends I have made on this trip [its awesome, typical backpacker initial conversation... 'Hey, where are you heading next...? I'm going to Prague/Budapest/Amsterdam/Barcelona, what about you? Oh, I'm leaving for Africa on Saturday] Hahaha! I loved the reactions =)
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