T - 3 days

With three days left to prepare, my trip is very quickly becoming very real. Planning the trip and getting the shots (3 in each arm. Yellow Fever, Tetanus, Hepatitus A, Polio, Typhoid, and Flu. I plastered bandaids on myself to make sure everyone knew how I had suffered) and buying the tickets were all important steps, but not until now have I really realized what I'm about to do. As in, take an 11 hour flight into a country I've never been to before, in a continent I've never been to before, with only my 30% Deet and sheet of "Common Ewe Phrases" to guide and protect me. (I can now say: "good afternoon" (ndo), "how are you?" (efoa?) and "welcome" (woezer, but pronouned way-zo. Which confused me at first because I thought it was pronounced woe-zer. Silly me.)

My biggest fear? The mosquitos. Even in the states, where the little devils aren't pumped full of lethal viruses, I always seemed to have the worst reactions to their bites. My friend's bites seemed tiny, even cute compared to the bulbous lumps and rashes that would spread over my entire body anytime I got near even one mosquito, making me scratch like a madwoman until I had appeased the itch gods. My mom says it's because I have sweet blood. Is this an attempt to make me feel better as I scratch away skin until it's raw and bloody? Perhaps. But now I'm prepared. My 30% Deet will be my new best friend (assuming it doesn't poison me before it gets to the mosquitos).

I'm most excited to meet the people, who are supposedly very friendly. A reliable source also told me that they will try to propose to me. This source also told me there are chickens running around everywhere. I'm excited for both these things.

With that I shall conclude my first ever blog post. As they say at the double tree, "we hope you enjoy (pause) your stay with us."