only 3 days to go...

Well, I am leaving for my staging in Philladelphia with the Peace Corps on the 17th, and then it's off to Cotonou, Benin on the 19th! I have to say, this has really come up on me fast, and though I am incredibly excited, and am definitely ready to leave my little town, I am a good bit nervous as well... but seriously, who wouldn't be nervous about going to live and work somewhere they've never been before and where they don't know anyone - not to mention the fact that they're going there for 2 years! But, as I said, I'm more excited than anything else. My family had a little going away party for me last weekend, which was really nice. Actually, perhaps the most useful part of it was the cake.

It meant that at least for that one day I didn't have to explain exactly where it was I was going. I have gotten quite used to saying,"Benin, it's in Africa, between Nigeria and Togo."

I have basically been spending my time the past couple weeks wrapping up stuff here and getting ready to leave, trying not to over-pack (the limit is 80 pounds of checked baggage, which is really not all that much), from what I can tell from other volunteers' blogs, it seems like most people worry too much about packing, so I'm sure I'll be fine with what I've gotten together. Oh, for anyone who was wondering, I am now officially done working at Subway. (No, not like the last time I was officially done. this time is for real. I swear!)

My plan for the next three days is really just to take it easy and make sure I'm not forgetting stuff. Last time I went abroad, I got really sick immediately because I had crammed way to much in before leaving, so I really am going to try and take it easy and get enough sleep and all, so I can at least get off to a good start. We'll see.

Once my trip actually gets going, I plan on posting up pictures, to make things more interesting, but I don't know how often I'll have internet access, so we'll see how all this works out...