"I'm freaking out man!...You are freaking out...man"

Super Troopers...one of my all time favorite movies! I'm definitely starting to freak out a little bit...it's totally pathetic, because I'm doing things like, 'this is the last time I'll make my bed at home for three months, or make toast, or play with the dog'...blah blah blah, right? I'm about to head out on a crazy once in a lifetime adventure and instead of being beyond stoked, I find myself a little sad and way anxious. I'm sure all of this is normal, but I promise that I will only allow myself the first night to be sad...from there on out, I will try my best to stay out of my own way and be as present as possible in this amazing experience. But until then, I'm a little freaking out!

I packed last night...and in doing so found a 6 page packet labeled "SPANISH VOCABULARY...PLEASE LEARN BEFORE YOUR ARRIVAL"...here we go again...thank goodness I have some time to study on the way there...I'm always unprepared for class! I'm impressed with my packing skills...one large suitcase and one backpack...I feel like I maybe even under-packed. I think the ratio of clothes to medicine is probably equal...ha...I am prepared!

I leave at 10:30 tonight...then get to hang in Miami for about 6 hours, then I'll have a nice stint in Columbia (yes, am definitely nervous about this one), then to Lima, then I'll finally arrive in Arequipa around 9:00 Saturday night. I'll be spending my first night in the hotel that is GVI's headquarters so to speak, then I have orientation Sunday morning and then...well then I just don't know. As soon as I have some time, I'll post an "I survived my ridiculously long travel day" post, with what I'm sure will be some entertaining stories...the last really long trip I took, a 15 hour train ride from NYC (b/c of that big snow storm in December, my flight was cancelled for over a week), I had to spend almost the entire ride next to this ridiculously smelly/messy girl...she was covered in horse hair (and I'm so allergic to horses), she was wearing these filthy pink sweatpants that she would wipe the Cheeze-it residue off on, her fingernails were filthy, long, and curly, she hadn't washed her hair in what I imagine was over 2 weeks, therefore the dandruff was out of control...almost 15 hours next to this treat...I try not to judge a book by it's cover, so I feel that after 15 hours, I'm allowed my judgments...ha! Hopefully I'll have some less smelly people on my travels today and tomorrow.

Ok, so this is it! The next time I post, it will be from Peru!!! I hope everyone had a great week and I can't wait to chat with you all soon! "Time to move on...time to get going...what lies ahead I have no way of knowing", Mr. Tom Petty. Love ya'll!