Pre-departure jitters...

yes, my friends, i have created a blog. it was at the sole advice of two females who mean a lot to me: leah butts and kelly worcester. i admit, it took some convincing...i'm not too into the blogging thing. but, i do know it will be a ncie outlet for updates and a venting session or two :)

i'm sitting in my dad's apartment in alhambra, ca, finishing up packing for my trip to egypt. i'll be there for about five months: four months on a study abroad program (middle east studies program), and about a month traveling afterward. you could say i'm experiencing all the standard pre-trip emotions: anxious, excited, numb...

my dad is taking me to the airport in four hours. i have most of my stuff ready to go, just need to take care of last minute logistics.

i'm most excited about learning arabic!! and, we travel as a group to syria, jordan, israel and turkey. it will be hard for me to be travel in a large group of students (30), but i hope to keep patient and open-minded. also, our director emailed the group and warned about groups who have done MESP during the U.S. presidential elections in the past...he says it nearly destroyed community! i'm sure there will be a variety of opinions; i'm eager to see group dynamics unfold.

great news! i found out my brother and his wife and son will be on the same flight as me from frankfurt to cairo! (fyi: they met during MESP, and since have lived and worked in the middle east). i'm really really pumped about this.

alright, thats about it for now. gotta get to more packing/attempting to keep my sanity!