Wow! It’s hard to believe, the time has finally come to leave on my adventure. I’m about to travel and spend the next 8 months faaarrrr from home! I won’t lie, this past week has been very difficult. I’ve been back in Shattuck these past couple of days, yet all of my friends are gone. It makes me miss high school (I never thought I’d say that!). It's hard to move on, but I understand that an experience of a lifetime awaits.
As part of that, I have been desperately trying to finish reading the 6 books we were assigned as part of the Thinking Beyond Borders (TBB) program. That task is easy, however, compared to my packing assignment: Trying to shove all my belongs for 8 months into one, single BACKPACK! I am allowed two pairs of shorts, two pairs of pants, six shirts, two coats, and no hair straighteners. How does one live?! :-) Needless to say, I’ve multiplied that packing list by about 4, only to have my Dad divide it by 5. My argument was that I could bring more since my clothes are fairly small! Given his ever expanding size, on the other hand, would be allowed one shirt and one pair of pants!
As part of that, I have been desperately trying to finish reading the 6 books we were assigned as part of the Thinking Beyond Borders (TBB) program. That task is easy, however, compared to my packing assignment: Trying to shove all my belongs for 8 months into one, single BACKPACK! I am allowed two pairs of shorts, two pairs of pants, six shirts, two coats, and no hair straighteners. How does one live?! :-) Needless to say, I’ve multiplied that packing list by about 4, only to have my Dad divide it by 5. My argument was that I could bring more since my clothes are fairly small! Given his ever expanding size, on the other hand, would be allowed one shirt and one pair of pants!
The thought of leaving for 8 months is just beginning to scare me! It has finally occurred to me that I might ACTUALLY miss my family almost as much as my cell phone. :-) Despite these fears, I know that I am physically and mentally ready to meet all challenges presented. From tough conditions, comes great opportunity. Consequently, I know I will have a wonderful experience of giving, learning, and growing. I am very excited to meet the other students and the 3 fearless leaders going on the trip with me. Our only contact to date has been on Facebook, so it will be nice to connect pictures with actual faces.
With that all said, welcome to my blog! I’m not positive I know what I’m doing, but I’ll try my best. I will attempt to update it weekly, but depending on my access to the Internet my entries might be sporadic, please bear with me. And I apologize in advance for incorrect grammar and poor language but…. this isn’t intended to be a graded essay - even though my dad may be reading it!
I leave on Wednesday at 7AM and fly to Miami to meet up with the other students and leaders. From there we travel to Costa Rica and ten days of classes, orientation, and maybe a bit of fun.
Please, please, please try to keep in touch with me! You can follow my blog, email me (maddiep123@mac.com), send me Facebook messages, or if you really love me - send me a letter! (I will post addresses soon). Any form of contact would make me extremely happy!
Goodbye. I already miss everyone sooo much … and I'm still here!
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