Here I go!!!

Well, this is it. I'm heading to Philly tomorrow morning for "Staging." The next day, we fly over the pond.

Wow. It's here. I'm excited, nervous, scared, thrilled, blessed, jumping-out-of-my-skin, and yet....at peace. (Corps, that is). Seriously, though, I guess I'm feeling pretty ready for this. It took 15 months, from the time I applied, to the time I'm leaving, for this to come to fruition. I'm ready to learn. Ready to help. Ready to grow. Ready to live another culture for a while. Ready to learn more about the world and it's people. Ready to become a better person. Ready to share my knowledge - and hopefully make, even a small, little, impact.
Ok - after saying that - I'm actually exhausted. I think I've thought everything through a million times. I've packed and repacked hundreds of times. I hardly got any sleep last night (after a wonderful party of family and friends!). And I'm supposed to get up at 6 am tomorrow, in order to get to the airport - for my 2 long days of traveling (see this post for the entire itinerary). But I'm not complaining :)
Tomorrow we begin our orientation/training in Philly. As soon as we land in Namibia, we continue....and for the next 2 months, I will be training M-F - in language, safety & security, culture, etc. I'll be living with my first host family for about 5 weeks. After 1 month of training, we will find out where our permanent sites will be - as well as visiting that site, and shadowing a current volunteer. After the 2 months of training, I go to my permanent site, where I live with another host family for about 6 weeks. So, basically, the first 3 months of my experience in Namibia will be filled with lots of adjusting and learning. After that, I am hoping I will begin to find my own routine...and adjust to my new way of life....
I will update this as often as I can, but until I get over there, I really don't know what my communication options will be. I know I'll have a local phone number and probably a smart phone of some sort. As for the internet, I really don't know how often I'll have access.....
Sooooo.....here goes something! I'll check in as soon as I can, and will start sharing my photos, videos, and stories!!!
Peace & Love, me