Tuesday, March 22, 2011

i see london, i see france....

feel free to fill in the rest.

i have my flight plans! ok i've had them for a few weeks now, i just haven't had time to post on here about how exciting they are. [having 3 blogs can be time consuming, therefore you neglect them, especially if you are a full-time student with a part time job.] here is the jist of it-
fly out from SLC International the morning of may 4th
arrive in Chicago O'Hara airport at 3:20- 2.5 hour layover
fly overnight to LONDON   arriving at 7:50 am on may 5th
12 hour layover in London- we are going to see the city!!!!! (excited much?)
fly overnight to Nairobi, Kenya arriving may 6th- 1.5 hour layover
fly to ENTEBBE, UGANDA arriving late morning of may 6th

initially upon getting my flight plans i was dancing. literally. my roommates thought i was ca-razy. well, i am. crazy for Africa (and London)! two days later i was freaking out. 
#1- i've only flown once before in my life and that was to Dallas, Texas with a big group. i will probably be pretty much alone on my flight from SLC to Chicago to England. (I found out Sunday that there is another girl, Sarah, who is flying with me. fear assuaged.) 
#2- i've never been out of the country (canada doesn't count). what do i do at customs? i don't want anyone to be looking at that passport picture. it looks nast. what about a visa? what if we miss a connection? what if the plane is hijacked by crazed penguins like in Madagascar 2? (ok that last one probably won't happen, but it could.) travelling is scary. but i've always wanted to travel, so this is my first step at becoming a pro.
other concerns include... sleeping on planes. everyone says it's impossible. i already know i can't sleep in cars, so this will be interesting. going to the bathroom. i know this is basic, but i read a book once that basically told me that airplane bathrooms are the armpit of bacterial infection. i don't think i can avoid it though on my overnight flights... especially with how much water I guzzle everyday. airplane food. on my flight to dallas all we got was lame potato chips and soda pop. being the health freak i am, i was not impressed. (at least the peanuts they used to give out had protein.) i hope the dinner i am fed is not some lame microwave dinner that sends my body into spasms because of the strange ingredients. sitting next to weird people. have you ever seen Red Eye? well that movie is a little freaky. what if i sat by someone like that? i will definitely have a sharp pen on hand to stab into their neck. ok, ok, that is highly unlikely to occur. i am going to be friendly and talk to said person. my goal is to give away a few pass along cards! what if i get bored? flying to Dallas was excited because it was my first flight and it was only an hour and a half. i pretty much stared out the window the whole time. my flight to Uganda is much longer. i will probably get bored, because i easily do. i'll fidget. read two pages in a book. stare out the window (if i am lucky enough to get a window seat). poke my neighbor (if we are friends). and ask when we're going to be there. being bored is a scary thing.

so yes, now all you seasoned travelers need to give me advice and tips so that my veeeery long flight is a little more enjoyable.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

1.

i've put off posting on this blog because the "first post" has such huge expectations. it has to epic. inspiring. humorous. after worry for weeks about how i was going to make this post just perfect, i've decided to give up. and tell you the story that let to the creation of this blog.

for about three years now i've been obsessed with going to Africa. people ask me why i want to go and honestly, i don't really know why. its not because i love little black children (although they are adorable) and it's not because i want to satisfy some guilt of living in a wealthy country. i have simply been interested in Africa and black people almost my entire life. i also love serving and helping people. these two loves have melded into going to Africa to help people. so searching began.

i started searching in earnest my sophomore year of college. i applied and was accepted to BYU field studies program to Ghana. a few weeks after acceptance i told them i would not be travelling with them. it just didn't feel right. the summer and fall of 2010 i kind of gave up on my dream of Africa, because i thought i'd be getting married soon. however, one day, while on Facebook (social networking isn't all bad), i saw an advertisement for HELP International. after checking out their website, i was hooked. i applied that weekend and was accepted within two weeks to go to Mbale Uganda from May 4 to August 24.

i am so thrilled for this opportunity! being able to help our brothers and sisters in Uganda is a dream come true! i hope to be able to change at least one person's life. i have made my motto for the trip (and for my life, really) the quote to the right. Ghandi- "Be the change you wish to see in the world." This blog will chronicle my adventures in Africa. I will be doing humanitarian aid. The great thing about HELP is that we choose our projects. They always do the basics- adobe ovens, farming, business development, orphanages, literacy. But we also can make our own individualized projects. I really want to do something with the health over there. I don't know how much of a change I can do by simply working in a hospital, so I am leaning toward health education or HIV/AIDS prevention and education.

I hope you will follow me on my journey to the other side of the earth