The Night Before

Today feels surreal. I'm almost all the way packed and my only goodbyes that are left are to my best friend Erin and to my parents. The goodbyes that were the hardest were my sister Meghan, niece Lilli, and my grandma. It's scary to think about how much can or will change by the time I get back. I know it's only 4-6 months...but Lilli could be walking! However, these goodbyes have made me realize yet again how many loved ones I have and how bless I am. I have a feeling I will finally cry in the airport tomorrow when I say goodbye to my awesome parents and best friend!

The past few weeks I have spent with family and friends and worrying about if I have mono. My best friend was recently diagnosed and I freaked out a little bit. I decided not to get tested because I am showing no signs. I also had to get another flu shot because Peru has a flu outbreak and you CANNOT get the vaccination there. What am I getting myself into?!

I have been successful in packing everything into one suitcase! Many doubted me but I pulled through. Somehow I managed to pack about 25 shirts, 6 pairs of jeans, sweatshirts, 30 pairs of underwear....toys for the kids, hand made sweaters for the kids...ect ect all into one bag with 5 lbs to spare! I am very impressed with myself. It was all about the air tight bags! I love those things! However, all my clothes look like prunes now.

Tomorrow we are leaving our house around 5:45am. We haven't decided yet but we think we're going to take the C&J to Boston. Erin's sleeping over tonight and she will be with us as well tomorrow! I'm the most scared about the airport. My sense of direction and reaction to high stress situations needs some work. I should have also brushed up on my Spanish this summer... My plane leaves from Boston at 9:13 am and I then will catch a connecting flight in Texas at 3:50pm their time.. I will finally arrive in Lima around 10:30pm. I will be greeted there by two men holding my name on a sign. I will also find out then if I'm staying in the volunteer house or in a homestay. My fingers are super crossed for the volunteer house. Another girl from Australia is landing around the same time as me so I'm hoping we can ride back to the house together! On Saturday I don't have anything planned but to hang out with all the other volunteers! Sunday I start my orientation!

My phone will be shutting off right after I call my parents saying I got to the house. Please do not text or call me after about 2:15pm tomorrow!! It will charge us both a large sum of money. I will be using Skype, Facebook, and Email for keeping in touch. I'm buying a Peruvian track phone but that will be solely for emergencies! My skype is: maggie.jones44 and my email is maggie.jones84@yahoo.com

Tonight I will be feasting on tacos with my parents and Erin! Afterwards I think we are going to have a camp fire! We had one last night as well. I'm really hoping I'll be able to sleep tonight. I'M SO EXCITED!! My next post will be from LIMA PERUUUU!

-Mags

Trip Preparation

My First Post!

     It's August 14th and summer has somehow flown by yet again. Is there a such thing as a slow summer? I leave for Lima, Peru in 16 days. I will be volunteering in an orphanage there and teaching English. Right now I am booked for 4 months, but I'm considering extending it two more months. My suitcase is currently laying beside me with it's mouth wide open already spilling out clothes. It's safe to say I am the worst packer in the world.

Vaccinations and Pills:

I hate to admit this, but one of the first things I thought about when I began thinking of volunteering abroad was how many shots I would have to get. If you know me, you know I hate shots. I believe I might have a slight phobia. However, I decided to push aside my selfish fears and face the music.       Much to my pleasure, my location does not require any vaccinations although there are a few "recommended" vaccinations. I visited the travel clinic back in June and got my prescriptions for Anti-Malaria, Typhoid Fever, and Antibiotics. Thanks to my parents great health insurance, I paid a total of $9 for all my medication and vaccinations. I had the choice to get the Yellow Fever vaccination and I went back and got that shot on July 17th. It was a bit scary because my doctor warned me that 1 in 100,000 people die from it and well...with my luck lately I could very well be that 1 person! I was not thank goodness! I had to start my Typhoid Fever pills  on the same day as I got the Yellow Fever shot and I took those every other day for 10 days. Thankfully, there is no chance of me getting Yellow Fever or Malaria in Lima. I only got the vaccination and pills in case I decided to travel a far distance while I'm there. The Yellow Fever shot hurt a little bit because it slowly goes in but other than that it was completely fine and I didn't cry/pass out! Yay! I'll also be bringing my migraine medicine, anti-diarrhea pills and other simple medications such as ibuprofen. 

Packing:

Thankfully I am going to a place where almost everything is readily available and SUPER CHEAP. I went to Walmart yesterday and bought some toiletries and ended up spending $50...I think that's about as much as I'm going to buy because I could have got everything there for about $10. I have been talking to many of the volunteers that are currently in Lima and they have told me that they'll take me shopping when I get there and I can get nice alpaca sweaters and pants for about $10 US. I think I know what I'll be bringing back as gifts :)  I also bought some air tight bags in hope of cramming as much as I can into my bag. I have decided to take a good sized suitcase and my North Face backpack for luggage. I'm trying to live by the saying "pack it and halve it, time it and double it". The last few things I need to get include: a raincoat, travel towel, new camera (mine broke!), and a gift for the family.

Random:

The goodbyes have started. Most of my friends are going off to college about a week before I leave for Peru. I've had two going away parties and they were both such amazing days. I am truly blessed to have such incredible people in my life. I've recently been considering extending my time in Peru. I want to get a full gap year experience and that would be one of my cheapest options. I can change my flight date, extend my health insurance, and pay an additional program fee for pretty cheap. However, I do really want to be home for Christmas. Ideally, I will come home for Christmas, see all my friends because they will be on break, live at home until the end of January, and then go to Costa Rica and get a paying job teaching English or do a work exchange on an organic farm. It's so nice to not be tied down to anything though and just go as I please--well and where my bank account will allow me. Decisions, decisions. I'm going to just let time tell and see how much money I have left. Right now however, thanks to the gap year scholarship I got , my budget is looking pretty swell. I also just got a credit card. I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do about a cell phone but most likely I will have my current one with a Peruvian number. I'm getting beyond EXCITED and really hope I pick up a lot of Spanish and maybe get a cute accent? Sorry this post has been so boring! I promise, once I actually start moving it'll be less about shots and packing and more about me struggling with the language barrier and diarrhea. :p Just kidding...I hope.  Also, sorry for all the grammatical errors--I could spend all day fixing them or I could take my well deserved nap before I babysit two of the cutest kids in the world. 

Much love! 

Mags