Leaving on a jet plane . . . (Tomorrow)

I can't believe that tomorrow I am leaving, I don't even know that it has really sunk in yet. This was probably the longest week of my life, it was nice to finally just be able to say "I'm leaving on Saturday!" instead of in however many months or weeks, but Saturday has taken forever to get here. Today I spent the whole day packing with Mom which has gone smoothly except for the few minutes when Mom read somewhere that I DO need a Visa to go to South Africa, which I don't have because really I don't need one, but until we confirmed that it was a tense couple of minutes (i.e. I was ready to kill myself at the thought of having to postpone this trip). Anyways, I am pretty much all packed and I personally think that for being gone 6 weeks I am definitely not bringing too much though Mom begs to differ on several items. But really everything I'm bringing is incredibly necessary.

It is sad that I've only been home for one week and haven't really been able to see/spend the time I'd like with some people, but at the same time I really can't imagine being home for another 8 week winter break. It is also sad of course to be missing Christmas with the fam, but as Rholene (the AVIVA staff member I've been in contact with since last year) says, the babies need to be fed/bathed/played with on Christmas and New Years too, and somebody's gotta do it. Christmas in Africa will probably be so weird, but there is always next year & the years to come at home. New Years, on the other hand, I am EXTREMELY excited to spend in Cape Town (legal drinking age = 18). Woohoo!

So my flight leaves tomorrow at 5:40 PM from Dulles-- I fly overnight to Johannesburg, South Africa (~15 hours?), have a two hour layover and then get into Cape Town around 7PM after two more hours of flying (I think). I am kind of dreading the long flight; I suck at sleeping on planes and this will not be helped by my definite nervousness/excitement. I really would just like to be there already. Tomorrow morning Dad's making waffles, then I have to run a bunch of errands, finish packing, go say goodbye to Grandma, and get Bagel Bakery with the girls (Molly, Cody, & Marie). It's going to be a busy day.

A few interesting things to know about AVIVA/Cape Town/Africa:
-Cape Town was recently named 5th in a survey to find the top 50 "must see" places in the world.
-Beyonce Knowles, Bono, Elton John, and Manchester United have all visited & provided publicity for Baps (the orphanage I'll be working at).
-Included in my trip is a full day Cape Winelands tour, a full day Peninsula tour, and a half day cultural tour of Cape Town.
-AVIVA was recently contacted by the Discovery Channel, which is interested in doing a special that would follow several volunteers before, during, and after their time volunteering with AVIVA.
-South African currency is the Rand, R10 to $1. According to AVIVA, a good breakfast costs about R35, dinner with a bottle of wine around R80, and R12 for a beer.
-South Africa is 7 hours ahead of Olney, MD.
-It is currently summer in South Africa. Right now it 75 degrees and sunny with 0% chance of rain =).
-When not at the orphanage I will be residing at:
AVIVA House
8 Sussex Road
Observatory
7925
South Africa
-The "Big Five" apparently refers to the 5 animals that are the hardest/most dangerous to hunt & includes the elephant, leopard, lion, buffalo, and rhino. Hopefully I will see them all in Kruger National Park.
-South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV in the world, more than five million. HIV-related deaths among young people fifteen years of age and older increased by 62% from 1997 to 2002. AIDS-related deaths account for some 30% of all deaths nationwide. The adult prevalence of HIV in South Africa soured from less than 1% in 1990 to almost 25% by 2000 with an average of 600 new infections per day. 100 children become HIV-positive every day, and in 2005 160,000 children experienced the death of a parent to HIV/AIDS. (New News Out of Africa).

I guess that is all for now-- the next time I write it will be from AFRICA!!

**HUGE thank you to all of my family that contributed to my Safari fund. It is such a big help to me and I really, really appreciate it!! Love you all.**