Visas, vaccines... and cheese

So as I type this, I'm sitting in the Detroit airport waiting to fly out to Amsterdam and then from there to Accra, Ghana. The past couple days have been crazy with last minute packing and buying things that I realized I'd forgotten to get earlier in the week. Actually, not even 3 hours before I was supposed to leave, I was at the World Market in Grandville with my friend Kaila buying maple syrup and honey to bring as gifts to Ghana. (And this weird cucumber soda that I just had to try. For future reference, kind of odd-tasting, but good nonetheless.)

As I walked out the door before driving to the airport though, I really only had three things on my mind that I for sure needed to bring. 1. My passport and visa. Pretty self-explanatory. 2. My yellow fever vaccination record. Without it, I wouldn't be allowed to get into Ghana after this 20-hour trip. And 3. Cheese. You see, the guy who I've been in contact with through WPE asked me to bring him six blocks of cheese months ago. So as I left, I had to double check to make sure I had 2 blocks of sharp cheddar, 2 blocks of monterey jack, and 2 blocks of pepperjack. (I'm hoping that cheese is allowed through customs...)

I still don't think it's quite hit me that I'm going to be in Ghana tomorrow yet. I'm not sure it's going to hit me until I'm actually there. I just got off the phone with my friend and when she asked me how I felt, the only answer I could give was, "weird." It's some odd combination of excitement, nervousness, and scared out my mind-ness. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I have absolutely no idea what's in store for me. The last time I felt like this was before freshman year of college, but even then I sort of had an idea what I was getting myself into. This time, I am going in almost completely blind. I can only hope that this is going to be as great of an experience as everyone has been assuring me that it will be.

Well, it's about time to start boarding the plane to Amsterdam. I hope everyone reading this has a great fall, whether that's in Hanover, Jenison, Scotland, or somewhere in the middle of the desert. Keep in touch, I'll be checking blitz (for those non-Dartmouth people, "e-mail") as often as possible and updating this blog as much as possible too. See you all on the other side!

p.s. For any '14 AXAs reading this, you'll all find it very amusing that the new debit card I got has a picture of a panda on the front. #12X