So, the trip is rapidly approaching and I am becoming increasingly more anxious about it. I received a class schedule and list of the program participants this week and have gotten to know a few them via facebook. Everyone that I've talked to is very excited to be going and seems really nice.
My classes this semester will be Kiswahili (the language spoken throughout East Africa), Contemporary Issues in East Africa, International Law and Photography. The Contemporary Issues course is the main course and is split into four sections covering peace studies and conflict resolution issues, human rights and gender issues, social and economic development issues and environmental management issues. I'm really excited for my photography course, because I have a very nice digital SLR that I've been waiting to use (and understand how it works). I'm also a little nervous about swahili as the only words I know are jambo (hello), mzungu (white person/man who contains his farts), simba (lion) and hakuna matata (no worries)... the last two are courtesy of the Lion King.
I have yet to begin packing but have a ridiculous list so I hope to start tomorrow or Sunday. I leave Wednesday and fly from Austin to Detroit to Amsterdam and meet up with another girl from my program and we'll fly to Kilimanjaro Airport together. I know it will be a crazy 2 days, but hopefully smoother than my last attempt to go to Africa.
I guess that's all I have for now as I'm still stateside. Hopefully the next entry will be more exciting.
