Am I ready for this?

I am sitting here in the JFK airport chatting with Chris when he mentions his plans for the upcoming week and it hits me: I am moving to South Africa for a year - A YEAR! I don't get to hang out with him and Birke and Gary... for a whole year! The thought, "what the heck am I moving to South Africa for?" suddenly hits me with such force that I automatically think, "yes, this is crazy! I want to be home and be with my mom, Jamie, Cole and Chris! Why am I headed off to a country where I don't know anyone when things are going really great at home?"
           Luckily, for my lifetime dream's survival, I am already in New York; even if I wanted to pull a dramatic movie escape and run home I can't... Why is it that when I am sitting in the airport headed to South Africa I finally realize what I am up to? I realize that I have left my job, sold my car, packed my stuff, said good-bye to loved ones, and am now sitting in JFK. Was it self preservation in the form of denial that kept me thinking that moving to South Africa was 'no big deal'?
           During orientation they thanked us a couple times for, "giving up a year of our life," and I just thought, "I'm not giving up a year of my life, I am moving somewhere amazing - I am going to be 'living it up' in Africa for a year having an amazing adventure!" But now.... hmmm, I seem to be leaving a pretty awesome life behind without actaully realizing I was doing it... I guess that's the best way to go about it though, not really understanding it until it's too late to get cold feet.
          I am still getting on the plane - it just would have been nice if I weren't suddenly dreading it.   :)

Orientation in New York was really inspiring! We stayed at a gorgeous retreat center, had guest speakers come in and we also went to Manhattan one day to visit the CMMB headquartes. One of my favourite parts was visiting the UN. I wouldn't have planned the UN as a stop on a NY adventure but was really intrigued by and completely enjoyed the entire tour. At the end all I wanted to do was hang out and pick people's brains (and by this I mean world leaders...because that's who sits in those seats) about the UNAIDS program and about their 'End extreme poverty and Hunger" goals for 2015. Think about it - extreme poverty over by 2015!! Visit the UN website to learn more http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml it's super interesting and will make you feel like you can make a difference - because we can!
         During orientation we had a couple amazing speakers who have had the exact life that I have always thought about: working for the UN, working for UNICEF, volunteering in disaster torn areas, volunteering in area's of great need and teaching about international matters. I soaked up every word that one of speakers said, hoping for more and then simply wanted to ask, "so how do I get your life?" My fellow volunteers were all amazing people and I can't wait to hear all their stories, some of the places they are going are: Peru, Honduras, Sudan, Kenya and Ghana. It was great going to orientation and being able to sit and chat with the other volunteers about their fears and things that they are nervous about, and also what should be packed...

 More to come in a couple days when I find out more about what I'll be up to!

Here's an awesome website that helps you feed the hungry without having to donate money or leave your computer. Go to http://www.freerice.com/ and answer a couple of the vocab questions. For every answer you get right 10 grains of rice is donated to help feed the hungry. Try it for ten minutes and you just fed someone a meal they probably wouldn't have recived. Do it everyday - it's free and doesn't take anytime at all. :)