I leave in one week

BAH!

Slightly scared out of my mind. Between pre-departure essays, packing, saying goodbye to loved ones, and trying to calm my heaving stomach, I still don't think I fully understand what I am getting myself into. I'm flying through things, missing Luther and Luther people like crazy, and really really wanting to just go chuck rocks in the lake for an hour.

I know that once I am there, things are going to be rough. I"ll be in a new place, with 8 semi-strangers, unable to speak the language except for the few phrases that my brain can hold onto, and on the other side of the world from everyone who know me and loves me.

I think that the things that I am the most worried about are the things I am not going to be here in the midwest for.....I am (once again) going to miss the family meeting. I won't be seeing my lovely sister off to college for her freshman fall. My youngest sister is going to swim like crazy and probably grow another 6 inches....everyone will go on with normal life (or not-so-normal, as the case may be!) and I'll see it all through the computer screen, or hear about it through phone calls. And when I come back, just talking and speaking about my experiences won't be enough to convey what I have learned - I'll be distanced from my loved ones by my experiences. I know that I should really be worrying only about what the next few weeks will bring me, but to be totally honest, I don't even know what I should be worrying about. So instead, I am focusing on distant things that I can semi-understand, which is a silly thing to do because they are months and months away.

Long story short, I am a goof ball. I am going to Africa for almost 5 months, I am going to have a difficult yet amazing time, and I am going to miss all of you. I'll keep in touch as much as possible.