If blogs required an abstract...

Hello friends!

Well, as I'm sure I've managed to tell you all by now (even if you have been summiting Mt.Olympus, playing with kids in New York, or in a different country altogether), on the 27th I will be departing for Ghana and won't return for 5 weeks. I'm unspeakably excited, not to mention inordinately trepidatious. If I make it through alive, this could be the best thing I've ever forced myself to do. However, this is a terribly long time to not have any contact with any of you, so I'm going to try to do my part by trying to keep up some semblance of blog. Plus, I've always wanted to do something this quasi-pretentious. I'm not sure if this will actually work, considering that I will only have access to internet via cafes which may or may not be convenient pit stops...but it sounded like fun so I thought I'd at least give it a try.

Oh, a word for the wise: if you want to hold on to the last vestige of your sanity, never try to plan a trip to Africa in 3 weeks. The past couple weeks have pretty much been a blur of calls/visits to doctors and post offices and very confusing email interactions with people in varying time zones. And I won't pretend it wasn't hard to part with half the money I earned from childcare in order to sentence myself to free labor in a foreign country. Anyway, now that I have my visa, flights, immunizations, a host family, and a place to work, I can focus on the somewhat less stressful prospect of packing. But then again, who really knows what to bring to Ghana for 5 weeks?

ps. Be aware that if you read this you will have to put up with my odd humor and writing style, not to mention my usual prolixity. But if you stick with me you'll proably get a hug or something. Not to mention have the pleasure of reading exclusive cultural knowledge that can only be found in any guide book on Ghana at any bookstore near you! Goodbye for now...oh and this is for chelsea:

Here today, ghana tomorrow,

Julia