The rains down in Africa

My first blog post and I'm three weeks away from being Kenya bound! I may be getting ahead of myself here but every day I grow more and more excited for my first international trip (hopefully not my last). Stayed tuned for new developments in my preparations the next couple weeks before my departure on July 5th. Here's what's going on for now!

1. I started taking my malaria pills last night. For those of you who have taken mefloquine before, you may know that the medicine comes with some hefty side effects, the most annoying (so far) being lucid dreaming. From the little research that I did (i.e. Wikipedia), it's my understanding that lucid dreaming means that the dreamer is aware they are dreaming and can actively participate in the dreams. The "actively participate" part made me scratch my head when I read it before I fell asleep. Late last night, I understood. I woke up sporatically throughout the night snapping my jaw at the air and making attempts to crawl on the wall my bed shares. My dreams were all events that could have happened at random points in my life, in situations that I had been in with people I knew. Normally, I never remember my dreams, but last night I had so many that I was constantly waking up and falling back asleep. It was an absolutely terrifying and exhausting experience. Luckily, I only have to take the pill once a week, but I do need to take it for the next 11 weeks. After a quick convo with my Mom (who reassured me with her sympathy and wisdom), I realized that there will probably be similar moments during my stay in Kenya where I won't be able to press the speed dial for my Mom and get her instant comfort. However, my Mom is an incredible woman, who has taught Kelly and I a lot about independence and figuring things out for ourselves (someone give this woman a book deal!).

2. My boyfriend, Josh, has been nothing but supportive of my trip this summer. He quickly organized a benefit show featuring local favorite bands to raise money for the drought relief fund for the Maasai. It's this Saturday, June 20th in Kenosha at the Danish Brotherhood starting at 6:00 pm and entrance into the festival of retired ska bands is $5. If you're in the area, your attendence is invaluable to me and the Maasai whose sons and daughters go hungry while they are at school. We all know a good meal helps kids focus more in school (frosted mini-wheats commercial anyone?) but due to the drought, resources are low and the school lunch programs have been cut. If you are interested in more info about the drought relief fund, you can check out the Maasai Association's website at http://www.maasai-association.org/
I hope to see you at the show! A lucky girl I am for having such a dear man in my life :)

3. While you are checking out the Maasai Association website, you can take a look at the program that I am undergoing at
http://www.fieldstudies.org/pages/4163_environmental_health_in_kenya.cfm


4. I had a tearful goodbye with my sister a few weeks ago when she dropped me off in Madison. That was the last time we would see each other until I come back mid-August and I didn't realize how emotional it would be. Kelly is the greatest sister anyone could ever have and she always has the best advice and somehow always know the right thing to say (again, someone give this girl a book deal!)

That's all for now, I'm going to go hang out with my awesome roomies since we only have a short time together before I take off. Goodnight all!