10 days til departure.....

Okay, so this is my first post. I have less than two weeks before I fly out to Los Angeles for orientation. I am very excited about going to Fiji, but at the same time I am trying not to think about all that I am leaving behind. I moved back to West Virginia a few weeks ago and it has been quite different from Charlotte, NC. Things move a lot slower here which I like. I don't have to schedule my plans around five o-clock traffic and of course not going to work as been great. I have gradually been saying my goodbyes. I have left behind the five years I have spent in Charlotte and all my best friends I have met there. Looking back to the day I decided to go to Queens University I never thought I would have had so much fun and met so many great people that will be apart of my life forever. Through the last couple of weeks, I have tried to get over the fact that I will no longer live with my best friends again like I have for the past five years. I can't believe all this is happening. I feel like everything has been stripped from me. I have no job and no best friends. I can only hope to make friends in Fiji like I have in Charlotte. Now, to leave my home, my comfort zone. I will miss the mountains of the West Virginia the most. The beauty of the state is breathtaking. I can't even talk about how much I will miss my family and Chris. So far, this has been one of the hardest things I have ever done and I haven't even done it yet. I have been preparing for this for over a year now. The anxiety is piling up so much I feel like I could explode. I am packing very little (2 bags with a total of 80 pounds) for two years and three months and moving to another country where I know no one. I am relying on complete strangers. I mean who does that? There has been so many ups and downs already I can't even imagine what lies ahead of me. I have read everything I can find about Fiji and I feel like I still have know idea what to expect when I get there. I keep dreaming about the first time I went to Guatemala, when we visited this island off the southern coast to distribute food to families hit by a hurricane. The people were so kind. They were so happy to see us and welcomed us with open arms. They didn't want us to leave. They had little resources on that island and it seemed that the world forgot about them. They had no food, barely much clothes, and certainly a scarce supply of water. I loved it there! I felt like I found heaven. Kids were running around happy not a worry in the world when in reality the world was against them not helping at all. The adults wanted to show us around and were very proud of there homes and schools they have provided for themselves. I miss that place often and I hope Fiji might be something like that. I don't know what to expect only my dreams give me a glimpse of what might lie ahead. I hope to become one of these people, to laugh with them, cry with them, eat with them, suffer with them to understand what it feels like to be forgotten. I know this might sound crazy, but I am ready. I know that I can't change the world in two years, but if I can impact just one person's life it will all be worth it.

To my friends, I beg you to keep in touch with me for I will miss you unbearably. For others, don't be strangers and enjoy this blog about my adventure. Thank you for everyone who have gotten me to this point. I would be nothing without my friends and family. This is as much as your adventure as it is mine!