The "blogging" Jackie is back! I'm not quite sure how I ended up here again, sitting in a pile of clothing, wide-eyed and confused about what to do next. It's 2:30 in the morning here in Brooklyn. My flight for Tanzania is tomorrow at 5 PM. I think I'll probably get out of here around 1:00. I have packed my suitcase (can you believe it!?), but I still need to add underwear and sit on my duffle bad full of pillows so I can try and make it zip. Samyra and Drew helped me close it before, but like a fool I opened it up to try and fit just one more pillow. I bought 12 pillows for the girl's home because Chris said they were hard to come by in Tanzania. Man, I keep wanting to type/say Ghana.
By the way, I am going to Tanzania to do some social work research/program evaluation/manual labor/play at an orphanage that a nice young man in my class started. Here is the organization:
http://www.jbfc-online.org
Tonight I went out to my friend Chelsea's graduation party. It was so wonderful to see her and some of my other Ghana friends. So wonderful. We were at a claymation animator's apartment who happens to be magical and a family friend of Chelsea's. We watched the Velveteen Rabbit and it was so nice. At the end he mumbled,
"All the children love to watch this one over and over. Until he becomes real."It was so sweet, we definitely were all teary-eyed. Maybe I'm not explaining that well. I don't know, there was just a very sweet feeling in that apartment, kind of like a dream.
Next we headed to a bar called Nevada Smith for our friend Cory's birthday/post graduation thing. It was very nice to hang out more with the Ghana peeps. Dipesh got me very excited about India (p.s. I'm going to India with Paul in August) and made me feel better about leaving. It's not that I don't want to go, there is just something sad about it. And I know that in two days (if I get on the internet) I will be raving about Tanzania. I think it will be absolutely amazing.
Now I am back home, sitting in my pile of clothes, thinking of what to do next. I think I will sleep. I'm going to see Sean and hopefully Ray to say bye in the morning and call everyone one last time.....and clean my entire room to get ready for the sub-letters, no big deal. Ohhhh boy, it's starting to hit me. I better hit the hay or the sack or the barn or something. I'm still not sure if I will remain a vegetarian (i have been for the last year pretty much) in Tanzania. I'll see how I feel. It's sort of a different story over there, the meat industry is not evil and disgusting. I definitely won't eat pork though, that has always grossed me out. I'll just see what my body tells me. If I crave protein, I will probably eat it. I think I will be craving Fan products (in West Africa men on the streets sell Fan Ice, Fan Choco, Tampico, and Fan Yogo, wonderful frozen confections that actually save your life), I hope they have an equivalent in East Africa.
So, ya, to clarify, tomorrow I will fly into Dar es Salaam (the East Coast, right by Zanzibar on the map above), stay in a hostel for the night, and fly to Mwanza the next morning (hence the blog title). It is right on the edge of Lake Victoria and will be absolutely breathtaking. AHHH!
Now I am sitting amongst three of the Roder siblings on our couch (my roommate Samyra and her brother and sister). Sanam was giving me some Tanzania advice because she did a med program there. Iman and I are discussing the difference between blogs and massive e-mails. Ok, I need to sleeeeep. Goodnight everyone! I will miss you all so much! I'll be thinking of you all and I will buy pretty things for you....
Goodnight! Don't worry too much, I will be having the time of my life.
Love,
Jackie
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