There are so many things going on, I thought I should post a quick update before I get into the day’s many news stories.

First, there are only 78 days until I leave for Malawi! It is almost impossible to describe all the feelings that I have, even now: apprehension, excitement, curiosity, exhaustion, fear. I know it will be an extremely fulfilling experience, but I’m already dreading the extraordinarily long flight from St. Louis to Lilongwe. I think the last time we totaled it up, the total travel time was around 36 hours.

Second, the fantastic MU College of Education may be collaborating with me to get me access to Vimeo, at the very least, so I have somewhere to upload my videos for the blog. The plan is to try and blog every day (or every other), and to upload raw video twice a week. There will be a lot more extensive editing once I get home, but a lot of my concern is letting everyone see what I’m seeing.

I have a lot of questions. What does Malawi look like? Where will I be? Who will I be with? (A shoutout to Haley and Amie, who are also going!) What will it be like?

Note: As we speak, I’m working on my first video blog. Be patient, it’ll be up in the next 24 hours.

Third, I will be walking with my Masters in Education in May. There will be a month-long gap between my World Camp trip and graduation in which I’ll be able to unwind, but for now I’m going full-steam. I still have my meningitis shot to get, prescriptions to fill, and things to prepare, but I’m on my way.

I feel incredibly blessed about all the opportunities I have had in the past year, and in particular everything that is about to come into my life. Two years ago, I would have never suspected that I would be in this place, doing the things that I am. There really aren’t words to tell my parents, my family, my advisor, my boyfriend, and my friends how much they have all meant to me.

I’d like to welcome everyone just tuning in. It’s going to be a crazy four months, and I’m glad you’ve decided to follow along.