Pre-Departure

Well, today is officially my last day at home here in Duluth (and the United States for that matter). For the majority of our group, our flight leaves at 12:30pm from Minneapolis-St. Paul. I'm typing this as I'm sitting with my dad enjoying the last bit of time we have at home together before I leave. We've spent much of our time together talking, walking the dogs (a lot) and running last minute errands. The excitement and anticipation for my trip is at its peak, and I know sleep may be difficult tonight.

As I'm sitting here, it is very difficult to imagine what lies ahead of me for the next four months. However, I do know that I am in for an exciting and life changing time in Africa. I do realize I have still have quite a few things to think about while I'm abroad which includes next years academic schedule and even more importantly... what I'm planning to do this summer. I'm currently looking at a special needs camp in Colorado and also some biochemistry research in Minneapolis-St. Paul. I'll figure that out in Africa, hopefully.

Two weeks ago, I spent an entire week of my break at St. John's living in Josh Bikus' and Will Breens' apartment. I definitely made myself at home by drinking excessive amounts of beer, watching TV,  using their laundry, and utilizing their roommates' cooking utensils. It was certainly worth waiting a week for a weekend with my good friends and Sal's. That weekend is a story that probably deserves its own blog post. I'll leave it out for now. It was a good last weekend to say the least. This week has been just as lazy with plenty of sleep and lounging. I definitely should have accomplished more than I did-- since South Africa will be more than enough of a break from normal life and my normal academic schedule, but I didn't. But, I did manage to finish packing without any amount of stress and managed to clean up the majority of the mess I made from moving in for winter and packing for my time abroad. Good enough I guess. I decided on taking two check in bags to allow room for anything I might find in Africa that I want to bring home.

The last few days I have been making rounds of phone calls to my grandparents and immediate family and Skyping some of my best friends from Duluth and from CSB|SJU.

To my CSBSJU friends: 
Thanks for taking the time to say goodbye and hang out the other weekend. It meant a lot. For those who returned from abroad, it was great to reconnect and catch up on each others' experience over the last few months. I wish we had more time together. To those who were around this last semester, well, we had a good run and I'll miss you all very much. I definitely made some great friends this semester. You know who you are. Please be sure to keep up the same upward trend of hilarity and ridiculousness that encompassed nearly every weekend night. For the nursing girls who will be joining us in South Africa, we will be waiting for you all in the Port Elizabeth airport in May!

I'll say goodbye for now, but I know I'll keep in touch with everyone over the next semester. Good luck to everyone with school and keep up the hard work.


Cheers,
Isaak

P.S. Check my Facebook for my Skype address and iChat, and other contact information for me abroad.