Updating a blog

... is a pain sometimes. There is a lot going on right now, with final grades due soon as well as the approaching holiday season. To pile on, I leave for Kilimanjaro three weeks from tomorrow. I'm putting some finishing touches on upgrading/modifying/securing my laptop computer and over the next three weeks I'll update my contacts on my cell phone and work on packing.

I picked up a couple of smaller things for the trip today - smaller, yet just as important as anything else. Got some more Immodium, some Tums, some toilet paper (ELCA's suggestion, not mine), and some pre-packaged, additive-enhanced snacks (peanut butter crackers - yum!). A friend of mine told me it might be a good idea to pack some pre-packaged snacks for both the flight over as well as for my time on the ground. According to him, sometimes a snack from home just hits the spot. If I can find a jumbo pack of Slim Jim's, I think I'm in business.

I think what might be scaring me the most is just the sheer amount of stuff I'm packing. I'll only be there for three weeks but it feels as if I'm packing for three months. I think I'll be able to stuff everything into one suitcase and one backpack, but it will be a tight fit. Part of the problem is that I am bringing several gifts for my host and her students - gifts such as school supplies and a notebook computer. The way it looks now, I'll head to Tanzania with a pretty heavy load and come back home much lighter. The school supplies alone should reduce my load quite a bit.

I guess I'm being a little AR about all of this because this is the first time I've ever set foot off of the North American continent, and I just don't know what to expect. I've heard and read a variety of stories discussing what Tanzania, Kilimanjaro, and Moshi will be like and when I think about it, it makes my head spin. Add the wonderful joy of 19+ hours of flight into the mix and the spinning continues. The longest flight I have ever taken before was over 5 hours from Chicago to Vancouver several years ago. I know I need to bring several things to read and make sure my batteries are all charged before the flight.

I really have only two more things to do before the trip. For starters I need to make an appointment with my doctor to have my ears cleaned. Say what you will about that. Second, I need to get my hair cut before I leave. Not a buzz cut, but very short at least. I have to consider the very real possibility that I won't get to bathe every day while I am there and for me, the shorter the hair the better. I'll probably hold off on the hair cut until right before I go.

Tanzania is 8 hours ahead of my home-based time zone (Eastern Standard). That means right now at 9pm EST, it is 5am there - jet lag is another thing that worries me some. And don't get me started on leaving the family behind, the drive from home to IAD, missing the first two weeks of the semester, planning for at least 8 lectures to classes in Tanzania... no rest for the wicked, they say.