"The Checklist"

Ok, so I have 27 days until I get on the ship in Halifax, Nova Scotia! I wanted to update on everything I have been doing to prepare this past month.

Here is what I accomplished:
-I got my four vaccinations for polio, typhoid, yellow fever, and the flu
-I have the necessary malaria medication and thankfully they are the pills that don't cause night mares and hallucinations, haha
-I received the three visa's for Ghana, India, and Vietnam
-We booked the plane tickets for mom, dad, and me. We are driving from Presque Isle, Michigan to Sault St. Marie, Canada. And then taking a plane from there to Toronto and then to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The benefit of flying completely through Canada is that we are allowed to have two FREE bags per person. That will make packing a lot easier.
-Signed up for my four classes, which are Global Study A, International Service Learning, Intro to Intercultural Communication, and Race and Ethnicity in the US since Colonial Times
-Ordered my books that will be delivered to my cabin on the ship
-Signed up/paid for all pre-sale trips and trips planned by SAS'ers.

Highlights of trips I'll be doing:

*Morocco: Four days, three nights trip to Marrakech, going on a camel through the Sahara desert, and camping with the nomads.
*Safari in South Africa that was planned by a SAS student
*Trip in India where I will see the Taj Mahal at sunset and the oldest living city in the world, Varanasi
*While in Vietnam a trip to neighboring country Cambodia
*Trip planned by Ashley for China where we will actually sleep on the Great wall in a sleeping bag
*An international exchange and homestay in Japan.
*I will also volunteer in some orphanages and organizations in Ghana and South Africa. In Vietnam I will be part of the $100 solution that was organized by one of my professors. It is where we are given $100 and then try to improve a specific area with that money.

The country I am most excited for is Ghana because I have nothing planned for it and heard it is extremely beautiful. I am just excited to get to talk to locals, especially since this is the first time SAS has travelled there.

Right now the only thing I have left to do is pack! That should be interesting trying to pack for four months, but I am definitely going to try and pack as little as I can. I will have a lot of souvenirs to bring back. They say that you should lay out everything you think you need and then put half back...I will try to stick to that philosophy. (Easier said than done though)

**27 more days**