I can’t believe the last time I posted was in February! Obviously I’m not very good at keeping up with this blogging site! I didn’t forget and it was always on my “to do list” but it just kept getting pushed to the bottom of the list because I had so many other things going on! School, sorority, service chair and babysitting take up all of my time. As I look back and read what I wrote, I really wish I had kept up with the blog. It’s a great memory of my trip from beginning to end. There has been a lot that has happened with my trip since February, and I’ll do my best to update it, thankfully I’ve kept a list of things I wanted to write on the blog.
EMT....
One of the activities that kept me sooo busy this past semester was my EMT course. My entire life I have been interested in the medical field. ER was my favorite show growing up, and I volunteered at Fairfax Hospital for about 5 years. I used to think I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up, but when math and science were not my specialty, I knew medical school wouldn’t be a good match for me.
Even though I have recently steered my career path away from medicine, I have never lost my passion for it. Becoming an EMT has always been on my list of things I’d love to do sometime in my future. Just one of those cool things along with skydiving, going to Hawaii and meeting Oprah! Haha When I came to Tech, I looked up the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad, and in order to be a member, it requires at least one overnight a week, and to be on duty at football games. It was much more of a commitment than I was willing to make.
However, I did see that they offered an EMT-basic course for academic credit. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take this class and actually earn credit. It was from 6-10pm on Monday and Thursday nights and occasional Sunday afternoons. I knew it was a huge time commitment and that my schedule wouldn’t allow me to do it each semester. And since my spring schedule was free during that block and I knew I was going to Africa this summer, I thought the information would be very helpful to take with me to Africa. That persuaded me to go ahead and sign up for the class this semester.
I went in to it not really knowing what I was getting myself into. I knew there was a state exam at the end, but I wasn’t concerned with passing it, I just wanted to learn the information because I thought it would be helpful in Africa and just in everyday life! As the semester went on, I was missing out on a lot of events because of my EMT class. And I was spending a significant amount of time learning and studying skills and procedures for this class. I was beginning to feel like I didn’t want to put this much time and effort into something and then not pass! But at the same time, I didn’t want to set my heart on passing and then fail. This was all new to me, I had no background in emergency medicine and I sometimes felt like I was in over my head.
I could go and on, but the important part is that I passed!!!! I was so surprised!! All my hard work had paid off! While I don’t want to join an agency and run on an ambulance (I don’t have time for that) I think the information is really helpful to know and I hope to be able to volunteer in the classrooms to help teach other EMT’s in the fall. I’m really glad I took this class before I went to Africa. Hopefully I won’t have to use any of the training, but I’m somewhat at ease just knowing I am prepared.
Recent Stuff...
Memorial weekend just past and I spent 4 days getting ready for Africa, yet I feel like I’m getting nothing done and my list just keeps getting longer and longer. I spent a lot of time making an Africa booklet for my parents while I’m gone. I’ve printed out the itinerary, flight information and collected all the parent's information of the other students going. That way our parents can contact each other if they need to. I also made copies of my passport, insurance cards, license etc. I’m giving copies to Dr. Kelly to keep as well. So hopefully I don’t loose anything and there is no trouble getting back to the US, but I have copies of everything all over the place! My parents better claim me! The booklet was quite a project, but I am very proud of it!
I also spent a couple hours on the phone calling pharmacies trying to figure out how much my medications are going to cost. There are 3 type of pills for Malaria. One very expensive (over $200) but there are no side effects. One very cheap (like $10) but causes sun sensitivity, and one at a medium price but may cause nightmares. I immediately crossed out the nightmare one ( I already have a very creative imagination!) and I’m torn between the cheap and expensive one right now. I’m going to make some more phone calls and make a decision soon. Some girls going on the trip said that their insurance covered some of it. I’m hoping!
On Memorial day my mom and I went running around completing errands. First we stopped at LL Bean and looked at everything, but I was not impressed and moved on. We went to my favorite, The Container Store because they were having a travel sale. Luckily I won a $25 gift card from a drawing, so that helped me get some cool packing supplies. I am in need of a 2nd pair of comfortable shoes for Malawi. I’m going to use my old sneakers but needed another pair of something cheap. I didn’t want to spend a lot especially since I know they will be ruined quickly and I’ll probably leave them there anyways. It’s very hard to find shoes, I’m very picky. I found Ked’s version of sneakers that are actually very comfortable, cheap and don’t look awful with skirts. It's so hard to know what the perfect type of clothing and/or shoes to bring is. I hope these will work out.
I also started the brainstorming process of a book I’m going to make to tell the Malawi students about myself. The girls who went last year said the Radford students did that and they really wished they had bought a book to share. I’m going to include pictures of my dogs, my family, some of my favorite teachers, snow, and me when I was their age. I don’t think it’s a good idea to show pictures of my house, my school or anything like that. I’m trying to keep it simple, but this is the type of thing that will take me forever because I want it just perfect.
Dr. Kelly has been sending us assignments to complete before we leave for Malawi. I’m kinda panicking about when I’m going to find time to complete them! Basically its reading textbooks and articles about the history of Malawi and writing a response. It’s research I should be doing anyway. However, I’m a movie person. I’ve been watching tons and tons of youtube videos on Malawi. I really want to see the Madonna documentary on Malawi called “I am because we are”. I have no idea if its even available to watch, but I’m going to try to figure it out. I’m going to have to buckle down and read these articles ASAP.
I’m getting really excited about my trip and I can’t believe its so close! Right now I’m just overwhelmed I don’t know where to begin. I have lesson plans to make, supplies to collect, stuff to pack for myself and the kids as well as lots and lots of research and reading to complete. It will all get done.... somehow.
Yesterday Oprah had a special on her O Ambassador program. I missed the first 15 minutes of it, but the parts I saw were amazing!!!! It got me sooo excited and showed me what to expect. She has a similar program where school aged kids go all over the world to poor countries and help build schools, raise money and interact with the local children. The students who went on the trip talked about how hard it was to watch the locals drink the dirt water because they knew it would get them sick. But they had no other option. They also talked about how much the locals taught them because they are sooooo grateful for what little they have. Oh how I can’t wait to meet the people of Malawi!!!
I need to post a couple more things about what I meant to post over the last few months, and then I’ll hopefully be updating each day. I am planning on writing my journal in Word and then buying Internet for a short time, just enough to post the blog while I’m in Africa. Hopefully that will work. If not, I’ll post them all when I get home. And I just recently explored Snapfish and I think it will be perfect to use for my pictures. While I am very busy and I can find plenty of things to do instead of writing my blog, It kinda calms me to sit down and write instead of stressing…. And I know I will have something to look back at as a memory of my trip. I cannot believe I’m going to Africa!!!
I am babysitting my little girl in Arlington, Cassie, until I leave on June 21st. It worked out really well because her mom was willing to use me as her nanny for the weeks I was available and find someone else while I’m gone. What other job would be so flexible! I’ve taken her to the library a couple times and there is a world map in the entrance and each time I stop and look at VA and the distance it is to Malawi. I swear its getting longer and longer. haha I sure am dreading the flight!
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