Packing, packing, packing.

So today kind of starts the beginning of our trip to South Africa. And by kind of, I mean I'm finally starting to think about packing.  Even though we don't leave until Saturday, which is a full 5 days away, I am starting to pack now. This is so that when I realize I forgot to pack something or I don't have something, I can run out and get it. Also, since my 21st birthday is on Wednesday I don't know how much packing I'll want to be doing on my birthday.

I'm super excited to be going to South Africa, but at the same time I'm giving up 2 gorgeous weeks of my summer to spend in the "winter." Granted, winter in South Africa means daytime temperatures of around 50/60 and nighttime temperatures in the 20/30 range.  So not really winter, but definitely not the 90 degree weather we're having here in Virginia.  And since it is summer here I'm finding it hard to pack "winter" clothes.  I'm afraid since it's not winter, or even remotely cold outside, I may forget something important for the winter. But not to worry, I have my jeans, fancy JMU heavy (ish) jacket, my northface, scarves and sweaters all set out. I think I'll be good to go.

I am really excited to go to South Africa and learn more about their culture from a first hand experience.  We learned a lot when the UFS students came and stayed with us during the Fall last year, but I think I will learn even more going there and meeting more people. The conference we are attending has a ton of schools coming from the US, like NYU, Texas A&M, Appalachian State, the list goes on. Also, schools from Belgium, Egypt, Japan and the Netherlands will be there as well.  I think it will be an awesome experience! And hopefully I learn more Afrikaans than "I need to go to the bathroom" (Eck vul han peepee) the spelling may be off on that but the phonetic part is right! :)

For the complete schedule or to poke around at what exactly we'll be doing here's the website for the conference:  http://www.ufs.ac.za/gls

I guess I should get back to packing, so my mom stops stressing out and I won't have to work on my birthday!