and the countdown begins...

So I just booked my ticket to Antananarivo Madagascar last week. I sent out my passport to the Malagasy embassy yesterday. I cannot believe that this is actually happening! This whole semester has flown by way too fast and before I know it, I am going to be on a miserable 16 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, where I will then pick up my flight to Madagascar. I really don't think anything can prepare me for my experiences over there. It is going to be hard, I know that. Kenya was hard enough staying for only one month. But I feel like I am mature and prepared enough to take on the country of Madagascar!

So... in light of this I am starting to think of some of my goals:
1. Have fun (duh!)
2. Talk to at least three different local people every day and learn something from them (and write it down! I am going to keep a lost of these :-)
3. Learn how to cook traditional Malagasy food
4. Improve my french language skills
5. Learn how to converse in the local language of Malagasy
6. Conduct an independent study project focused on development, giving me the knowledge and tools  will need in the future to pursue a career in International development
7. Have this journey help put my life into perspective, so that when I come back I will spend less time focusing on the superficial things in life so that more time and energy will be put into the deeper meanings
8. Become more independent
9. Come back not completely broke
10. Do my first SCUBA dive outside of Lake Champlain on the Beautiful island of Mauritius

These are only a few goals that popped into my head while I am procrastinating studying for finals but, as more ideas roll in I will be sure to post them- I feel like posting them on my blog will force me to meet these goals :-)

Anyways, my French composition is not going to write itself, but before I go I would like to leave you with a picture of the beautiful island of Mauritius. I will be visiting here for a week after my program ends for the sole purpose of going diving and siting on the beach. It's okay to be jealous ;-)... but yeah, I'm really excited about this :-)