Well, Here We Go!

9:30 on Thursday night. In 48 hours, I will be in Ecuador. I honestly can't believe it's just about time to leave already. I mean, it was kind of intimidating to think about when I first signed on for this, but then I kind of came to terms with it. And then about a month ago I freaked out again. But sometime during last week, I relaxed a little and started thinking about how much fun this really could be.

This is going to be a life-changing experience. I can't say it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience because I'm still young and could very easily do more trips like this in my future if that's what God has for me. But since this is the very first time I've ever just stepped up and followed something blindly, yet knowing that I was supposed to go at the same time. It's really a lot to think about right now.

I'm not ready to leave by any means. I do not know how I am going to get through two weeks without Aharon. We have never spent more than three or four days apart and even then, we talked at least twice a day every day. This is going to be very hard on me, and I'm not going to try to sugarcoat it or pretend like I am okay with it because I really am not. I am not okay with being without him for two weeks. It is going to be incredibly hard on me and honestly, I think it will be the hardest part of the trip for me.

But I am still very excited about it. I'm going to get to do something that most people my age have never done before. I am going to experience a culture completely different than my own, which I think is something every American - especially my generation - needs to do. We are too soft here in our little wonderful county. Life's too easy, even for the people that have it really hard.

I'm getting off track. My point is that I'm leaving Saturday morning for a country that I know very little about and hardly can speak the language. I am leaving behind my parents, brothers, friends, and Aharon. I am taking two weeks off of work (which I can not afford to do), and I am missing two weeks of classes right in the middle of the semester. But yet, at the same time that all of that is going through my head, I am so excited to actually go. I know I will be very homesick and probably cry a lot, too, but I am ready. And looking forward.


P.S. And it's totally awesome that it snowed today!!!!