In Heathrow!

Hello from Heathrow!
  I am sitting in a cube of public computers in London's crazy airport. So far I have traveled from Indianapolis to Chicago to London. Not too bad, but a lot of flight changes and adapting. I'm already realizing how flexible I'm going to have to be throughout this whole thing if I want to stay sane. Just getting out of Indianapolis was crazy, because Chicago was having bad visibility. At one point there was worry I would miss my connection. Luckily that didn't happen! I don't think the flights to Addis Ababa are very frequent, so making my London flight was pretty important.
  Things to note so far:
     Heathrow Airport is a mad house! People are EVERYWHERE and there is a ton of construction. I had to go to 2 separate terminals and I went through security twice. The second time, of course, I had to be patted down (I guess I look that menacing). Oh well, my layover is about 7 hours so at least the craziness killed a bit of time.
    I took my first anti-malarial pill! Maybe a small feat, but it definitely marks the beginning of this whole trip. I'll be taking it everyday while I'm gone and then for a whole month after I get back.
   Lastly, I am already super pumped for a few things I packed for the traveling: #1- my eye covies! They are amazing to sleep in planes and I literally kept them on for 5 straight hours, even if I wasn't sleeping. #2- a gift from my sister Julie, an inflatable head pillow. It was super easy to pack and it was so much better than those little pillows they give you. Aaaand lastly, #3- my new Timbuk2 shoulder bag. This bag was an xmas gift from my parents (thanks again!) and it has been amazing. It is literally all I am carrying for this trip and it is holding everything I need. It's also super sturdy and comes with a lifetime warrenty. Already pumped for that one.

Alright, this is starting to sound like an advertisement. My time is about to run out on this computer, so I will hopefully blog again soon, from Ethiopia!

(oh, and sorry if there are any mispellings or typos, these keys are a bit different)

COUNTDOWN

Well here I am, a week away from this crazy trip. I'm really excited to go and do something different, challenging and (hopefully) rewarding, but I get nervous thinking about what is ahead of me. I have never traveled to a different country alone and it's weird that I cannot even begin to understand or speak the language. I feel as prepared as I can be (I've gotten all my shots, my visa, etc.) but I also know that nothing can actually prepare me. I have no idea what I'm going to encounter and I often think that I am crazy to have graduated early and attempt something like this. Hopefully that feeling doesn't stay with me for too long...