What's happening February 24th?

I work with Susan in the evenings. She is probably the most amazing person I have met while living in Maryland. She reminds me of my Grandma Nate - maybe that's why I love her so much.

Uncle Jason's text caused me so much anxiety. There I was, sitting at work, tapping my foot, waiting for 7:30 to roll around, as my invitation sat on the dining room table. Susan finally said it: "Go home. Go home right now, I can't stand it anymore, my stomach is in knots." So I sped through town, racing to get to my house. I found the greatest package in the entire world sitting on the table. I wrapped my arms around it, ran back to my car and drove back to work (couldn't just ditch out on my shift!) and opened it with Susan.

I was overwhelmed, as you can see I am geeking out at this madness. I have waited 14 months and 13 days for this. And here it is. And now...now the wait is over and suddenly I have to move to another continent and learn a different language and somehow people are going to trust me.

I eagerly wrote a note for my boss, who has a decent sense of humor, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a phone call at 7:30 tomorrow morning from her to make sure I really am just kidding about quitting.

For now, I have a huge packet of information that I need to read. I have 7 days to accept or decline this invite (Are you kidding me?? Accept!). But if for some reason I choose not to go, there is almost no chance of me getting selected again for a different country (Even more reason to accept!).

Okay, now I need to go find Malawi on a map and learn as much as I can before I get dropped off. Let's refer back to my shower curtain.

Okay, so here is Africa. Lookin' good. I like it...

Now let's zoom into the southern part of Africa. Nice, I see you Malawi. Beautiful.

There she is! Malawi! Right in-between Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania. Talk about location, location, location!

Wow, is this really happening? I have so much to do - mental preparation is a must!

As I was driving home from work, full of relief and hope and a mixture of happiness and sadness, I couldn't help but think of my Grandma Nate. I wish I could call her to tell her where I was going. I wish I could hear her tell me to be careful and to have fun. I wish she could give me one last hug so I could be on my way.

On a lighter note...I'm going to Malawi on February 24, 2011!