Finally a time to type...

Well, here we are at April 27th.  Just about 2 months until I get on that plane and head on out for the adventure of my life.  There are now about 7 or 8 of us that are in contact with one another who all have the July 1st departure date.  Other volunteers have also contacted me who are actually currently in Benin - a few of the PCV's that are actually going to be meeting us at the airport in Benin.  How awesome.  Everyone is  so willing to exchange information and answer questions and be of any assistance.  It's great.  I think that I need to update my want/need list as well.  I posted it a while ago and I need to make some changes.  For example I think I'll wait for the solar charger, because it seems that the odds of living in a house with electricity might be in my favor.  I've been finding deals online every once in a while that I take advantage of to help prep as well.  I found a pair of awesome Spy (the brand not the type) sunglasses for $15 - originally $100.  I also was able to find a nice 21 LED lit headlamp for $5 and that included shipping!  For anyone else who is looking for some good deals check out www.slickdeals.net.  Just browse their forums and you can find a ton of great stuff.

My zune (mp3 player) has about 800 albums on it and is still only about 65% full, so please, I need help finding new artists to download to fill it!  Or even a movie or two!  But it has to be a movie that I will not get sick of for 2 years!  So leave a comment with any suggestions.

So - to the other volunteers who are leaving on July 1st with me...are any of you feeling a little overwhelmed?  But in a good exciting way?  I haven't quite come to grasp that in 2 months I'll be flying over to flippin' Africa and living in an entirely different way!  I learn about Benin, I do my language lessons, I try to get everything ready for the trip, but It hasn't quite hit me I don't think.  It's a nervous excitement I'm feeling and I'm curious as to how all you others are feeling as well.

Thanks to the current volunteers in Benin who have been helping us all too!  Whether it's advice on packing (teflon frying pan's and such) or just adjusting to the culture/lifestyle, it's all great and I think I can speak for us all "newbies" that we truly appreciate it.  I'm sure it's going to be great fun for you to see us getting off the plane, wide-eyed and excited not knowing at all what to expect.

With 2 months to go I need to start focusing on what exactly I need to do for the trip.  So with that said, for my own sake I am going to make a quick checklist, for everyone else this will be completely useless to read.  But I'm a visual person and need to see it so I know and maybe feel a little less overwhelmed...

• Find someone to replace me in my house - Done!
• Sell my car - will start posting at the end of May, if not sold by the time I leave I hope my parents can help, but if anyone is interested in buying a 96' mustang GT v8 4.6L with some body work and exhaust work done to it, let me know!
• Backpack - my birthday wish and will hopefully shop for one at REI in Eugene or Bend, whichever has the best selection
• Pay off credit card - Ummm...I hate debt, it seems to never go away!
• Pack -I live minimally already so don't have much and will store everything in my parents garage (thanks!)
• Say Goodbye to everyone - Planning a trip to Portland, Bend and elsewhere, so I think I'm good, I want to see everyone I know before I go!
• Apprenez à parler français (Learn to speak french) - already have experience but taking the Rosetta Stone program PC is paying for.
• Current Job - I put in my letter of resignation last week and they are all sad to see me to go but also are very excited.  My official last day is Friday, June 20th.  But with work, I have a TON to do in the next few weeks because a couple of the programs I've created are finally being implemented!!! YAY!
• Anything else I'm forgetting?
  

 Well, that helped me, and now if you read this far - you know now too.  But I'm going to go relax for a bit.  I've been "busy" the last two days - went to two of the OSU vs. Arizona baseball games, we won the series!  Oh, on a sidenote, I do have to encourage that everyone needs to check out the documentary Sand and Sorrow, it's about Darfur and one of the best ones I've seen so far.  Check out the hbo website for it here or the official website for it here (may be a little graphic). From the HBO website:

"Ten years after the genocide in Rwanda, another tragic story of inhumanity is unfolding in another African nation. As a bloody byproduct of the ongoing civil war in Sudan, hundreds of thousands of native Sudanese have died, while millions more have been forcibly displaced from their homes and land in the western region of Darfur by their own government. Executive produced and narrated by George Clooney, and directed by Peabody Award winner Paul Freedman, SAND AND SORROW journeys into the heart of the crisis in Darfur."

  Another graphic but educating documentary worth checking out is The Greatest Silence: Rape In The Congo. Here's a quick blurb about it:

  "Today, in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, rape is taking place on a scale that is almost unimaginable. In the last ten years, hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been raped - but their suffering goes unacknowledged. Instead, they are invisible, shamed and mute. This is the story of one filmmaker's crusade to break the silence surrounding this shocking reality, armed with a firsthand connection with the women and men she meets. Winner of a Special Jury Prize (Documentary) at this year's Sundance Film Festival." 

I know, not the happiest topics, but definitely very important!  Educate yourself!

Sorry this post was so random and had no format, but I type what I want - so just deal with it.  Au revior!