Leaving On a Jet Plane

As I am putting the finishing touches on my two suitcases (both weighing in at 49.5 and 47.5 pounds respectively), I can't help but relate to one of my oldest favorite poems. When we were young, my sister and I loved the children's verse "The Land of Nod" by Robert Louis Stevenson. It reads:

"From breakfast on all through the day

At home among my friends I stay;

But every night I go abroad

Afar into the land of Nod.

All by myself I have to go,

With none to tell me what to do--

All alone beside the streams

And up the mountain-sides of dreams.

The strangest things are there for me,

Both things to eat and things to see,

And many frightening sights abroad

Till morning in the land of Nod.

Try as I like to find the way,

I never can get back by day,

Nor can remember plain and clear

The curious music that I hear."

These verses are reminiscent of the many nights up until now that I have imagined what my trip will be like. What I will eat, who I will meet, and all the new experiences I will have. What I am left with after all that imagining is the realization that I don't really know what to expect, and that is a thought that both scares and inspires me. Anyway, enough with the abstract--time for some info about the trip.

For those of you who don't know, here are some of the details. I will be living in a house with 19 other college students, some of whom are from Marquette through which the program is sponsored, some of whom are like me from other Universities. Three days a week I will be taking a few classes at the University of the Western Cape, located about twenty minutes away from our house. Two days a week I will be working at a service learning site, as the program is centered around service learning and social justice. My time with service learning will be split between two organizations. First, the Saartji Baartman Centre for Women and Children, which provides shelter, support and rehabililtation for abuse victims. The second half of my time will be spent at Genderdynamix, a human rights organization advocating for the rights of Transgendered individuals. I could not be more excited to work and interact with these groups of people, and I am in eager anticipation of what I will learn through my service learning experience. If any one is interested, here are the links to the websites of both organizations.

Saartjie Baartman: http://www.saartjiebaartmancentre.org.za/

Genderdynamix: http://www.genderdynamix.co.za/

I love and will miss everyone so much, and these past couple weeks have been full of bittersweet goodbyes. Despite the anxieties that I have about being gone for such a long time, I am so ready for this journey to begin, and I cannot wait to share it with all of you. Until next time, bon voyage and best wishes. Stay tuned for more updates!