7. Today is the Day

Self-explanatory title.

I am traveling today and its an amazing feeling!! I cant believe the time has come already. I feel like this trip has been in "the future" for so long and now I am literally hours away from departure. Our ground crew team consists of 6 people. "Ground crew" to us are those who plan to participate in the project from start to finish. Eddie, Sam, Myself, Dan, Kevin (Frenchie), and Kohei. There are a good handful of other volunteers coming to join our team through out the summer. We have a variety of skills, talents, and strengths I cannot wait to jump into this project and put all that talent into place.

Step 1. NYC to Oporto - 6 hours 45 minutes

Step 2. Oporto to Lisbon - 1 hour

Step 3. Lisbon to Accra- 5 hours 50 minutes

With all layovers, stops, and time changes, the total travel time is 22 hours.

Where I will be living for the summer, I will be 4 hours ahead of EST. I was surprised to learn it was only that, I thought it would be more.

I have spent the last 10 days visiting friends and family in the tri-state area. And I can't even really put into words the gratitude, blessings, and support I feel leaving the states. Many conversations have been focused around concern, doubt, and safety. Quite honestly, I was and still am a bit tired of defending my choices, proving I am prepared, and listening to statements and advice that show zero faith in humanity and ignorance of anyone different then ourselves. Putting my frustration aside, I know that all these statements come out of love and passion for me as an individual and for the work that I am doing. I am being honest here with you all (because I might have received these statements from some of you) to show that I have learned from my own insights and realize that everyone has a different sense of adventure and I shouldn't be offended by others' outlook on life, or their perception of what I am doing and where I am going. If you have read my second post, I call myself the sapling in the grower's pot, ready to be nourished by soil from wherever I chose, unwilling to root and any one place. Some, maybe most people are rooted, grounded, happy with their planted selves. I shouldn't knock that way of life just because it isn't my own. Shipping myself off to halfway across the world is just the beginning for me, and to others is a completely unfathomable idea.

So- THANK YOU. All of you, my most sincere Thank You. I am where I am because of my interaction and relationship with each of you. (Even if you are a stranger- the excitement of meeting you, and sharing my journey with you fuels me. Gives me more drive and more passion.)

Stay tuned for pictures of the ground crew and today's departure. I'll be posting on the go from now on. So my apologies in advance for typos, terrible page layouts, and/or short winded posts.

:)

All my love!