3 weeks and counting!

3 weeks from tomorrow, and we take off for Haiti! It's exciting and nervewracking all at the same time. I've made 3 lists for myself... my "shopping list", my "overall packing list", and my "these are things I need on my person while I'm traveling" list. The shopping list is getting shorter, but very slowly. It's strange, you never think you would ever need some of the things that you might need... like a flashlight so you can see at night because the electricity is shut off at 10pm. Or bedsheets for your bed to leave there when you leave. Your own towels. The list goes on. I'm beginning to realize that it's a totally different type of travel than your usual vacation. Theres no packing of fancy clothes or shoes to go out on the town, with the exception of just 1 set of church clothes. No swimming suit to relax on the beach in. You get the idea. But I have the feeling it will be the most fulfilling trip I have ever been on. I've realized that there is no real way to prepare myself for an experience like this. I've talked to several people who have been on this trip before, and others who have been on other types of mission trips in an effort to get an idea of what this will be like. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be totally not prepared either way. But I do know that this will be a huge learning experience. We will all see things that we have never seen before. Poverty that doesn't exist anywhere else. We are going there to teach and help them, but in the long run, they will be the ones to teach us.

PS: Hi to those of you who got my prayer/support letter and are reading now! I will be continuing to update as the trip grows closer and after we get back!!

Itinerary!

We got our itinerary! I'm so excited! Along with that came additional information about our trip, a list to help us pack, and more information about the country in general. All in all, it was 17 pages of information. :-) We are leaving at 5 (yes, 5) am on the 9th. Like thats when our plane leaves. Those of you who know me well know that I DON'T do well with mornings. Sick, I tell you. We will meet part of our team in Minneapolis, then fly to Miami, where we will stay the night and meet the rest of the team. It'll be nice to get some "bonding" time, per se, and get to know everyone else. The next day, we fly to Port-au-Prince, then on to Pignon. We will do roughly 30 surgeries in 5 days. Crazy, isn't it?!? Those lives changed forever. Wild. Well, I'm off for tonight. I'll update again soon!