an update of randomness

International shipping can be quite expensive, but nothing would make me happier than to get a letter from the people back home while I'm away. If you're interested in sending me some snail mail while I'm at Ekisa, the address you want to use is:

Ekisa Ministries
Attn: Anna Bobalik
PO Box 817
Jinja, Uganda

(note: it takes 2 weeks for a letter to get to Uganda, and 2-3 months for a package to get there)

.. Some random details ..

-Travel Scrabble has officially been found and is packed away safely in my duffel. BananaGrams is also tucked in there, safe and sound. Yay for word games!

-the only semi-big thing left on the to-do list is to call the airline and find out some baggage details

-I have 7 lbs of peanut butter packed in my bag (may be addicted to the stuff, it's a debatable matter)

-the volunteers I'm serving with already seem wonderful and incredible

-I haven't packed my carry-on bags yet

-apparently you can buy coconut milk in Uganda

-the Ekisa kids are so adorable (go stalk their website and/or Facebook if you don't believe me)

The countdown is at 2 days. Wildly excited, yet sad and slightly terrified would describe what I'm feeling right now. 

My flight leaves O'Hare at 7:10 p.m. on Saturday.. getting us to London at 3 a.m. US-time (which is 9 a.m. London-time). We will officially land in Entebbe, Uganda at 7:45 a.m. on Monday September 10th (which would make it midnight here in Chicago) but probably won't make it to Ekisa until after noon (it's a 3 hour drive from Entebbe to Jinja). I am thankful to not be making this journey alone, but with a wonderful friend. We're gearing up for an exhausting weekend of traveling, that's for sure. 12 hour layover? Bring it on :) 

I'm finding that preparing for a trip like this is a journey in itself. And actually getting to the destination and serving and living the trip is a whole new kind of journey. And in about 60 hours, that journey will officially begin.