Only 5 more days!

It is incredible that I am only 5 days away from the biggest adventure of my life. It's like an out of body experience when I start to talk about it with anyone and let me tell you I'm telling everyone now. Before this week I would talk to people about it when they would ask me but now I find myself bringing into every conversation. I was in wal-mart trying to find another memory card for my camera and the sales associate walked up to unlock it for us he hadn't even said anything when I just blurted out that I was going to Nepal and that is why I needed so much memory for my camera. He was stoked! He gave me a fist pound and told me that I was awesome! Let me tell you I felt really awesome!

This weekend has been really great actually, my family and I went camping! I know... why on earth did I go camping a week before I'm going to be backing for a month in the Himalayas? It was worth it though even though family bonding can happen anywhere there is something special about being stuck somewhere together. My parents had gotten a "new" 1970's motorhome complete with shag carpeting and wanted to take it out on its first trip. We didn't bring any extra cars so once are camp was set so were we, which made us hang out the whole time. We went on a family hike that was a good 4 miles and I felt on top of the world and we were no higher than 7000 ft, so I can only imagine how I will feel in the mountains in Nepal. Of course we stopped for a few photo ops on top of the hill we climbed and my brother and I climbed a tree together. I feel better knowing that I did something like this with my family before leaving them for a month, just makes me feel closer to them. It did snow on our camping trip which was not expected, we had planned to go somewhere warm and changed plans last minute so instead we got snow! Waking up to snow on the ground when I had packed shorts and flip flops was not a great feeling but it certainly made it an adventure. I am feeling less and less nervous about going to Nepal and more and more excited, I feel more ready than ever! I just can't wait to get over there it feels like it has been an eternity since I found out I was going and now it is only 5 days away...It's crazy how time works like that, but I know as soon as I get there it will fly by so I'm enjoying waiting and experiencing every moment.

Down to single digits

So we are finally on single digits people! Now is where I begin to loose my mind about the fact that I will be in Nepal in 9 days! I think everyone is going a little crazy though, in a good way of course. Amye (one of our leaders and admissions counselors at the college) makes faces or begins marching in place nearly every time she sees me. Which I love because it makes me laugh and realize that we are going to have so much fun! Call me crazy for being excited to spend a month with mostly all females but we are going to have some serious girl bonding time! Plus all of these girls are awesome! I wish I had more free time right now though so I could spend some quality time with them before we go, but then again I will have lots of that very soon. I laid out all of my equipment and clothes this morning before I came into work and realized how little I am actually bringing for an entire month away. I feel like I should need more but there is something so calming to know that my entire life for a month in a foreign country fits on my kitchen counter. This last week here I am going to be focusing on getting myself centered and fully prepared, hopefully spending it with family and friends that I will have to be away from for so long! Oh and of course camping for memorial day weekend because that is the best thing to do with the family! 

No more Shopping

That's it folks it's all over, my race to get all my gear is all over! I officially finished last night and it is a glorious feeling! There is nothing better than knowing you don't have to spend anymore money. I even bought snacks which may have been premature because now I have to try and not eat them. Everything is slowly coming together and is allowing me to breath so that I can actually prepare my head for the trip. Traveling is just as much mental as it is physical and this type of trip is going to weigh on my mind heavily. When it comes down to it I just don't want to mess up, and that may sound strange or odd but it's true. As we all know i'm not the most medically sound person in the world and I would hate to ruin someone else's experience because something went wrong. That is what I am most afraid of, myself and getting sick. It's scary enough for me to have something go wrong at home i don't know how I'm planning on handling it in the Himalayans. The reward is so much greater than the risk here though, we are going to be doing something wonderful for these people and I know I say that in nearly every post but it is true. The worst part about volunteering is honestly the negativity that sometimes comes from people who don't know me that well. People assume that you are doing this to get recognition or that we are hypocritical like the oil tycoon who drives a prius. We are doing good but it's just for show, but frankly that is no where close to the truth. Based on my interactions with the girls going on this trip everyone is dedicated to cause and is only trying to make a difference. I wish everyone would just look past who were are and look at the big picture. That there are women out there who have to give birth on a dirt floor and cut the umbilical cord of their child with the same knife that they would kill their chicken with. It is not about us as all it is just about what we are doing for these people and why that is important.

Less than two weeks!?

It is officially less than two weeks till I am in Nepal! I am excited to say that the end of the world did not happen yesterday as predicted, so that we can still go to Nepal. Now all I have to do is make it past 2012 and graduate! It is crazy to me how much hype can be made by someone deciding the world is going to end but so little information and hype about maternal health care in developing countries. If people cared half as much about helping others as they did about crazy rumors I feel like we could really be making a difference.
I'm starting to pile everything up in my room to make sure that I have everything I need and it is just making me realize how much I really have. Not for this trip but just in general I mean I am able to go out and buy new things to bring to another country. How crazy is that!? So many people in this world have the same shoes for years and I bought two different pairs for this trip alone. I can't help but think that if I feel this way now how incredibly selfish I will feel when I get back. I can't wait to experience everything there and learn about myself.

News on Nepal

So I think my immune system is deciding it wants to scare me before I leave. Or it might be the fact that Tahoe is having bipolar weather patterns. Either way I'm not feeling the best. I keep looking at my calendar and seeing how soon June 4th is and it's a little bit terrifying. I get really excited and then really scared in a matter of minutes,  I just don't know how to feel about leaving for an entire month. Especially with what is happening in Nepal right now, and if you haven't heard Nepal is writing a new constitution or it is due soon. There have been rallies in Kathmandu which makes going there nerve racking. No worries it's not like the protests in Egypt or anything but still scary. It is making me realize how different it will be while we are there. Here is a short article I read today on it http://www.hindustantimes.com/Nepal-govt-under-pressure/Article1-699937.aspx.
I have been looking up news on Nepal everyday or at least trying to and some days I'm really excited but today was a scary day all around. I mean I found an article about sex trafficking in Nepal which is not something you want to hear about a country you will be spending a month in. All of us girls have talked about how careful we have to be when we are in the city and to never go anywhere alone but it's just not something you worry about here. However the article also talks about education in women and how that is a major reason for the power of these men over the girls. That made me realize that what we are going to do will make a difference even though it may be small at first. We are a group of strong young women who want to inspire and educate these women in the villages we go to. This is the article on sex trafficking if you are interested http://blogs.forbes.com/worldviews/2011/05/19/sex-trafficking-in-nepal-its-a-global-problem/.

No more Doctors!

So I am officially done with doctors visits until I leave! I have gotten all my prescriptions which I feel like I have so many now I could start my own pharmacy but better to be safe than sorry. I have finally gotten all my shots too!! Yay except yesterday I received my Typhoid shot which has since given me a dead arm, but it's all worth it.
I love seeing the reactions doctors give me when I tell them what I am going to do, it makes me realize how little people think about this kind of stuff. When I went to get the Typhoid shot, the doctor came in and she asked "Will you be traveling, is that why you are getting this vaccination?" When I answered that I was going to Nepal, I don't think I've ever seen someone's eyes get so wide so quickly. The next question is always Why? I have been asked if I am going for fun, with school, with a church which are all valid reasons but I think I shock them again when I tell them that I'm trekking over 200 miles to deliver clean birthing kits to women. It honestly makes me feel so powerful and strong and proud to be a part of it!
I've always loved helping people and this trip is giving me another chance too, it's also helping me show people that it doesn't matter what you look like or how old or strong you are because you can make a difference. I'm more and more excited about the fact that it's just 7 young women from our school going to do this. I know that sounds bad and I would love if a boy was coming too (and actually we do have one male on our trip he is a member of the Truckee Rotary Club) but I think there is something inspiring about a group of women traveling together and trekking through the mountains. I still can't believe it is happening so soon! I am starting to get so nervous about not being ready, which reminds me I still need to buy socks. I never knew there were so many different types of socks before but let me tell you there are like a million!
I am currently taking the Ethics course at the school, which at first I was not that excited about but I honestly think it is going to help me a lot of the trip. There are so many different ways to see what is right or wrong and I think it will help me see that they way the people act and react in Nepal is neither "right or wrong" it is just different than what I am used to. The more I read about the culture the more I am excited and can't wait to be able and see it. I just really hope that I am ready for it.

18 Days and Counting

So I have never had my own blog before but I felt that this Course allows me a good reason to start! If you are just now joining me I am going to Nepal on June 4th 2011! Why? I am going with 6 other students from my school and we are delivering clean birthing kits to women in a region you can only reach by foot. The region is Humla Nepal, so here is some information about the area:

About Humla, Nepal

·         A very remote Himalayan region where residents subsist on basic agricultural and nomadic herding practices.

·         Residents practice a blend of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism.

·         Literacy Rates: 5% female, 28% male.

·         Infant mortality rates are 8.1% (as opposed to 3.8% in Nepal generally and 0.7% in the U.S.).

·         12 women and 75 babies die during childbirth every day.

·         1 doctor per 46,000 people, more than 4 days walk for many.

So needless to say it will be a little different than the paradise I call home in Lake Tahoe. I'm nervous and so excited for the experience that we are going to have I am ready to be blown away. I have had so much support from my family for this trip its unbelievable and I can't thank them enough. I am so very blessed to have the support around me and the opportunity to make a difference in the people's lives that we meet.

It is becoming increasingly real as we get closer to leaving, I mean I'm going to be on the entirely opposite side of the world in less than three weeks, climbing the Himalayas! How many 20 year olds can say that? I'll be posting a bunch before I go with my  concerns and how I'm getting ready in these last few weeks and then whenever I can in Kathmandu before we head to the mountains. So come back for more! If you want to read more about the course or the area that we are going check out the school's blog at : http://www.travelstudysnc.blogspot.com/.