Thoughts on toilets, electricity, and other generally comforting things

Due to my personality and my anxiety over a new situation, I have been complaining about certain obstacles I may face once in Guinea. However, as more and more people have asked me about the horrors I could face, I've realized that I'm not going to Africa to be comfortable. If I went to Africa and everything was the same as it is in the States, there would be no reason for me to visit it. I'm looking forward to the adventure  of a lifetime- even if it comes in the form of my digging my own pit latrine. While I know the road ahead will be hard, I am really looking forward to how this will open my world and help me to grow. That being said, please bear with me and my complaints : ). I'm scared, ecstatic, and, totally not packed, but I'll be leaving less than 72 hours.

25 Days To Go

Less than one month until I leave the US for Guinea! My official departure date is July 2nd. I'll fly to Philly for "staging", and then fly to Conakry the 3rd/4th. For some reason I was never sent the staging information, but thanks to a wonderful group of fellow volunteers, they gave me the info and everything has been sorted out! Right now I'm just riding the emotion rollercoaster. One day I'm thrilled to be going, the next I am completely terrified. When I'm not busy freaking out, I'm spending all my money on fancy things like hammocks, swiss army knifes, travel nets, and so on, and dreading the day I actually have to organize all of it into suitcases! The last big piece of news is that I have finally been medically cleared. Who would have thought that it would take almost three months to certify a basically healthy 21 year old?! Oh well, now that the medical stuff is out of the way, and all the paperwork (for now) all I have to do is sit and wait and try not to stress out too much!