Happy Christmas!

I just updated my travel blog, Learning (in) Tswana, and I couldn't help but write a bit for this one too. Can't help it, because I have to be so monotopical and formal for that one. Well, as formal as I can be, anyway. :) I have seven days from now before I'll be flying off to Botswana. My prayers include a swift journey with no delays, and I am hoping dearly that I will not get stuck in London with snow... Things are coming together pretty well for the trip. At church we asked some recent travelers to Africa what they did for malaria pills and they said they had extras that they would gladly give me. And they're the good kind, with few side-effects, and that you only have to take one day before and one week after. Perfect for any weekend trips I may take out of the safe-zone of the city. They've enough that I could take two such trips, and a purchase of a pack of my own will gain me a few more.

I got a Lonely Planet Botswana-Namibia guidebook for Christmas: very excited about that, it's got a whole big section on Gaborone, where I'll be, and what to do there; and I was excited to see a map of the city and realize that the UB campus really is just a couple kilometers away from the downtown. I purchased myself a Christmas present from Barnes and Noble, The Joyful Christian - a collection of 127 C.S. Lewis readings, one for each day I am in Botswana. I wanted an encouraging book and I asked God to make it obvious which I should pick up for myself, I figure having the exact number of readings to ponder each day of my journey was pretty significant. After all, 127 is a rather strange number to pick for an anthology.

Perhaps the most joyous part of my time home so far has been seeing family and friends - particularly my nephew Garrett, who is most enjoyable, and whom I am betting will choose "hello" as his first word, because he's almost got it already. But I have also enjoyed seeing friends, like my dear Erin Cooke, and cousins that I haven't seen in quite some time - or which I just saw at Thanksgiving. Either way it happys me very much. :)

Now, I've got just one more week before I go. My packing list has been approved by my parents, and I will officially start packing tomorrow, along with the laundry that has been piling up next to my bed. Of course, I also have to finish unpacking from school (it's mostly done, it just needs to be properly stored), and it wouldn't hurt to go through my clothes drawers and weed out anything that I can get rid of, considering that my t-shirt drawer is barely staying shut at the moment. I am so excited to be going, and at the same time I can't believe that this is really about to happen. If I think about it too hard, my heart starts to race! It's all so thrilling! Anyway, I'd best be getting to bed - I've a big week ahead of me, and I don't want to be too sleepy to get everything taken care of that needs be!