Tutaonana! (Goodbye!)

The journey begins. I just had a conference call with my program manager and a few fellow volunteers, and we are all set to go! I am leaving for London tonight, with my good friend Megan! I can't even explain how excited I am to be heading back to Europe and to finally be reaching Tanzania in about week. For those of you who do not know, I will be in London tomorrow evening and then flying straight to Montpellier to visit my family. I have just received an email from my Aunt DD that as soon as we arrive, my cousin, Christopher, and his girlfriend, Emilie, will be taking Megan and I to Aix en Provence...I am ecstatic!!!!!! We will be in Montpellier for 3 days, then we fly to Dublin for 3 days, where we will be meeting up with a friend from Google, who just so happens to be there for work! We then head back to London for a night, where I am crossing my fingers that we will meet one of my roommates from Rome, Kira!!! It is so wonderful to have soo many friends and family abroad :) Megan will leave for home on the 18th and Michele will fly into London on the same day.....we will both fly out for Tanzania that night to arrive there on the 19th! Whew!

I have been placed with The Grail Movement. This organization works for women empowerment to develop their full potential in different ways through education and workshops. It also works in line with the major contemporary problems such as, environment care, HIV/AIDS, globalization, poverty reduction, children care and evangelism through literature and distribution. I will be working in the nursery school with children between the ages of 3 and 6, which is a perfect placement for me. I am not sure what to expect, but realize that there will be a lack of resources and individual attention for the children.

Michele was originally placed with a juvenile delinquency center, but was extremely uncomfortable with this placement. She was able to be moved to a primary school, so she is extremely relieved!

Just wanted to send a quick thank you too my Google team...Thanks for the awesome send off...you all will be missed immensely!!!!

I have been awaiting this trip for a long time and am so happy that it is here!!! I will write as much as possible, as I know many of you are eager to follow me on my journey. Thanks for all of your love and support! Bon Voyage!!!