Birakomeye...

So. So. So.

I got my travel information yesterday. I fly out of Washington, DC on Sunday, December 27 at 9:30am. WorldTeach is putting us up in DC on the night of the 26th so we can all make our morning flight, so I have to be in DC for a pre-departure meeting by 8:00pm on the 26th. Meaning that I have to fly out of San Francisco that morning to make it. So the morning of December 26 is when I leave San Francisco. Leave San Francisco. Leaving San Francisco. I'm leaving San Francisco.

Up until this point, I've had virtually no trepidation about leaving. I knew I would be sad to say goodbye to family, friends, and city, but I was so excited about going that I didn't feel it yet. I'm still as excited about going, but the fear swelled this week. It took some good cries on the way to and from work yesterday just to adjust to the fact that I have mangled my annual, indestructable family vacation with my too-early December flyaway date, and I can't stop myself from getting choked up when I think about those inevitable final goodbyes. I know it's only a couple years, but my plans after Africa don't, at this point, include coming back to San Francisco. This departure date is only three days earlier than I expected, but those were three precious San Francisco days...gah. Stop. Stop. Stop. Who knows what will come of or after this.

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Precicely.

...ariko ndishimiye :)

just shoot me

Not sure why, but I am childishly excited about getting vaccinated. I just made my appointments today (I have to go in THREE TIMES because the damned rabies vaccine has to be spaced out just so). Thankfully, I got so close to moving to the DR that I have a good amount of shots taken care of already, but I still need:

yellow fever vaccine
meningitis (my most acute fear) vaccine
rabies vaccine series
polio booster shot
typhoid pill series
cipro doses (bleagh)
malarials

For the malarials, I have three options: one that will cost upwards of $1,000 for my two-year stay (so we can just strike that from the list), one that must be taken daily and that presents nausea, sunburn, and hormonal muck up in 20% of cases, and one that presents neuropsychological side effects (vivid dreams, anxiety) in 20% of cases. Hmm. I am pretty torn between those last two.

So tell me, friends, which would you rather have messed up: your stomach and skin or your brain?