Gaborone, here I come!

Hi all! As the clock ticks down with less than a week until my departure, I thought I'd try out posting on my blog. Next Monday morning I will be flying out of JFK Airport on a ~15.5 hr. direct flight to Johannesburg. There I will have a lay over for far too many hours and then a short 1 hour flight to Gaborone, the place I will call home for the next four months.

I've been wrought up with a lot of emotions these past few days. Anxious for what Botswana has to offer. Scared to leave the all too comfortable Georgetown bubble. Excited to explore some place so foreign to me. Nervous about meeting the 11 (ELEVEN!) other international students in my CIEE program.

But mostly, I think I'm ready. Ready to defy preconceptions and learn a lot about the vibrant culture in Botswana, travel all around Southern Africa (and maybe Tanzania...here i come Mt. Kilimanjaro!!), study public health in a country with devastatingly high HIV infection rates and tropical diseases, and meet the locals.

I hope this is going to be the first of many "adventures of a lifetime" abroad. If you are interested, follow my blog! I'll try to post stories and pictures as often as the internet in Gaborone will allow. Feel free to write comments and ask lots of questions. Again, I can't promise a prompt response because I don't know what the internet will be like, but I will try my best. Below is my address if you want to try to send anything to me abroad...though I know that security in the Jo'burg airport has been an issue and things don't always make it into the hands of the study abroad students like me.

Meghan O'Hearn

c/o Batsirai Chidzodzo, CIEE

University of Botswana

Block 134-D

Office #039

Private Bag 0022

Gaborone, Botswana

Its crazy to think that the next time I post I will be in an internet cafe in Gaborone or the library at the University of Botswana. Good bye for now..I'm sure I will have a lot more to say in the days to come.