Bonjour de Paris

One flight down, two to go.

As the title says, I'm in Paris - yet doing no sight-seeing. I'm in the Charles de Gaulle Airport waiting to catch my next flight to Maritius, a tiny island near Madagascar. From there, it's only a one-hour flight to Durban. Yes! Ha, but I have another few hours before my next flight.

I think travel, particularly international travel, is so exciting. New places, new people, new languages. The thing is though, it is a little scary. Perhaps scary isn't the right word. It's just near mind-blowing how interesting the path to growing up is.

I was thinking today as I got off my first plane and entered the terminal for my second flight that it was only about two and a half years ago when my parents wouldn't even let me take a day trip, a DAY trip, to Tampa with friends over Spring Break of my senior year in high school. And here I am, less than three years later, in Paris and on my way to South Africa all on my own. Wow.

(Note: I don't know how to look at time-zones. My last flight is actually 4 hours long. Still the shortest of the three flights!)

Goodbye UNC! See you in August 2009!

It still astounds me how fast the semester has come to an end.

I'm half-way through my junior year of college and about to embark on a 6-month adventure. It will be the longest I've ever been out of the country and one of the longest times that I have ever been away from home.

The last post I wrote was quite a while ago and I only wish I had kept up better with it. To say the least however, our trip through South Africa and later Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe was literally something that I will never forget. Something that left an impression on me and somewhere that I plan to return to.

In less than two weeks I will be back in Durban, South Africa! I've been working three jobs all semester to save up the money to buy a roundtrip ticket back and I did it! I will be living there for a month with Morgan and his family. My plane leaves Miami on December 15th and I return January 13th. I definitely plan to visit the family I lived with in Cato Manor, too. I'm sure they'll love some of the pictures I took over the summer and a few extra Christmas presents. It's funny, but with these upcoming travels I feel so grown up. I must admit, I am a little nervous. I'll be in South Africa through Christmas, New Years and my 21st birthday (on January 5th). I know I've never spent all three occasions away from home. Yet my nervousness pales in comparison to my sheer excitement and I cannot wait to go!

Once I come back from South Africa, I have about three days at home in South Florida before I leave to study abroad in Havana, Cuba. The semester-long program is from January 17 through May 16th. I've been dreaming about this opportunity since I enrolled at UNC and it's finally becoming a reality. My Cuban grandparents were actually much more receptive to me going than I thought they would be. While still not thrilled, I know they're excited too. I'll be meeting family that I've always had, but never met.

So for now, I have one more final exam to go and then my drive back to Florida begins. I'm excited to spend at least a few days with my family before my globetrotting continues.