33 hours to go

I love watching the time and weather on the side of this blog. I'm two days away from leaving, but I'm nearly 100% there in mind. I keep checking the sidebar to see how "my" city is doing. What time is it? Is it sunny or are there rainstorms ahead? Right now it's 6:44am in Amman and already 75 degrees. It's like I'm kinda sorta there!

Today has been a day of adjustments.
* The company I ordered my textbooks through emailed and said that, due to managerial changes, my books would not arrive until July. I need them in less than 33 hours. So, after a bit of scrambling and lots of phone-calls, I contacted a student who went to Jordan last year with the program and she's overnighting the books to me now. Crisis averted. She's a saint.
* Discovered financial aid *will* come through before I leave which means I can actually pay for my tickets. So now I actually have my flights booked and confirmation numbers printed.
* I worked on packing and discovered many things I needed and more things I did not. I've discovered it's rather difficult packing for this journey as I really don't know what to expect...on many levels. I've therefore decided that, upon my return, I'm going to write a guidebook for future Public Health-ers traveling to Jordan. Particularly women. It will be humorous, practical, and detailed; full of wit, sarcasm, and vital tips. Maybe it'll be my break into the world of travel writing. I'm envisioning getting paid ridiculous sums of money to travel to exotic places and telling people where the best restaurants are and where not to use the bathroom. Mhmm, perfect.

For now though, I'm tingly with excitement. Dr. Al-Delaimy has sent out clinic assignments and I'll either be in chronic disease or women's health. Either will be incredible and more like a dream than reality. I have our syllabi and first homework assignments printed so I can read and do work on the plane. My camera is charged and ready. I'm counting down the hours.