Thoughts Before Leaving

This coming Saturday I will be leaving for the University of Botswana in Gaborone where I will be staying until July 23. My purpose there will be two-fold. I will be working with a non-profit organization to further educate the people of Botswana about the devastating HIV/AIDS epidemic currently affecting the country (38% of their population is infected) and also attempting to get some scientific research on HIV done with the Harvard-Botswana AIDS Institute. Along the way, I will be blogging whenever I can find a computer with internet access to anyone who would like to listen (probably only my mom) about the adventures I partake in, including safaris and a trip to Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall in the world.

Preparations for my trip have included getting vaccinated for every possible disease (including some that don’t even exist) and watching a “Man vs. Wild” episode in which Bear gets trapped in the middle of a savannah and has to escape elephants and rhinos. Quick sidenote: Does anyone else think that a more practical episode for the show would involve Bear getting trapped in an inner-city Compton ghetto and proceeding to show viewers how to escape by pointing things out like “Look over there, it’s a Crip gang member. You can identify them because they wear blue flags on their left side. If you are ever in a situation where you encounter one of them, it’s best to give them everything you have and run.” This would probably apply to more people than the 1 in 1000000 who get trapped in Africa or on a volcano, right?

So, today I finally finished all of the extra precautions and running around (such as getting my hair did) necessary for leaving, even finding time to get some packing in. My favorite items in my suitcase have to be Message in a Bottle, flight reading material written by the author of The Notebook, and sunscreen that can be attached to your belt. Who would send those kind of things in a care-package to a MAN leaving for Africa, you ask? No one in their right mind that’s for sure.

I told myself brevity would be the greatest asset of this blog and thus far I have failed miserably. My two inspirations for doing this are the blogs of Emmy Mandel and the emails of Ashley LaFata, which is probably why I am having so much trouble being brief. The next time I write I will be in Botswana with no cell phone or laptop, so if you would like to contact me, send an email to tdsports@gmail.com, something I'll check every chance I get at internet cafes. I hope everyone stays safe and enjoys America, with its sanitary water, malaria-free mosquitoes, and cell phones.