Hostel International (Chicago)

Day One... Today began at the unfortunate hour of 5 this morning, and has definitely been a long one! I arrived at the airport and by chance (and a little Dad intuition) checked into the right airline for my 8am flight to Chicago. As my plane took off I felt a rush of sadness, regret, and trepidation that mingled with exhaustion and I had such crazy thoughts as trying to gain access to my return ticket and come directly back to Denver. Yet I reminded myself that I am not allowed to cop out because I'm the one that intentionally put myself in this position! So I pressed onward, and found my way from the airport to the Hostel International Chicago via the "Airport Express", which afforded me a grand tour of a large part of downtown Chicago from the perspective of a terrified passenger clinging to the seat as the driver navigated the afternoon traffic. I had the impression that this driver knew exactly what he was doing, and it was as though he understood something about the rhythm of Chicago's traffic that was as foreign to me as the national language of Botswana.
From the hostel we walked to the office where the study abroad organization was headquartered for our pre-departure orientation. The walk itself was epic, as we were limited to the few pieces of warm clothes we had room to bring, and the office was twenty-five minutes away! The orientation was both reassuring and disturbing as it added to my limited knowledge of what this experience was going to be like in both positive and negative ways. I can look forward to a campus with many of the comforts and amenities that I have at my home campus, but there are many things that will be very different as well. For example, my neurotic attention to schedules and planning will be of little use in Botswana where life moves at a turtle's pace in comparison with our fast-paced American lifestyle. Should be a lovely change and a very important learning experience for me!
After orientation, we all walked to a Thai-Pan-Asian-Whatever-You-Feel-Like restaurant where I enjoyed my last "American" meal before heading out. Tomorrow we board a plan bound for Washington-Dowles at 11am, followed by a four hour layover, a fifteen hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, and then a short plane ride to Gaberone (pronounced Gab-er-ony). All told, we will arrive on Saturday at 6:20pm Botswana time (9:20am Colorado time), racking up almost 24 hours of travel time! I am excited and uncertain and afraid and joyous, and experiencing a thousand emotions at once. All I know is that this is going to be an adventure of a lifetime! TTFN!!