aaaaahhhhh!

I had the unnerving experience of realizing all of a sudden that time is ticking away -- 42 days to go before we leave! And I have a million things to do -- collect my clothes, buy supplies, get a camera, etc etc. My list is nearly a page long and of course Laureen didn't help by adding several things to it that I had forgotten. Nevertheless, it is hard for me to contain my excitement and I am afraid that I am boring people with my enthusiasm. One of the first things to do was scheduling the dreaded shots -- yellow fever, tetanus, Hep B and one more which I can't remember. We have to take malaria pills too. Unfortunately, as an undergrad biology major at UCR years ago, I took a parasitology class which made me very cautious when I travel -- there are lots of nasty buggies out there (the protozoan parasites such as malaria are just gross, not to mention the various types of worm-related diseases, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, etc -- just ugly stuff). I don't eat anything I can't peel or cook. Bill and I made it through three and a half years in South America and the only bad thing we (actually I) had was amoebas in Columbia -- it was enough to convince me to behave. No ice or lettuce for me...