A trip like this requires a fair amount of prep and luckily it's fairly under control for me. My parents found me the greatest suitcase in the world made by Osprey. It has all-terrain wheels, lots of space, can be converted to a backpack when needed, and has a detachable small backpack on the front with many wonderful, small pockets (http://www.ospreypacks.com/detail.php productID=54&colorCode=725&tab=description). I have my visas for India and China all set and flights are all booked by the organization through a travel agent (I'm sure getting thirty eight people on the same eleven flights through thirteen different airports was a really fun time). I have a pretty long, but at the same time sparse, packing list recommended by the organization and I'm working through it, but I really don't know how everything is going to fit into my suitcase. We spent $300 at CVS alone just getting toiletries and basic medicines to last the whole time (lots of Immodium in there). My wardrobe will also be very, very limited due to the packing constraints. I had an appointment with a travel doctor as well and she gave me some more vaccines (Polio update and Typhoid), as well as some prescription malaria prophylaxis pills.
Mental prep? Not quite there yet. The whole thing hasn't quite hit me yet. I'm excited to go, I really am, but it feels like everyone I tell about it seems more excited than I do. There are parts of Macalester that I'm really going to miss next semester and this will be the longest I've ever gone without coming home. Despite this, I know this trip is a rare experience that not many people are given the opportunity to undergo and I will do everything I can to get the most out of it.
I also feel slightly overwhelmed by the fact that we're traveling to four countries. I'm trying to learn about each country and its history and culture, but I could spend my life studying just one part of one country's culture, and feel as if I've only scratched the surface. On top of that, there are a lot of recommended books to prepare us for the general thematic matter of the semester. Sadly, I haven't been able to read any of them yet and I'm not sure if I will be able to. At the same time, when I think about everything a little more, in my daily life I usually participate in a bunch of different activities and can't delve into all of them as much as I would like to, so I guess it's nothing new to me, and maybe that's one of the reasons I picked this program.
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