Three Weeks To Go

I can't believe time has flown so quickly. "It was all a dream..." 6 months ago. I'm a little over 3 weeks away from my trip to Ghana. So much has happened and there is so much left to do.

Today, I had my yellow fever vaccination. It was my first vaccination of my adult life. I'm seriously debating getting the anti-malaria pills. I was born with sickle cell trait SO that should protect me but...what if I don't actually have the trait and have been under some delusion of malaria safety. But I keep having dreams that I have forgotten something. I had a dream that I forgot to get the vaccination or that I left my passport home. I need to start organizing my life a bit better so that I can at least stop having these nightmares that plague on my lack of preparation.

Wow, three weeks... This is kinda heavy for me. I'm going to be in Elmina Slave Castle. I'm going to be where hundreds of thousands of people passed through. That's some heavy realization. As the days get closer to the trip date, I feel more and more emotional. My ancestors left Africa in chains, forced to endure the Middle Passage, continual trade, rape, killing... And some how survived. Here I am, making the trip back to the continent, in freedom with a kindle, ipod, and on a plane.

I feel as though I'm prepared physically. I got my vaccination, I know what I want to pack, I know how much money I'll be carrying, etc. But emotionally, I think I'll be a mess.

As always, I feel extremely blessed to have all of your support in reading, writing me on FB and twitter about the trip, helping with funding, and just general good wishes toward this experience. It means a lot to have this kind of support.

Peace,
the black star pilgrim J