A quick update before I leave tomorrow: I've had a fabulous weekend at my parents' house in Everson. It's always a fun time here. It seems like I've been going nonstop since I moved out of my apartment in Seattle on Friday. (Moving twice in four months is not recommended). Thankfully, my parents are rock stars...and helped me both times!!! I have 70 pounds of art supplies I'm hauling with me to Ghana. Thanks to my friends and family who loaded me up with donations. Crayola has a big chunk missing from their inventory! My backpack is bulging with the clothes and personal supplies I think I may need for the next eight months. My flight leaves at 1:50 p.m. tomorrow (during 5th period, teachers). I make a pit-stop in Amsterdam before flying on to Accra, ... read more

Apparently this website crashed and erased my previous entry. So...I will begin again: Less than a month until I leave. I fly out September 4th, which is coincidentally the first day of school in Renton. Poetic, I think. I fly straight from Seattle to Amsterdam, with a five hour layover, then straight to Accra, the capital of Ghana. I will be picked up by one of the volunteer coordinators, and will likely stay at least a night or two in Accra before boarding a bus to Kumasi, a city about five hours away. From Kumasi, I will take a "tro-tro," which is a taxi/van and finish the last two hours to Ejura. I found out today that I'm going to be teaching art to all the kids at the school (kindergarten through 8th grade). I am ... read more