15 days left to go! Yikes. Today I went to the doctor to discuss vaccines and malaria prophylaxis. I am not completely pro-vaccine, but I opted to get the hepatitis A and typhoid vaccines. Neither are exactly kosher with my strict vegetarianism, but I did it more for peace of mind. I would like to be able to experience the local food without having to worry about hep A and typhoid. My arm is surprisingly sore considering my last intramuscular vaccine (tetanus) didn't hurt at all. I got a prescription for Ciprofloxacin (just in case) and Chloroquine for malaria. Needless to say, my bank account has taken quite a hit so far this week. The doctor visit plus vaccines was $220 and a year's worth of Chloroquine will be about $250. I'm fairly certain that I won't be filling the Cipro script and I haven't quite decided on the Chloroquine yet. I'll be taking a lot of deet lotion and spray to ward off Dengue fever and other miscellaneous mosquito-transmitted diseases anyway; I'm not entirely sure I can afford both (don't forget you can donate and help me out with my preparations by clicking the button on the right!)
I found out last week that my student loans have been deferred until February 2011! That's a definite relief and a reassurance that this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
I've still got a huge list left of things to do before I leave. Sub-tropical clothing needs to be bought (anybody know where I can find rain gear that doesn't cost a small fortune?), medical donations need to be picked up (thank you!), various items to be purchased, car to be sold, packing, studying, etc etc etc.
No fun pictures this post but I do have a link - my friend Valerie is leaving the same day as I am to go to Kenya for 3 month to work with HIV education efforts. You can visit her blog if you're interested in hearing about her trip! valnafrica.blogspot.com
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