Last Day in Virginia Beach

Today is my last day in Virginia Beach before we drive up to D.C. tomorrow. My dad and grandma (who is still in town from my brother's high school graduation) are going up with me, and we're going to spend part of the weekend in D.C. sightseeing before I leave. My flight leaves out of Dulles International Saturday night! We're flying on Ethiopian Airlines... sound sketchy? It might be. I'll let you know.

I'm starting to get nervous about our trip, but I think my excitement is outweighing it. I'm basically packed, and by basically packed, I mean I'm sure I'll take things out and move them around about five more times before I leave. We're allowed to take two suitcases of 50 pounds each, but we have to reserve 25 pounds and half of a bag for these backpacks from the National Conference on Social Studies for the Mwanje School in Malawi. We're also taking children's books from a Blacksburg church. As far as we know, everything we're bringing will be put to good use in Zomba at the schools! 

I still need to do some more lesson planning and reading before I leave, but I'm basically set to go. I also need to stop by my bank and get money for the trip. Just to give you an idea of the exchange rate: Malawi uses Kwacha (see the picture above). The current exchange rate is 143 Malawian Kwacha to $1 U.S. dollar. Total, I'm bringing $400, and this should be plenty of money for all of my food and lots of souvenirs! If you want anything specific (Malawi is well known for tea, nuts, pottery, carvings, paintings, etc.) let me know! I'll have lots of room on the trip back. 

I had dinner at P.F. Changs last night with Curtis (thanks babe!), and I think my fortune was accurate for once: 

"Your eyes will soon be opened to a world full of beauty, charm and adventure." 

He commented that he didn't think it would be beautiful, but I disagree. While some of the elements we may encounter may not appear to be beautiful, from what we know of Malawi, the people and their warm hearts I believe will be beautiful.