It's been a while...

I think I started this blog a little early, because I haven't had much to say recently and I was really busy with classwork so there wasn't much updating to do with regards to pre-trip stuff.

But I'm back, and I leave in a month. Did you read that? I LEAVE FOR INDIA IN A MONTH! I finished exams and papers and take homes and I'm all done my winter semester and I'm back to work, and now there's nothing to focus on except India. I still get weird comments about going. More good-natured excitement than anything, though, really. It's nice. All my coworkers are really happy that I'm going, even if that means I'm cutting into the time when they'll be able to take holidays. Everyone is mostly excited for me. Funny though, I had one of my supervisors tell me I'm "brave" for going to India for two months. Huh? I don't get what's so "brave" about it. Maybe adventurous or something but not brave. Bravery is something I think of when I think of people in the military, or firemen, or the kid that dives into a freezing cold river to save his friend from drowning - THAT's bravery. Going to India? That's adventure, or at least I think so.

We had a meeting at the beginning of April with everyone that's going, three girls that are going with us go to universities in Halifax, and they were in the middle of exam season, so instead of them driving up for 2.5 hours and having to drive back and all that nonsense we skyped with them! That was so cool! There were lots of technological issues to overcome but in the end we had a laptop set up with a webcam that the girls could see whoever was speaking, and their webcam feed was transmitted to a projector and the sound system in the classroom. Talk about technology! We had Caroline Whidden talk to us about the trip as she went last year, and Dr. Majithia (a Philosophy professor at Mt. Allison, who is originally from India) and Dr. Craig (an English professor from Mt. Allison who went on the trip before) discuss safe practices, and what to expect, and all that usual stuff. A group of Indian students at Mt. A showed up to talk to us about the differences between Canadian and Indian culture, and we all snacked on vegetarian samosas and mango chutney (YUMMY!)

I'm getting longwinded now, so I'll try and cut this short - the meeting was great, it's nice to get comfortable with everyone who's going a little bit ahead of time, and I really can't wait to go on this adventure with everyone. For now though I just have to work and get things together to go, I was reminded today that I really need to get a power outlet converter/adapter! OOPS! The packing list is quite extensive! Wish me luck!