One More Day!

I can't believe this, any of it. The fact that I am going out of the country, going to the rainforest, sleeping in the jungle.... its all just crazy! I have everything I need now after some intensive shopping trips with my mom. All I have left to get is a few waterproof disposable cameras. Nikki luckily gave me her broken camera from Italy that she dropped a rock on. It works fine except I won't be able to view any pictures until I get back home since the screen is shattered.
My flight leaves really early on Tuesday so I pretty much want to get to the airport at the crack of dawn because I don't know how to check in or find a gate or anything. My worst fear right now is missing my flight...
Tomorrow I have to write a paper and submit it before I leave then Baba is coming over for a family dinner!

Almost There.

Well its the middle of October. It's finally starting to get cold and I just had a few midterms. The expedition is in less than a week and I'm starting to get nervous! I still have a lot to do to prep for it, like taking an exam that is being given to me early because it's original date is when I'm gone. I still have to pack and buy all the little things. I also have a paper to write before I leave which is actually almost done. All my vaccines are taken care of and I have my malaria pills. My checklist goes on and on!
Luckily, I asked my coach if it would be okay to not go to the tournament this weekend so that I can spend time with my family and do the last minute things. He didn't give me an answer till this morning, but I'm so thrilled that he allowed me to stay home!
On Thursday I will be going on a hike with Amanda, my room mate whom I don't think has been mentioned yet. I am going to go on this hike with very little weight on my back and we won't be out there for too long. Afterwards I am going to head home and spend time with my family.
I wish my volleyball team all the luck in the world this weekend!!!
I also hope that when I get back from the Amazon that my room mate Rachel decides to clean the room....
Peace

It's My Birthday!

YAYYYY Im finally 21 years old! This is the day Ive been waiting for! Last night I cried at midnight because thats how happy I was! Lets recap the weekend. If at all possible ;)
Friday after practice I headed home to have some cake and a great steak dinner with my mom dad and baba! I had a lot of fun and the best part was, my parents wrote a letter on the day of my christening when I wasn't even a year old yet and they seal it and decided to give it to me at some point later in my life. Before I even opened it I started to cry. Just the idea that my mom and dad would write something and keep it secret for that long brought tears to my eyes because they truely love me. We passed it around, and of course baba cried, but we knew that was going to happen!
I came back up to Painesville that night because my parents were heading back to Pottsville and New Jersey to see my Aunt Nadine. I woke up Saturday morning with a beer in my hand. Now I know Saturday wasn't my actual birthday, but if you look at it I was actaully being more responsible drinking the weekend before my birthday rather than the weekend after, because next weekend we (as in the volleyball team) will be in Michigan Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun and Im sure Coach would not have wanted me to go out to the bars while we were up in Michigan! Saturday started off with eggs and beer! We then headed to the football game, all four roomies were feeling pretty good! It rained all day and its still raining.... After the football game there was about a 50 min intermission and then the night began. My goal was obviously 21 shots, mainly because my last name, and I have a picture of each shot I took. Im pretty sure I made it past 21 :) and I also was luckily enough to snag the last of my dads yuengling to bring back with me! I won't go into anymore details of the night because nothing I say can even do it justice, but it was probably the best birthday party Ive ever had!
Tonight the roomies and Rach and Lo will be heading out to Habachi for dinner! yummm cant wait!!! I just have to make it through one more class and volleyball!
As for the expedition, its less than 2 weeks away. I email my professors last night asking them what work I can get done before I leave and I haven't heard anything back yet! This weekend its going to be tough with training because we will be in Michigan Thursday through Sunday meaning that gives me no time to get my 5 and 6 hour hike in. I went to G. Road yesterday to hike up and down the same steep slope and I plan to do the same thing Wednesday, but that hardly amounts to a 5 or 6 hour hike. I can't skip class to fit one in either because Ill be missing them for an entire two weeks to do just that! If only I could get those hikes in this weekend somehow!
Thanks for reading! Now its time for a nap so I can actually go out to the bars as a 21 year old tonight!

The Day After Mountain Day.

Ello.
Its a rainy Tuesday and all I want to do is sleep, but I have so much going on in the next couple of weeks its like I have no time for anything!
I traveled down to Marietta this past weekend to visit my long lost friend from home, Hannah. I arrived pretty late Saturday night and we got up pretty early Sunday to do some hiking in southeastern Ohio. We ended up at Wayne National Forest after I got us lost and Hannah slept the whole way! We hiked for the entire afternoon up and down a lot of covered trails full of leaves. It was beautiful! Afterwards I met my parents by beachwood for dinner at Olive Garden where I ate entirely too much!
Monday was mountain day! The best day at Lake Erie College. All the students on campus are woken up by bag pipes and drums around 7 am. Luckily I live off campus and didn't have to deal with the parade, but I did head out for the mountain day scavenger hunt. A bunch of teams came out this year and competed for over 1000 dollars worth or prizes! My team missed a few clues so we ended up not winning...
The rest of my day was filled with staring at the computer screen and returning emails and getting homework done.
Today however; I found out through an email that my passport is in the mail and should be delivered sometime this weekend. All that is left to do is get my visa (which is very expensive, especially since I have to get it Ultra Rushed) There will be a lot of little things I have to get done in the next few weeks. I leave in t-minus 20 days!!! AH! Birthday countdown is 7 days!

Game tonight, HOME!

Hurricane

"Today has been very eventful" and it was only 1030 am when Rachel and I were practically in the middle of a monsoon. The day started off with a great volleyball workout and the weather was perfect, especially for the first day of fall! Rachel came to the house just has the thunder had started. We waited it out and thought we could get a nice long hike in before my class and her meeting that afternoon. On our drive out to P. Glenn, the sun was shining and it continued to radiate its heat until about an hour into our hike. We had just made it down a steep and slippery slope covered with leaves and loose rocks when we heard the first bit of rain. We continued to trek along across the creek and then we heard thunder. It was pretty loud, enough for Rachel to give me the death stare and I said "OK Let's go." We turned around and started to make our way back when it started to down pour. We knew we had to make it back to that steep slope before the rain drenched it enough to turn it into a full fledged waterfall. We did have to jog quite a ways, but luckily we made it just in time. With the rain coming down hard we scaled (yet again) another hillside and made it to the field where we had to walk, slowly now since we were already soaked, quite a ways to the car. By the time we were back at the car the sun was out again, shining just like it had this morning. The thunder was still present in the distance so it was pointless for us to head back into the woods. Inclement weather, as my dad said, is dangrous.
The hike was great if you ask me. Hot, humid, rain, thunder, and rough terrain all make for a great parallel experience to the amazon. Rachel on the other hand, while angry about the rain and her wet feet, swore to me that she would never hike with me again. We will see about that.
I have a lot to catch up on tonight as far as homework goes, but atleast I am almost moved into the new house!
This weekend my plan is to head down to Marietta to see Hannah! She agreed to go hiking with me all day on Sunday somewhere in southeastern Ohio or even West Virginia! I'm real excited!!!
Time for volleyball!

Long weekend.

This past weekend we traveled to the upper peninsula of Michigan to play NMU and Mich Tech. We lost both in 3 although I think when we get our shot to play Mich Tech at home it will be a different outcome. The UP is beautiful. We did some team bonding along the shores of Lake Superior and I got some great pictures! It was alittle upsetting that my room mate Krista couldn't come because her ankle is messed up from our game against Hillsdale the previous weekend. The bus ride was about 14 hours back to Lake Erie and we drove straight through the night. I brought my body pillow so I could lay out on the floor, but barely got any sleep because I felt so claustrophobic. I got to spend the entire day Sunday with my family because my dad had the day off of work. It was nice and I took a great nap with my puppies. Now its back to the school week and reality. I have a lot of studying to do this week so I can keep up with everything before I head to the Amazon.
The ambassadors got our first round of questions in from the students this evening and I already answered them! I actually can't wait to get more, such a nice break from studying and school.
I head out for my hike on Wednesday this week and I already have Rachel, my room mate, reluctantly on board!
See you!

Day 1.

Today as I was surfing the internet searching for information to prepare me for my study abroad trip to South Africa I realized that I have a lot going on in the next few months. I wanted to get a blog going for when I head to South Africa anyways just so I can look back at all the experiences I had, but right now I am becoming slightly stressed from school, volleyball and training that I need a way to organize my thoughts.

Starting with volleyball. So far this season we accomplished one of our goals and that was beating Notre Dame College. We, the Lake Erie College womens volleyball team, have never won a match against the falcons and this year we took it in 5 games with a score of 15-11 in the final game. Lauren, my best friend since oh I dont know... the 7th grade? is on the opposing team so it's always fun to play against her :) Now that we have started play in the GLIAC, which is the most competitive and strongest D2 conference (so everyone says), we haven't won a game. The teams are a lot bigger than us and hit a lot harder. We are having a tough time now, but if our team can bring it together I think we could really shock some teams. We leave for Northern Michigan University and Michigan Tech this weekend, which is about a 12 hour bus ride... atleast I'll get some of my homework done? As for my school work. My classes are pretty tough because I am finally into my major (environmental science), but atleast I am interested in the material!

Moving on to another reason I wanted to start a blog. I was recently chosen to be an i2P (impossible2Possible) Youth Ambassador. i2P is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to inspiring youth around the world through adventure and educating them on social issues like biodiversity. This October (in a few short weeks) I will be traveling to Brazil with 3 other Youth Ambassadors (Jessie, Isaiah and Sierra) to trek for 8 days along the Tapajos River in the Amazon jungle. Along the way we will be communicating with over 13,000 students (the last number I heard, which is probably still growing) about the importance of biodiversity around the world and problems like deforestation and food that effect the Tapajos communities.

Trekking for 8 days is going to physically and mentally demanding, not to mention very hot and humid. I have been training for a few weeks now for the trip along with playing volleyball. Our training consists of strength, flexibility, upper body cardio and hiking (with 30 lbs on our backs). The hiking is probably the most important part because that is what we will be doing for a majority of those 8 days of trekking. So far its been tough to find people to hike along with me, although I don't mind going by myself, but the company is nice! My mom and dad both have hiked with me once and I want to add that I appreciate everything they do for me and all the support they have given me throughout my entire life! My puppies (coco and sugar) have also tagged along once. This past weekend one of my room mates, Rachel, headed down to Cuyahoga Valley National Park for a few hours and hiked down the Standford trail in search of a waterfall (thanks Sandi for the directions!). We would have found the waterfall an hour earlier had we not run into a 3 foot long black snake that happened to cross our path (I'm pretty sure we will see even bigger snakes in the amazon). Once we spotted it we turned and ran putting us way of course, but thats where the fun is... getting lost!

Another aspect of getting ready for the journey is the vaccines. Now I am no good with blood or needles, as my room mates know, but I didn't think a few shots were going to be that bad... Well I was wrong. Krista, my other room mate, came with me for moral support and to drive me home just incase I were to pass out. Well I did end up fainting, right there in the chair... I'm not sure what it is with me, but I just can't handle needles.

One other problem that I have had is with my passport. I was denied because I had a headband on in my pictures. How was I suppose to know?! I sent everything back, so hopefully I'll get my passport in another week or so and then all I have to get is my visa which should only take about 5 days.

Thats all I have for now. I know over the next few weeks we will be getting a lot of information plus I have a lot of exams and our first home game is coming up soon! (and my birthday is only 20 short days away!!!!)

B