And So It Begins...

Hi!
So as some of you may know, this summer I'll be traveling to Morocco for 4 weeks (June 6th to July 4th) with an organization called Cross-Cultural Solutions. This organization has home bases in several different countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. I chose to go to Morocco because I think the culture is fascinating, and the area is relatively safe (as far as cities go).
The home base provides you with a safe place to stay, three meals a day, and transportation to and from your volunteer placement. They also provide a large staff to guide you in your travels, cook your food, drive you around, clean the facilities, and keep you safe. There are a wide range of volunteer placements and the volunteer is given their placement a few weeks before departure. I will mostly likely be working in an orphanage or a children's hospital, since that is where there is the greatest need. During the week, the volunteers work 4-6 hours a day, and have the rest of the day free to do activities and travel around the city. On weekends, there are trips to other cities and places and Morocco.
Also, I'm so so excited that Lacey will be joining me on this trip :) It makes the whole thing a lot less scary!
As I was browsing different websites for flights, prices and other info, I realized there are no flights directly to Morocco from the US. Instead, all of the flights have a layover in Paris. And then I thought, well if I'm already gonna be in Paris, why not take a look around? And then I was like well if I'm looking around Paris, why not check out a few other countries in Europe? (If you give a mouse a cookie...) So, as a result, I will be taking the 3 weeks before my Morocco program to travel around Europe-- probably to England, France, Italy, and Spain! When else in my life am I going to have this chance?! And don't worry, I'm not going alone, Julie is coming with me. =D
So, "how the f*ck is she paying for this?!" you might ask. Well, I have been working on and off since I was 16 and managed to save a small chunk of money if such an opportunity were to come my way. As for the Morocco part, the Cross-Cultural Solutions website had some inspiring stories of people who fund-raised their entire program fee. So I decided to give it a shot, not expecting a huge response. Fortunately, my expectations were wrong. I sent out letters asking friends and family to sponsor me. So far, I've raised $1,360-- 38% of the program fee. I am so so deeply appreciative of everyone who donated to my trip... it has made such a huge difference! So if you have made a donation, thank you so much!
There are so many things to do before I leave, it's making my head spin. But I'm glad that I'm planning this so far in advance, so I have enough time to get everything done. The next step in the process is making a doctor's appointment to receive all of the recommended vaccinations. These include Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Typhoid, Rabies, and possibly Malaria, as well as an up-to-date Tetanus. Good thing I love shots so much!
So if you want to check out the organization, the website is www.crossculturalsolutions.org
And if you would like to make a donation towards my trip you can do it easily online at www.my.crossculturalsolutions.org and typing in "margienejman" in the username box. (On my computer you have to do it twice to get to my profile).
My blogs will be few and far between until my trip begins, because who likes hearing about preparations? Not me!

Until next time,
Margie :)