so a ways back my pops told me i didnt need any shots for india, but as the trip has been approaching i think my mom has been getting increasingly worried that i am going to get some horrible illness while im there and so has been checking sites that recommend various immunizations and calling the health dept and such. anyways, she decided that i should get the hep a vaccine. so today we went in to the health dept to get it. she actually ended up needing a booster as well, so we both got our hep a shots. i didnt manage to document the moment at all, but here's a picture i took of a tree on the way in. just cause i like the fall
and here are some other trip related pictures. one is of our india pills. the big green ones are for malaria, and the others are cipro for if we get sick. then there's a picture of the two salwar kameez that im borrowing from my mom to wear in india, esp in the villages. they're incredibly comfortable (like pajamas) and im very excited about them. katie has requested pictures of me wearing them, so ill save those for later in the week.
and one last thing, i am setting a goal to post everyday until i go, to sort of make up for the lack of posting i will be able to do there (although i will try as often as possible) and by posting that goal ill actually feel like i have to live up to it, so that'll be good
so ive begun getting ready for india. i bought some shoes the other day. i basically needed shoes that were decent looking (for staying in villages and with ministry leaders and going to meetings and such) but also that i could walk everywhere in cause i only want to bring one pair...well maybe and a pair of flip flops too. so anyways, these are kinda nice but also have thick soles and are almost like hiking shoes, so hopefully they'll be perfect! i also ordered a new camera yesterday which im excited about. i was sad to have to buy a new one, but this one looks great and i got a pretty good deal. its the olympus stylus 1010. (here's a picture) also i got my visa approved and sent back the other day, so thats good! oh and yesterday i turned in a letter at work saying id be leaving for november. so things are in the works!
so this past weekend my friend kaiti flew in from nashville to visit for a few days (she left today). anyways i got some time off and so did my friend emily (also from the forge, lives out near there) and we went apple picking, hiking, and just hung out around charlottesville! we picked a ton of apples the first day she was here and then baked apple related things every day following, including apple pie, apple crisp, and apple sauce. i feel like i should be sick of apples, but i actually just ate one and it was delicious. it was really fun and good to see her. here's a picture of my mom, emily, me and kaiti up at carter's mountain. the weather was beautiful all weekend which was nice. it was tough goin back to work today and not feeling like my work there was very worthwhile, but ah such is life
5 weeks from today i'll be in india! (we leave 5 weeks from yesterday) needless to say i'm very excited. work is going pretty well but not something im interested in doing forever (even though my boss did say i could rise as high as i wanted...hmm tempting) and im on day 8 (i work tonight) of a 9 day stretch of working, so im a little exhausted of it right now. but this morning my dad and i are going to get pictures taken to mail with our visa applications. we were going to drive up to dc to get them but he decided we should just mail them in instead. but hopefully those will go through and then one step closer!
