This is Real Life

Well, this is it. I'm really going to Africa. After months of hoping and planning, I will be flying out this Saturday. 

Little-known fact about me (ok, maybe not little-known because I tell people this a lot. . . ) I was voted 'Most School Spirit' in high school as well as 'Most Likely to Move to Africa.' You may be thinking that that's a strange senior superlative to win, and you would be right. The thing is, I pretty much set myself up for the win because, as a member of yearbook staff, I got to come up with all the superlatives, and I thought this one would be fun. Most people in my class were really confused as to what it even meant though, and I then had do go around and tell everyone to vote for me. . . . So, basically, it was rigged, but still, this is an exciting time, because I am fulfilling my high school prediction at such a young age. "Most Likely to Succeed?" Who needs that? I'm all about the quickly attainable goals filled with adventure. 

So, after that brief explanation for the title of my blog, here's the relevant stuff.

In three days, I will be flying to Paris to meet Hannah Weichbrodt (See that really awesome-looking girl pointing to Togo in this blog's theme pic? Yeah, her.) and from there, we soak up as much French culture and eat as many chocolate crepes as one can during a 3 hour layover in the Charles de Gaulle airport, and then we fly together into Lome, Togo where we will be living for the summer.

I couldn't be more excited to be doing this internship with Hannah. Usually, for our Community Development internships, we have to go alone as part of the experience. Right from the beginning of this process, though, Hannah and I decided we wanted to go to the same place (French speaking Africa) and would love to be together. God just kept opening up doors for it to work and I really think he knew what he was doing. If I could design a perfect person to spend a summer with in Africa, Hannah is pretty much exactly it. She's driven, hard-working, fun, encouraging and compassionate. I'm excited to see how God challenges and teaches us through each other this summer.

In Togo, we'll be completing our Community Development research internships. As part of our major, we all go out after our junior years and conduct research for three months. Hannah and I are interns for the Chalmers Center for Economic Development and will be researching their microfinance work. Their motto is "Help the church help the poor help themselves." I don't know about all of you, but I think that is just the greatest. You can (and should) check out more about the Chalmers Center at Chalmers.org. They are doing the Lord's work in some pretty amazing ways.

Well, I should probably cut this off somewhere and go finish packing. Pray for Hannah and I as we tie things up at home (Pittsburgh for me, Houston for her). There's a ton to do in not much time and goodbyes are never fun.

You know what is fun though? Going to Africa. Bring. It. On.