Why didn't I pack yesterday?

In just 13 hours I will be setting out on the first flight of my journey to Kenya. It's hard to believe that it's finally here! Throughout the past few months of paperwork and preparation, actually going to Kenya has seemed so far away. Today I've been a wreck-- shooting from extremely excited at one moment to unbearably nervous at the next. I'm anxious to finally get to Nairobi and find out what the next few months will bring!

My bags are packed....well, sort of:

Chaos

I have one gigantic suitcase and a big ol' hiking backpack, as well as a carry-on tote. None are totally ready to go, but I can only do so much packing at a time. They're close though, right? Unfortunately, traveling light has never been my forte. I keep finding things that I need to add but soon will need to go through everything and trim the fat. I will never look back on a trip and say "I wish I had brought more junk to carry around", and I really need to keep that in mind as I finish packing!

My flight from Pierre to Minneapolis is at 6:40 AM. After a 6 hour layover at MSP (thank goodness I have my sister, Steph, to pick me up for the morning!), I will fly to Amsterdam, and then on to Nairobi. I will arrive in Nairobi at 8:05 local time on August 28th. I'm not sure what time that is at home...should probably try to figure that out for my parents' sake :/

Upon arrival in Nairobi, our group of 26 students will embark on a 4-day orientation trip. I'm not sure where this trip will take us, but it should be a nice way to ease into the semester and become familiar with Kenyan culture. 

My younger sister, Sydney, has a volleyball scrimmage tonight at 6:30, so I'm hoping to finish up and be (relatively) stress-free by then. I'm lucky to be able to see her play before I go--something I've really missed by going to school so far away is the opportunity to see my siblings play their various sports. I've got time to kill at airports in the next couple days and will try to find free WiFi to check in. Off to pack again (and hopefully unpack the things I don't actually need).