Hello!

I can't believe it; I leave in one hour to the Calgary International Airport! Talk about last minute blog posting, right?

Anyway, I promised that I would talk about the insanity that this month has been. I find that if you are looking forward to something, time slows down to the velocity of molasses. However, this was not the case this month, for the reasons following:

Firstly, I have been experiencing much dental grief! After a week of a swollen face, no sleep, and popping extra strength advil like it was candy, I had to get a root canal. I do not want to get too in detail about this subject, but for some reason I have had to get about three root canals done this year... My hygenist says that my teeth and gums seem pretty healthy, so it's a complete mystery. Luckily this happened BEFORE we left for Africa, otherwise I do not know what I would do!
I used to fantasize living in Paris in 1885 so that I could meet van Gogh, but I never thought about what the state of medicine and dentistry was at that time until I ran into this trouble. Thank goodness for antibiotics and the strong perscription that I am taking with me to Africa!

Secondly, this month was full of family events and birthdays, which means that there was less time for planning and figuring out troubles like:

Thirdly, It is hard to be excited about a trip that may have not even happened because of visa requirements! We found out that we needed a Zimbabwean visa right around the time of my first blog post. It was a little stressful, considering we were leaving in a month, but very doable (the turnover time is about ten working days). However, a  couple of days later we were notified that, as of the end of May, the visa requirements for South Africa had changed for Canadian volunteers. However, if a Canadian is traveling to South Africa purely for tourism, they do not require a visa and can stay up to 90 days. This sent me into a panic, as my passport was halfway to the Zimbabwean Consulate in Toronto, while the South African Consulate is located in Ottawa; this would not have been too much of an issue had it not been for the fact that South Africa is very picky with their visas, and require many documents and invitation letters to retain one. At that moment, time was our enemy.
fortunately, through a lengthy investigation into express mail and many long phone conversations with Louise Frame - the IVHQ Africa Program Director - I discovered that the program that we will be working in is characterized as a volunteer/tourism program. This means that we had the option to claim ourselves as tourists, as there is no visa for volunteer/tourism.
THE TRIP WAS SAVED!
Now, I cannot say that I did this all on my own. I had our wonderful travel agent Jackie Dutka guide us through these issues... I do not know what we would do without her!

Speaking of Jackie, her colleagues and herself donated a WHOLE suitcase full of supplies for the children; ie pencil crayons, construction paper and such. This was so kind of her office to do, but the cherry on top was that they offered to pay for the baggage of the extra suitcase! It seriously warmed my heart and made my entire year so far.

Michelle (right), Jackie and myself in the office! I wish I had gotten a better picture of the suitcase, but you can see the handle!

Also, my dentist was so kind as to donate some dental supplies for the children as well!

Perhaps of I didn't have to get a root canal, I would not have received the dental supplies! There is a silver lining to everything. Life is about seeing the positive in the negatives and making the best of the situations that you face, and although this month was difficult, I am so glad that it confirmed the fact that if you stay positive and keep a level head, things will work out how they are supposed to.

I am out of time, it's time to leave for the airport!

Until next time,

Jenn