Pre-Departure To-Do List

-Buy a really good Arabic-English dictionary. How have I made it through two years of Arabic study without one?

-Buy lonely planet guide to Egypt, and probably Israel, and Jordan...and everywhere else I think I might be able to convince my parents to let me go.

-Get really fat so I'll have lots of extra weight to shed as I waste away at the mercy of the heat and my digestive system.

-Sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Kidding. But seriously. I need to indulge in every vice I have before I have to go behave for two years.

-Eat lots of Los Calientes.

-Buy a new pair of Rainbows.

-Re-read Tales of a Female Nomad for inspiration.

-Drive. Alot.

-Take a walk around campus and say goodbye to everything I know about the college experience in America.

-Study Arabic. No, seriously. Study Arabic until my epiglottis hurts.

-Try to be fearless.