Pre-departure Nerves

I leave in 3 days for Cameroon. Yesterday was the first day that I really started feeling scared. I've finished most of my packing and am now down to mental preparation. I've been dreaming of Africa. Sometimes I have nightmares inspired by the memoir I read of a child soldier in Sierra Leone and sometimes I have strange dreams of marketplaces I've never been to and people I've never met. My high school french teacher used to say that when you dream in french, it means you are becoming fluent. So perhaps because I am dreaming of Africa, it means I am ready.
Yesterday I was trying to buy a digital camera when I realized that I have no idea what to look for or what makes on worth more than the other, so I went to ask for help. A guy came out to help me and I asked him if they sold converters (or whatever those things are called that make it so I can plug stuff in without blowing stuff up in Cameroon) and he asked me where I was going. When I told him, his face lit up. He told me that he is from Cameroon. We started speaking in french and I asked him some of my questions about what Yaounde is like. This serendipitous encounter eased my nerves. Now I know for sure I am on a path that the universe supports.

Pre-departure Nerves

Baltimore, United States