so i guess this was supposed to be my first entry

hi everybody! so afs wanted me to make this my first blog post but i forgot, so it will just have to be my seventh one.
ok, so im going on the spring 2010 semester long community service trip to ghana through afs. i found this program senior year of high school right before i was about to send in my college applications and decided that i had to do it. there was no question, the second i read about it i knew i had to do it. i always loved travelling and doing volunteer work, so this program seemed perfect. out of all of the countries, i picked ghana because it sounded like such an interesting place and was extremely different from anywhere else that i had ever been. i have no idea what im going to gain from this experience. ive been trying not to think about it too much because i dont want to set expectations (expectations inevitably lead to disappointment and it would be reaaaally pathetic if i found a way to be disappointed with this trip). hopefully i can share a little bit of american culture, maybe promote some international peace, the usual :) what barriers or challenges have i overcome to become an afser?... hmm, im going to have to say that the biggest one was getting together all of the money for the trip. im paying for almost all of this myself and it i didnt exactly have this kind of money laying around, so that was a challenge. i worked two jobs while going to college full time which i dont advise anybody to do, but i think its going to be worth it. im pretty sure that my family and friends think that im crazy for doing this, but everybody has been supportive, especially my parents. i think i gave them both minor heart attacks when i told them that i was going, though. a few people told me that they couldnt picture me doing this, but whatevs. ill show them :) anyway, im pretty sure thats it for now.