7/31 3:20PM

I'm at the hotel now--the Visa line was super long. A man with a sign met me--thank goodness because I could not have been more lost or confused.
The hotel is nice! I took my first and last shower here! Then found my exploded sunscreen in the side pocket of my backpack...awesome. Let's hope that's the first and last of my bad luck.
I'm getting homesick though. Boo. I need to accept it and overcome. There's extreme poverty in some areas here. I just wonder what a day in their shoes would be like.
I used a squat toilet for the first time and saw bunches and bunches of baby goats (Alex would love it!) I miss him. I'll have to fake happiness for a few hours.

7/30 9:15AM

Just boarded for Jakarta. My hair is looking wild. My feet smell. I'm greasy-faced. Hong Kong airport had free internet and computers so I got to send some emails! That was nice. No cell service for me though, so the goodbyes I planned to say once I landed here, never happened. It might be better this way based on the end of last flight. And goodbye emails work just fine.
The mountains outside Hong Kong's airport are fantastic. Big Chinese mountains like in a movie--foggy, dense, dark green plants.
On the screen in front of me, I have the plane's camera on. It will be a better show than when I left San Francisco because it's daytime here and I can see what's going on. At home, the chickens have just gone to bed.
Once I get to Jakarta, it's go time. I'm pretty sure I need to 'check-in' to the country and get my Visa, hopefully get my bag and then find the person with my name on a sign! Then off to the hotel! I just took a dramamine, because I started getting a little sick last flight. Maybe I'll get some sleep on this flight--not too much though--I need to stay awake till at least 10 tonight to help the jet lag.

Also--I'm glad I'm getting served vegetarian food on the flights, but I'm already sick of the flavor. Alex--I don't know how you like it so much! It's okay...but ehhh...at least it's veggie. My biggest gripe is that last night everyone got ice cream except for me. I'm better off anyways I guess. At least that's my only complaint about the flights so far! =)

7/30 4:43 PM

After this post, I'm switching my time zone clock...I need to start living in Jakarta time. The longest flight of my life is nearly over! Over 200 free movies, bunches of TV series, countdown to arrival, and a camera showing me the outside of the plane all accessible in my seat. I watched the Hunger Games and The Lovely Bones. I tried to sleep but it's hard to sleep during the 'daytime.' I left over 24 hours ago but it doesn't feel like it.
I get sick when I think about how my family at home are just getting home from work and living my normal life. Between exhaustion and my usual homesick tendencies, I'm a wreck right now. It didn't hit until I was served yogurt from Buffalo, NY, which is way closer to home than I am now. I need to sober up, if you will, once I'm off this flight, because then it's off to Jakarta and on to meeting people. There's no room for mopey-Erin then. I cried a bit now, let's hope that's it for the rest of the trip. I need to be strong here. Also--it's not like I can go home (and why would I want to!?). I just need some time to adjust. Mom, Dad, Paige, Hunter, chickens--they're all still there and will be there. Alex and I have been through a LOT together, this is hard, but I feel like we've had harder. I have my claddagh ring for Alex, my duck stuffed animal for Paige, note from Dad, and my baby blanket for Mom-I'm good to go.
Only adventures and new friendships await! (And lots of pressure changes...boo.)
17 minutes till Hong Kong.

7/30 3:24AM(home)/12:24AM

All ready to go to Hong Kong--I keep thinking I'm already in Hong Kong but I still have 14 hours to go. I had at infected sliver that I found last flight that I just squeezed out and washed...already injured, how'd that happen?
Right now it's 3:28 AM at home, 12:28 AM here in San Fran, 3:28 PM in Hong Kong and 2:28 PM in Jakarta. That's a lot of different time zones.

7/29 8:40PM

On the plane-flight #2 to San Fran! There's a very overweight man 3 row's up looking and porn and maybe having a seizure...just kidding, but that's what it looks like. Looking at porn on a plane though...are you kidding me?!
I walked onto the plane--it's like the planes you see in movies-first class was spacious and great; I'm in cramped teeny seats. Oh well, I saved money! It reminds me of Bridesmaids a lot, when they fly to Las Vegas.
This flight was pretty delayed, so I hope I catch my next flight alright.

The beginning of my journal! July 29 5:21PM

This is finally the beginning of my journal from once I actually started to travel and no longer had access to a computer. I'm going to try and stay on top of updating this blog day by day. Although there will be a different date at the top of the post, I'll write the date and time of when I actually wrote the entry. Here we go! Also--I can't believe that the trip is now completed. Boo. I'm looking forward to writing my journal out and stumbling across things I've probably already forgotten. And I'll try to leave my entries as unedited as possible with the exceptions of grammar and spelling errors, also with the exceptions of additions. Basically, I'll try very hard not to take things out.

I'm sitting in between two bathrooms near my gate in New York City. There's a perfectly good outlet to charge up my camera! I flew out of Syracuse today instead of driving to NYC. I'm eating a bagel my mom got me this morning, trying to hold off on buying dinner until it's closer to my flight, which isn't until 8:15PM. I rode JetBlue over-they have individual TV's in every seat--it was wonderful!
My hair already looks crazy and the trip's barely begun
I wish I were traveling with someone so they could watch my bags while I walk around. My biggest concern at this point is that my checked bag find me again in Jakarta. I can only hope.
Also, I didn't cry when I left. Maybe I'm actually ready for this trip after all. I probably will cry when I get my Dad's note to me out to read. Right now it's tucked away in my carry-on being saved for a later hour.
Alex and my doppelganger's just walked by. 'Alex had the glasses, pale skin, longish black hair, kind of grumpy/curious look, dark green hoodie and khaki shorts. 'I' just had red hair...still! Maybe I see him in other people because I miss him already.
I think I'm clueless here, but then I see other people and feel much better. That's kind of mean...but..it's not too awful. They probably think I'm weird for sitting here!

Where's the Cheese, Grommit?

It's Wednesday--four days to go until Sunday when I set sails for Borneo. Like I said yesterday, I've been thinking a lot about life and death...I feel like I've been treating these past few days as if they're my last, ever. Which I know if ridiculous. I've been savoring every sunset and goodnight hug with Mom and Dad. I've been enjoying my bed, driving with the windows down, blueberries, CHEESE. I'm stressing about not being able to eat cheese for three weeks! Cheese is not one of those things you can really bring with you on long trips, unfortunately.

On top of Borneo/end of my life stress-I still haven't finished packing for school. Yuck. After packing, I need to clean up everything as well. Yet here I sit, procrastinating once again...it's only a matter of time before I start playing Tetris!

Go play tetris!

Being Dramatic

It's Tuesday before I leave. I got my final shot today, my daily contacts have been picked up, my Indonesian Rupiah (money) has been ordered. The tickets have been printed. Bags have been packed (mostly!). I'm excited but scared. There's been a lot of focus on life and death in my life lately. A boy I graduated with just died last week, the Aurora Colorado shootings occured and I watched a movie called Harold and Maude, which is all about life and death, with my boyfriend. The first two points just stress the fact that you never know what could happen to you or when your time will come and that's terrifying. In the movie, Maude focuses on living and being happy in who you are. I need to focus on being happy and being me during this trip. This could be my last trip of this kind, ever! I damn well better enjoy it! This trip could also be the start of many--but you just never know. Along all of these lines, I was listening to an old Death Cab for Cutie CD in the car and one of the lyrics is that "every plan is a tiny prayer to father time." It's strange to think how true that line is. I don't know what's better though, thinking about how quickly your life could be over or completely forgetting about it. I don't think you should live in constant fear of dying, but I think people need to take the time to enjoy their life and find happiness. I apologize if this is an annoying post, but if you read to this point, it must not have been that annoying. : )
Also, I am completely in love with my dog, Hunter. As I write this on our back porch, he is laying down in the dead, yellow grass, soaking up all the sun he can. Hunter is a dog that enjoys his life. Right after I typed that out, he started rolling around on his back and flipping back and forth from one side to the other. He is a good dog. I'll miss him a lot. And the chickens, who are clucking around him.

If you want to sing out, sing out!

12 days....when did that happen?

I haven't written in almost a month, but I'm not really surprised. I have a way of putting things off, for example, I still have not packed, and I leave in less than two weeks. Smart, Erin. Packing for both Borneo and UConn is the goal of the day, yet here I sit, writing on my nearly abandoned blog instead.
I think I've been avoiding writing because of my growing anxiety surrounding this whole trip. Three weeks isn't very long at all, but it's long enough to give me some stress. I had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night when I realized I'll be leaving NY next Sunday. What if I can't navigate through the airports? What if I hate everyone I'm working with? What if I hate being in the jungle? And what will I do when I feel overwhelmed by homesickness and just want to go home? Those are some worries among many others. As for the airports, there are people to help me, and unfortunately I might have to test some people's patience, but I can figure it out, I'm sure. I'm betting that I will not hate everyone I work with, as they will probably be very similar to me--adventurous animal lovers! If, by chance, I do hate them-I'll only be with them for three weeks, and I have dealt with some pretty horrible living conditions before (foreign college roommate, Cherry). If I hate being in the jungle, again, it's only three weeks, I'll live, and probably learn to love it by the end. And if I'm homesick, UConn, again, has forced me to deal with it, this time will be different though because I can't make any desperate phone calls. Maybe I'll be better off totally isolated, and not hearing people's voices--it would probably just make me miss them more!

Okay, it's 9:06 AM, time to get moving and packing! First I thought I'd post a couple emails regarding the trip. First, my flight schedule! Bad idea, maybe, but I don't think I'm going to share this blog with many people until after the trip ends, so then no stalkers can get me! =)

 AA  17 29 JUL JFK /SAN FRANCISCO DEP 7.40P – ARR 1105P      
 AA 6117 30 JUL  SAN FRANCISCO/ HONG KONG DEP 1.10A  - ARR 615A  31JUL             
OPERATED BY CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS                             
 AA6109 31 JUL  HONG KONG/JAKARTA  DEP  920A  -ARR 105P      
OPERATED BY CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS                             
 AA 6104  26 AUG JAKARTA/HONG KONG DEP 2.50P  ARR 8.40P      
OPERATED BY CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS                             
 AA6124  27 AUG  HONG KONG/JF KENNEDY    DEP 12.30A  ARR 7.00A    
OPERATED BY CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS 

Second is part of an email from our volunteer coordinator, regarding my group's time in Borneo!

Its a good size group with a couple of welcome volunteer returnees and I am excited to say we will get the chance to finish off the amazing start our team 1 made on a new release bridge at our satellite day release Camp Rendell. We will be finishing the ~200m of swamp bridge left to a patch of dry ground and hopefully building a much needed feeding platform for the ~30 orangutans that are housed in camp now. This sight is our newest daily release camp and is approximately 45 mins from the Main Care center. This means we will be living in what I like to think is somewhat isolated luxury. Be prepared for swampy walking, wielding hammers, saws, and chisels; bathing in a river, and sleeping in a year old Camp House. Electricity is generator only so flashlights and candles at night, but cell service is relatively reliable. We will be there for the length of the team, with the potential for limited days outside of camp so please be prepared to come with all you need.
We will also have the opportunity to work with one of our long term enrichment volunteers Wendy to do some improvements and make additions to the new and old sleeping cages at Camp Rendell. This work will likely be worked out as we are there and we will split into teams to work on this as well as the bridge building every day.
One thing to be aware of that some may not know is that you will all be arriving in Indonesia in the midst of Ramadan. This means that most of the country will be fasting during the day and only eating while the sun is down. For those of us not Muslim, we will be eating during the day while working (most of OFI's staff are Dayak and will be eating with us) however while you are traveling just be aware that most will not, and it is considered good practice to not be seen eating out in public during these days.
Also at near the end of our three weeks will be Idul Fitri a national holiday in which our Muslim carpenter staff will not be working. This holiday on the 19th lasts 2 days and involves a lot of eating after the fast and may mean that work will slow and we may even get a chance to participate in some of the festivities. As this is the first time Idul Fitri has fallen during a construction team, we will just have to do our best to work hard at the beginning and earn this break at the end! ;)

To finish of the post, here's a picture I thought was pretty funny that I found online when I typed in jungle explorer. She's got red hair and everything!

This is not a fashion show.

To add to my bug spray collection, today Dad and I picked up two pairs of zip-off pants, a wide brimmed hat, and some bandanas. We initially went to the store to buy a couple pairs of zip-off pants that were on sale. I tried them on over my shorts and they looked like giant, ballooning ski-pants. My dad told me "Erin, this is not a fashion show, don't worry about it." They were scary though, but I figured oh well, I'll get 'em. They only had one pair in my size so I tried on some other that weren't on sale...well even my Dad agreed to putting the cheaper ones down. So now I have two pairs of decent fitting zip-off pants, two bandanas that my mom said were kind of ugly and a goofy wide-brimmed hat similar to the style most of my rowing coaches have worn at some point or another. No sarcasm here, I am really excited. Getting jungle-type clothes makes this whole trip seem a bit more real. I am a bit sad though, because chances are my pants will not make it out of Borneo alive. We'll see!

Tonight, in the spirit of Lion King, which is playing on TV--

Hakuna Matata! 

It means no worries!

35 Days Left

Today's been a 'nervous day.' There have obviously been the 'super excited days' as well, but today I really thought about how in a little over a month I'll be flying away to Borneo on the other side of the world, for real...like really. It's really happening. It's kind of scary! I bought bug spray today, the real stuff, cancerous deet. So far, with the exception of plane tickets and the program fee itself, this bug spray is the only preparation. Bug spray was what really made it hit home, I'm leaving for my first BIG adventure.

Paige left for Oswegatchie today after the family went to see Brave in theaters. She'll be home on Wednesday because we have a wedding to go to, but after that I'm not going to see her until Mom and Dad and her pick me up from the airport on the first day of my junior year. Worse, I'm not even going to really talk to her besides a few texts once a week when she goes into town during July. After July 31st though, I'm off-the-map. I'm hoping this time with no internet or connections to the rest of the world will make me realize how goofy things like facebook, pinterest and tetris are, because right now I'm an avid user, pinner and player!

I think for the days leading up, I'm going to write one positive thing, goal, quote, etc., that I can read before I go and maybe muster up some courage because right now, I'm as courageous as the Cowardly Lion.

For today--a song that will almost always make me smile and think of my family and has also been on my mind all night.

Ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on! 

Go here for a listen!