Tummy flutters

I was laying in bed one night over spring break, when I heard an owl hooting outside of my window. For the suburbs of Pittsburgh this may sound bizarre, but even my sound asleep cat responded to the sound, peeping her head up and glaring her eyes towards the window with her enlarged black slivers. Instead of investigating, I just stayed in bed, letting the hoots of the owl lull me to back to sleep.

I can't stop thinking about that owl, and how I regret not slipping some shoes on to head outside and meander towards its sounds. This is how I've lived my life--sitting on the inside listening to the sounds of the outside world, content with not exploring. But now, I am restless--I have wanderlust, and I am ready to go outside and hear the owl's calming hoots.

In six days, I will be in Cambodia, with nine students from my college--writing my heart out. The emotions stirring around in my stomach are like eggs being scrambled. Every night in bed I try to picture what this owl looks like up close--and I am horribly limited due to my lack of travel experience.

Every hour of the day since the end of the semester has been engulfed by Cambodia--What am I going to wear? How crazy is my curly afro hair going to look? Where can I purchase cheap Teva sandals? What snacks should I pack? What kind of insect repellent do I get?  How much money do I bring? The list goes on and on.

Even conversations with complete strangers have been overtaken by Cambodia. "Where are you going?" The CVS pharmacist asks me while I wait in line to have my malaria pills filled. "Cambodia," I respond.

"It's probably very humid over there," my hairdresser says as she digs her fingernails into my scalp to "clarify" my out-of-control-mind-of-its-own hair. "I can show you a product to keep your ends from frizzing up."

We even talked about jet lag while she trimmed my hair. "I've never flown," I admitted. "So I'm very interested to see what jet lag feels like. I think I might just pretend it doesn't exist." She said I was "cute" for wanting to experience jet lag. But in all honestly, I am. I'm interested in all of it because I'm just so inexperienced at traveling.

I'm also inexperienced at blogging, which for an English major is a little disconcerting--and upsetting. But I have decided to try to manage a blog while on my trip, and to share my experiences with my family and friends. Maybe as time goes on I'll get better at this...thing. All I know is that I'm excited, scared, anxious, grateful, and super pumped to finally be leaving my bed and seeing the owl for myself.