Philadelphia

After a great few days in Connecticut, I left early this morning in my rental car, and made the 4 hour drive to Philadelphia. In the process of passing through four states, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, I got slightly lost in New York City. It wasn't so bad though, I ended up on the BQE, winding along the tip of Queens, and got a beautiful view of lower Manhattan, and the Statue of Liberty. It was a nice drive, and I was thrilled to arrive in Philadelphia around 1 in the afternoon. My grandma, Gisha, was here to greet me with open arms. After visiting for the afternoon, I ran some last minute errands, banking, electronics and what not, and am looking forward to my last night in the United States with her! Tonight my great aunt and uncle, Elinor and Herbie, are coming over for dinner to share their travel advice with me. They were travel agents during their career, so I'm really looking forward to the input that they will have. I am getting a little tired of all the planning stages of this trip, and all the goodbyes! As my friend Randy Mann said, this is the longest goodbye in trip history, I'm ready to get on a plane already :-)!!! I'm so excited for tomorrow, I've never gone through customs, or gotten on a huge international plane! I love flying, but I am a little nervous about sitting still in an economy seat for 7.5 hours! But I think my excitement will carry me through.

I made the call to have my cell phone shut off tomorrow, so my AT&T will no longer work after tomorrow night. I did manage to get my iPhone unlocked before I left San Francisco, so I'm hoping to be able to get SIM cards in Europe and Africa. I'll post the new contact information, but I probably won't have that set up for a few days. For those that know me well, know that my cell phone is an extension of my hand, so I'm curious how I will adjust without it for a little while. It'll be good for me.

My flight leaves JFK tomorrow evening at 6:30 PM and arrives in Amsterdam at 8:00 in the morning local time. During the time that my father and his brothers were school aged, my grandparents hosted exchange students, several of which they have stayed in touch with. One of them, Roelf, lives north of Amsterdam, and he will be meeting me at Schipol Airport, and hosting me at his house for the first night. The following day, January 15th, he and his wife Cecile will get me back to Schipol, and I'll be heading to London. I may not have internet or phone until the 15th, we'll see. I'm so grateful that things have worked out with Roelf and Cecile, as I will be able to leave all of my heavy bags for Africa at his house, while I travel around Europe. I'm also VERY excited to see my buddy Brad McCaw, who will be hosting me at his place in London! So this will probably be my last post from the USA! YAY!!!