Well the time has come to take one more step towards my life long dream of going to Uganda. I remember back in grade five counting down the years until I would reach the point of graduation and would be free to go off to Africa. Even then the dream of going resonated strong within me. In less than a week I will have reached the point that I so looked forward to when I was ten. Looking back I am almost amazed at how this desire to journey across the world has stayed true! On one hand I cannot wait for next Friday! This stage of my life will come to a close and there is no telling what the next months and years will hold. On the other hand I wish I could turn back the clock and relive the last twelve years, if only so that I might appreciate them more knowing how fast they will fly by. Though to some it may be a surprise I am not one who likes change. I love having my own little niche of life and knowing exactly where I fit and what to expect. Funny, going to Africa will be a huge change and yet I am initiating it  anyway! Though I am incredibly excited and have so many plans for the next year I am loath to say goodbye to all that is familiar here. The place I have grown up, the people who I have been with for so many years, all my childhood memories. They are all wrapped up in this place and  not all, but many, of these things will become part of the past. There are so many things that I have been blessed to experience and yet I must now leave them behind. I know that there are many people who I will remain in touch with, and I am sure that I will be back to Sundre again however there are so many people who I will not see again and not matter where I am the world keeps turning and changing so even when I do return home it will not be the exactly the same as when  I left  it behind me. Even if home were to remain the same I will not. Life changes each of us and I know that I am no exception. With that in mind I know that I am excited for grad and yet there is a bitter sweetness to it for the innocence of youth is about to be replaced with the reality of adulthood.  However after next Friday, even if I have yet to receive the go ahead from Watoto to join their team, I will have taken one more step towards my dream. Up until now it has been a long process and I do not expect it to get any easier before I jump on a plane but slowly, step by step, I am headed towards Africa.