Preparations

In late November, I went to the UK and was able to meet 8 of the other members of our group -- 3 additional people have signed up and were unable to attend, but we are now conversing via e-mail.

Sent my visa application off yesterday, in the middle of medical prep, and buying a stunning amount of expensive stuff. Interesting to see what personal buttons get pushed on the needs/wants scale -- and of course the smaller and lighter something is, the dearer the price...

Decided my motto has to be: Be grateful for the abundance you have, that you can afford stuff like a 3-shot series of rabies vaccine, $180 EACH!!! Typhoid, diphtheria, tetanus, percussis, hepatitis A&B, polio, malaria prophylaxis... skipped the Japanese encephalitis series... guess that is a risk, but doesn't seem like a huge one.

Still exercising and trying not to worry about whether I will be sufficiently fit to handle the experience.... I bruised most of my toes in the UK and so have a bit of annoyance there to worry about -- hoping they get stable before I go so I don't have to worry about infections and such at the outset.

Interesting tidbit: it isn't polite to whistle in either India or Nepal, especially for females...