perhaps...

the countdown begins.

at the moment it is wednesday. well, the last remaining fragments of it anyway.
saturday is the day. at 1550 i am scheduled to leave.

auckland -> sydney. one night in sydney.
sydney -> johannesburg. one night.
jo'burg -> lusaka. one night in lusaka.
lusaka -> katete (rural town in zambia), by 'luxury' bus. 6 weeks working at saint francis memorial hospital.

then...

lusaka -> london. 6 weeks in london working at the maudsley at the institute of psychiatry.

then 12 days to spend with my lovely girlfriend in paris and the south of france.

i cannot help but be absolutely petrified about zambia. i know that it will be one of the most, if not the most, rewarding experiences of my life. but - it will all be so new and completely different to all the medicine i have done up till now. and - i probably will know nothing! (despite the 20% of oxford handbook of tropical medicine that i have managed to read). 20th panic attack for today occurs now.

but seriously. there is still so much to do.

perhaps...

i should really get myself into gear.

- list of things to take: not completed. mostly in my head. which has proven time and time again to be a terribly unreliable place.
- suitcase: as of today, check!
- packing suitcase: no. not even commenced. at all. nada. zip.
- sort out europe extravaganza, accommo in paris, travelling in france etc.: still to do.
- change bulb in room: not yet.
- read tropical medicine and psychiatry notes: hm. looking very unlikely now.
- spend time with mom, dad, tracy, nirosh, and everyone else: struggling.
- second labcoat: get tomorrow.
- get *correct* charger for ipod (after trying to be cheap and saving $5 on trademe buying one that really was the wrong one - my fault - i didn't read the auction text properly): do tomorrow
- actually get out of my writer's block properly and start writing decent things: working on it, as you can see.

perhaps...