It's only a month away!

There's only about a month left until I head to Africa for eight weeks!  I'm getting very excited and can't wait to experience the world in a whole new way.  This will definitely be an experience that I probably wont every have again.  This will be a great step toward making myself a unique choice for med schools and hospitals in the future.  I'm so excited to give back in a big way, to share my talents with those less fortunate.
I got an email a few days ago from the VISA organization, and my passport and VISA should be back tomorrow.  I've got my vaccines and soon will have my VISA, so I have all the documentation ready for my trip, but those are the easy decisions.  I have to decide if I need to purchase an additional insurance package from the school or someone else, that is if I feel that my own insurance wont be enough.  I also need to decide how I'm going to get water while I'm there.  It is unsafe to drink water right out of the tap there, so I either need to buy bottled water or treat water as I need it.  If I decide to go with bottled water, there's the question of where the bottled water comes from.  Who bottles it? Where did they get the water?  Is it treated properly?  How much money should I budget for water?  And if I decide to filter/treat the water myself, do I need a filter and tablets or something that will kill bacteria, or will just a filter be enough?  What if the filter breaks, or I use up the filter that I have?  How much money should I have in case I have to start buying water?  I know there will be running (cold) water for showering, which will probably feel great.  However, how much shampoo/conditioner/soap should I take?  Is it customary to shave?  Should I keep shaving while I'm there if it's not customary to?  I've heard that in some countries it is expected that women where make-up in public.  Is that the case in Sierra Leone?  Should I take make-up?
I definitely have a lot of things to consider when I pack! Luckily I have some awesome resources in the form of fellow Almanians who went to Sierra Leone last year and can tell me what's important to know.

Until next time!