My life [almost] fits in two bags

78.5 pounds. Plus a damn heavy carry-on. I whittled it down from the initial 105 that I thought I wanted to bring.

I'm still taking too much; I'm sure of it.

Officialities

I now have an official launch date for Peace Corps. I'll be leaving Denver the morning of October 2nd (that's only 10 days away!) for Washington DC, were we'll spend three or so days getting the how-not-to-hurt-yourself-and-or-others talk, turn in mounds of paperwork, and line up for (probably quite a few) shots. We also have an official dinner at the Ethiopian embassy, requiring semi-formal attire, which has limited use for the next two years other than for that one dinner.

Two weeks from today I'll be on a plane with 44 other volunteers, heading to Rome, then Addis Ababa. Yikes.

Meanwhile the packing and preparations continue apace. It seems as though everyone I've ever met wants to reconnect in the next couple of weeks before I take off for the wild blue yonder. I've never socialized this much in my life! It has been nice to get to catch up with folks a little bit, though. I had a fantastic trip to San Francisco earlier this month, and was in Kansas City and Chicago just last weekend, getting to see some family and some dear dear friends. I count myself as being very lucky that I have this many wonderful people in my life who I get to spend some time with before I leave.

School starts back up at the UW this coming week. It's a little odd not to be heading back. Hard also to believe that today is the first official day of Fall. It doesn't feel like it here in Denver, where it's probably 85° today. Probably won't feel much like it in Ethiopia, either, at 8 degrees North latitude.

Mail

Would it be weird to send myself mail? I might mail myself a book or some magazines now so that they'll arrive shortly after I get there.

You can too...hint hint :)

Anna Talman/PCT
US Peace Corps/Ethiopia
PO Box 7788
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Oh, the suspense

I'm feeling overwhelmed by the not-knowing, the suspense of not having all of the details in place about what my life is going to look like for the next two years. I don't have--and can't make--a plan. I suppose that this is good practice for the "staying flexible" that everyone talks about needing as a fundamental skill in the Peace Corps. But to be honest it's driving me a little batty now. Everyone around me is asking questions about what I'll be doing, where I'll be working, what language I'll be speaking, etc etc etc, and the answer of "I really don't know, honestly," is getting a little old.

I realized today just how very long it's been since I started this process. My Peace Corps dental record is a year old (I went to get a cleaning, oh joy of joys, today, and updated it). Looking back at my application, I realized that I started communicating with the Peace Corps in January 2006, nearly 22 months ago. Could the process get any more drawn out?

The goodbye process has also gotten drawn out. It doesn't feel real somehow, to say farewell to someone (even to dear dear friends) a full month before leaving. I wonder when it will all sink in that I'm actually going (and for so long!). Maybe once the bags begin to get packed.

Right, and then there's that. All the packing. Recent highlights from my list of things to acquire/find/organize before I leave:

* a vegetable peeler and a sharp paring knife
* a roll of duct tape and a roll of toilet paper
* shortwave radio
* approximately nine million gallons of sunscreen (three months' worth; how much does one presume that comes to for someone as pale as I am?)
* solar powered battery charger
* small crossword and math puzzle books; travel scrabble

Some trips to Target, REI, and the thrift store are probably in order. Perhaps that will keep me occupied for a little while; it has the semblance, at least, of feeling like I'm making some kind of plan.