Here We Go!

Wow…it’s finally here!!! Tomorrow, I am getting up at 2:30am (of course it had to be the day when we set out clocks forward, ugh), to leave for Philadelphia. My flight leaves at 7am. Then, I have a one hour layover in Minneapolis, and then on to Philly, where I’ll be arriving at about 5pm. I am so fortunate that my aunt and uncle live in Philly so I will be able to have dinner with them and then have them drop me off at the hotel at 1pm for staging. So let me give you the skinny on staging:

Monday

1:00 PM

Official registration as Peace Corps trainee -- turn in completed forms

2:00 - 4:25 PM

Who We Are

What's Expected of You

4:25 - 4:45 PM

Break

4:45 - 7:00 PM

What You Expect

What's Next

Closing

Tuesday

2:00 AM

Check out of hotel

2:30 AM

Bus arrives for loading and departure for New York JFK Airport

11:15 AM

Flight departs for Namibia

My flight from the US to Namibia arrives in Johannesburg for a short layover and then to Namibia. The first leg will be 15 hours long; the second leg is two hours!!!! Good thing one of the Peace Corps Volunteers is a masseuse and I already asked her for lessons and she said she’d love to teach me!

Anyways, for my last day at home I decided I didn’t want to just spend it in doors and risk getting nervous by thinking about what could happen. So my family and I went to a Celtic Faire in Sonora. Somewhat unorthodox, but my family loves Celtic stuff/music. It was an awesome day! The weather was great; the food was great; the re-enactors in costume were great; the music was AWESOME! Driving to Sonora is one of my favorite drives because the hills are emerald green and exquisite. I was going to sleep on the way back, but then I realized it might be the last time I saw these hills and country that I love so much, so I decided to stay awake. I took a picture of the sunset and posted it to Facebook because I realized it was my last California sunset for a while. I will miss all these things, but I’m not sad, except for the possibility that my dog, whom I have had for 10 or 11 years, will not live to see me when I get back. I’m more looking forward and eager to see what God will do in my life and those I work with.

It is weird to think I am doing so many “last” things, especially because my parents will be moving, hopefully in the next few months. I wondered here and there if I should dramatically look around, as people sometimes do, at everything and say “Goodbye” and shed a few tears. I decided against this because I am not sad for leaving; the time is right and I am excited for the new things to come. Some tears may happen at the airport when I say goodbye to my parents, but I somewhat doubt it. The things that matter most to me are not the weather, beautiful geography, comfortable schedule, but the people in my life, such as my mom, dad, brother, and friends. Of course, God is important too, but He is always with me! Also, I know that anything can happen in life, but I know I’ll see them again.

One of my friends texted me as I was writing this and it made me thankful for the friendships I have. I have a good group of diverse friends, some closer than others, who I hope to write letters to. I was only going to write a few people at first, but I recently learned a lesson that, if I want to strengthen and grow “real life” friendships, and not just college friendships, I need to work on them, even when it is not my favorite thing to do or I do not get as many responses back as I want. I am hoping that I learn to LOVE letter writing and that I will have the time, money, and motivation to continue. I also know that letters will be a huge encouragement to me, especially when things get tough.

I could probably go on and on about things, but I think this is good enough for now. I still have a few more nights in the United States, so I may be able to blog (but I doubt it). Just don’t hold it against me if I post again from the US! However, most likely the next time I blog, I will be in Namibia! (If you want to get emails notifying you of when I post, please type your email address into the box "Follow by Email", on the right side of my blog.)