it's go time!!

so, roughly 30 hours from now i will be driving down to msp airport to begin this adventure!

my last day at work was just over a week ago, so i've had most of this week to just hang out and get ready. I would say i did a better job at the hanging out part and not so much with the getting ready. :)

I did have a few productive days though: tuesday i went to the bank and got all monetary issues taken care of. Thursday we had extended family portraits taken and i finished off the evening fill out all (most? i should probably check that again) of the paper work sent to me by the US government over 3 mos ago... And friday was a little bit crazy with a dentist appt (where they told me that my sudden sensitivity in one tooth was nothing. not quite what i wanted hear, especially since it's acting up again today), I signed my power of attorney stuff, and worked at my job at the church, where i managed to pull this off:

I was playing SPUD and part of the games includes running until someone yells Spud!, at which point you need to freeze! Well i attempted to stop, but the gravel under my feet had other plans and this was the consequence. To be honest, this past week or so i have been paranoid that i will break a bone and not being able to go to the peace corps. So, i'm just happy that there are no broken bones!! unfortunately the buckle from my sandals really got my ankle, so sandals aren't much fun right now.

But today i finally got down to packing!! so, i have decided to include my packing list because people have asked about it and it seems to be a peace corps blog tradition (which i have found very helpful!!)

Luggage/Gear:

55L backpack (if you're buying a backpack for the peace corps, 55L is probably too small to be very useful. but i already had it and buying another seemed silly. it has a 20L daypack that zips off, but i already had a daypack)

30L backpack

large suitcase

bug hut (screen tent)

sleeping mat

mesh bags for packing

Clothes:
4 skirts

2 pairs pants

1 pair jeans

2 pair shorts (pajamas)

1 pair capris

7 nice shirts (i'm sure this is too many, but i just did one shirt per skirt/pants. and by 'nice,' i mean not screen printed.)

2 tee-shirts (pajamas)

1 long sleeve tee

1 light rain jacket

lots of underwear

bras and sports bras

2 pairs socks

swim suit (they tell us there is a pool at a hotel in the capital that some volunteers use)

belt

hiking shoes

chacos

dress sandals

flip flops

General:

2 water bottles

small camelbak pack

2 pair sunglasses

map of USA

map of MN

map of the world

scissors

games (skipbo, phase 10, bananagrams, frisbee)

journal

pens/markers

photo album

sheets (twin size and for my sleeping mat)

pillow/pillow case

bike helmet

Kitchen:

2 knives

small skillet

small sauce pan

can opener

pot holder

dish towel

ziplock bags

Electronics:

computer

camera

extra SD card

solar charger

ipod

speakers

shortwave radio

usb drive

headlamp

rechargeable batteries (AA & AAA)

power converter/adapter

calculator

Toiletries:

deodorant

shampoo

conditioner

body soap

face soap

tooth paste

tooth brush

hair brush

hair binders

headbands (for my bangs, as they grow out)

nail clippers

nail file

sunscreen

neosporin (see photo above :P)

bandaids

lady products

mascara/concealer

razors

tweezers

Food:

spices: chili packets, italian seasoning, pesto mixes, cinnamon

dried fruit

granola bars

tortillas

(i might add more food like tortillas, that are more like part of meal than snacks)

Maybe not terribly exciting for some of you, but hopefully it gives a glimpse into what's to come. From talking to some friends currently in the program, I am sure that I am bringing too much. But from this side of things, that is really hard for me to grasp. so i try my best to not bring everything now, and a year (or less) from now, i will once again admit, that i brought too much.

here are some more pictures!

ok, so there doesn't appear to be too much different between the two pictures above, but the second one is zoomed in more and there was another shopping trip in between! :)

I haven't tried to shut it yet, but i'm confident it will happen. and if you notice above, most of this suitcase is just my sleeping mat, so it shouldn't be too heavy either! i know the mat is big, but i decided that if i do end up sleeping on it most of the time, i might as well get a thicker one.

i did receive a few emails this week telling us a little bit about what to expect our first few days. i knew we fly into ouagadougou (the capital) and have training in ouahigouya (another large city, and actually both these cities are on the map to the right), but i found out that we are actually in the capital for a couple days and will have a little bit of our orientation there. we won't actually get to ouahigouya until friday. i know we have homestays during training, but looking at the schedule, we must start those sometime after friday.

well, i probably won't update this again tomorrow, so i want to thank everyone for their love and support as i head out on this journey!! i will miss you all and look forward to hearing how things are going stateside! and i promise to update when i can! i know these first few days will be crazy, but we are in the bigger cities, so hopefully i can get to an internet connection to let you all know i arrived safe and sound!

miss you already! :)