And I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane...

This is it! I'm flying out today. Just like the song, all my bags are packed and I think I'm pretty ready to go. My dad is the miracle worker of packing. I initially sat with everything I was going to bring and thought I needed approximately 7 bags. He managed to squeeze everything I am bringing into 2 large luggages, 1 carry-on, and my backpack. I am extremely impressed. The actual work I will be doing is still an unknown, but I bet I'll be finding out in a few days. I'm just excited to get there! The next time I'll be writing will probably be from Abuja!!

The Challenges of Moving

Moving can be stressful, regardless of where you are moving to. However, I am realizing that moving overseas is a whole new ball game. My fellowship does not have housing set up for me, so I am currently doing the search for apartments. So if anyone out there has information about apartments in Abuja, I'm all ears. Plus furnishing the apartment... I'll be needing help on that front too.

The other issue is cleaning all my stuff that is here in the States. Since I have not stayed in the same place for longer than a year at a time since I graduated from high school, it's challenging to know where 1) all my stuff is and 2) finding a place to put everything all together. I have come to realize that I own an obnoxious amount of books. Someday I hope to have floor to ceiling bookshelves to store them in.

Other than that, there are always the stresses of moving abroad. But that's nothing super new. I have orientation in Atlanta for 10 days before I leave for Nigeria, so that will be interesting and hopefully very helpful. And finally, my official departure date is September 27!

The Final Countdown

D-Day... or maybe I should call it L-Day (leaving day) is tomorrow. My New Year's Resolution is coming true: I am leaving brown US soil for red African soil for almost 6 months. I haven't been back to Uganda since my Summer 2008 trip, and this time I'm going alone. No group of muzungus to keep me company. I'm making my last minute lists, last minute runs to the store, and last minute preparations before I jet off tomorrow. Not much to this post, but welcome to the blog. Check back often. I can't promise how often I'll update, since I don't know how good the internet access will be. But keep in touch. I'd love to hear from you!!!

And yes, I hummed The Final Countdown the entire time I wrote this post.

Cheers!