Making a List. Checking it Twice!

After 3 going away parties, 2 days of packing, and 1 extra day in Charlotte, I’m finally back in Wilmington to spend time with the family before I leave. Thank goodness for my mom. If she wasn’t here to help me pack, I’d be up all night on June 2 trying to cram everything I could think of into a suitcase. She is making me work on this early.

All morning, I’ve been working on my packing list. The Peace Corps give us a suggested list that’s like 5 pages long. Obviously you can’t take eveything they suggest. Mostly, I’ve been using other current & returned volunteers’ lists. That has been really helpful. So far, my packing list is pretty extensive. I think it’s all essentials, but when it comes time to cram everything into 2 suitcases, totalling no more than 80 lbs, I’ll be forced to figure out what’s really essential and what’s really not.

Everyone has been so incredible in helping me get ready to leave. Your gifts are great, and I feel very loved! I haven’t read ‘the book’ yet, but I can’t wait to see what each of you had to say for my send off.

Friday was a tough day mentally for me. Friday marked one week from the day I would finally be arriving in Togo to spend my 27 months. All day, I was just scared – questioning if I’ve made the right decision, wondering if I will be able to make it through my whole term, doubting my ability to adapt to the culture and language. I have had days like that every now and then since I found out I was accepted into Peace Corps. Most of my days are days of excitement and anticipation, but these bads days creep in and I get nervous all over again.

I officially fly out of Wilmington, NC at 6:23am on June 3, 2010. I’m flying to JFK, and then arriving in DC to meet up with my fellow volunteers. We will spend the night there and depart for Paris on June 4, 2010. Six hours in Paris and we are off to Lome, the capital of Togo. We will stay a couple of nights in Lome before moving north to another city (I forget the name right now) to move in with a host family and begin 11 weeks of intensive culture and language training. I will post my packing list later!