Two Weeks To Go

In two weeks, I will be departing for the start of my Peace Corps service. While the plane ride on the 19th will only take me as far as Philadelphia, I will reach Rwanda only a few days later. While I've known for over a month now that I will be leaving on the 19th, it is just now becoming real (read as daunting). There is still so much for me to sort through, buy, collect, pack, and say goodbye to. I know that I will be physically prepared for my time in Rwanda,  but I fear that the reality and gravity of the situation may not become clear until I am already neck-deep.

However, I see this as more of a positive reaction to the situation. I fell pretty well educated about the possibilities I will face while overseas, but I cannot help but think that if it had fully hit me already, I would probably spend the next two weeks worried out of my mind, over-packing, over-analyzing, and over-everything else. Perhaps the best strategy (I speak only for myself) is to stay as busy as possible with packing and seeing friends and family that I don;t have time to fully weight the dichotomy I am about to face. After all, there will be plenty of time to sleep in Rwanda. Or on the 16 hour trip there from New York.

I promise to post a full packing list (and maybe some pictures, if I ever get around to clearing my camera's memory cards) before too long. I've already found or bought most of the special equipment I will need/want while servings, namely this netbook I'm typing on right now, the 1 terabyte removable hard drive, and some other odds and ends.

This week is also the 'final' week at my job. I say 'final' because my boss (yes, the same one who decided that I needed a few days to figure out if i really wanted to give my two weeks) has chosen not to terminate my employment until the 18th. While this does this does not mean that I will have to work an extra ten days, it does mean that he, as well as the other 4 Minneapolis Directors, may still contact me about working extra shifts. Awesome....

After I finish my last day of work on Friday, my brother is coming into town from Kansas to see me (and for the Open Regionals for his Ultimate team). I like to think its more the former than the latter. Although I'll miss the first two Minnesota Twins vs. Yankees playoff games due to work, we plan to watch the Saturday game with overloaded festivities.

Next week I have no large daily obligations. This means that I can finally catch up on my sleep, as the 4-5 hours I've been getting during the last three 70 hour work weeks has started to wear on me. I am very much looking forward to more time to finish/start packing. I've been assembling all the information from the Peace Corps, and should soon be posting instructions for sending letters, packages, and other communications during my time overseas.

-Don't forget to be awesome

Shawn