Goodbye, Austin! (Hello Dallas, Philadelphia, New York, Zurich, Nairobi, and FINALLY Dar es Salaam!)

Wow, I can’t believe it is finally time to go! The last 2 months have really flown by. It seemed like I did at least one thing related to getting ready to go every day, but it was still pretty amazing how much left I had to do over the last couple of weeks. My biggest time commitment was doing Rosetta Stone Swahili lessons, which I am happy to report that I finished on Saturday! I think I put in about 150 hours over the last 2 months, and I can honestly say that I hope to never see/hear another Rosetta Stone lesson. But I’m happy that I stuck with it and have a good start on Swahili, and I think it will make my transition to Tanzania a lot easier. I also spent more time than I could have ever imagined on my packing list/preparations. Special thanks to my mom that let me take over a whole room of her house and two 6-foot long tables with all my packing stuff, and put up with my craziness during the whole process. Add in everything else you can imagine associated with moving to a developing country for over 2 years. So all in all, it didn’t turn out to be the stress-free last week I had envisioned, but I was still able to fit in plenty of time with family and friends, enjoying my favorite places and restaurants in Austin, etc. Thanks again to everyone that I got to see over the last few weeks and all of the support/kind wishes/goodbyes you’ve given me…I will really miss you all!

Check it out…my bags are all packed! I should have taken a 'before' picture, because then you'd be really impressed to see everything I managed to get into these 3 bags. Turns out I’m 2 pounds and 3 inches over my checked baggage allotment, but it should be fine.

So what’s next? Tomorrow I’ll be flying to Philadelphia. I will meet up with the other education volunteers headed to Tanzania (there should be around 40 of us) on Wednesday for what Peace Corps calls "staging." This is when I'll turn in some final paperwork, officially register as a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT), receive my special passport and Tanzanian visa, and go through an initial orientation. The following day we will all head to Tanzania together! Although I’m not especially excited for a few very long days of travelling, I'm really looking forward to meeting my fellow volunteers and finally arriving in Tanzania! I've also never been to Philadelphia, so I'm hoping to be able to see a few sights, and try a real Philly Cheesesteak.

And so you know where I am whenever you think of me, my itinerary:

Tuesday, September 21
10:30am - flight departs Austin
11:35am - flight arrives Dallas
1:05pm - flight departs Dallas
5:30pm (4:30 Austin time) - flight arrives Philadelphia

Wednesday, September 22
12:30 pm - Staging begins; turn in final paperwork, officially register as a Peace Corps Trainee (PCT)
2-7pm - Peace Corps Orientation (Who We Are, What's Expected of You, What You Expect, What's Next)

Thursday, September 23
9am - check out of hotel
9:30am - load bus headed to New York JFK
6:00pm (5pm Austin time) - flight departs New York

Friday, September 24
8:05am (12:05am Austin time) - flight arrives Zurich
9:30am - flight departs Zurich
??? layover in Nairobi
8:10pm (12:10pm Austin time) - FLIGHT ARRIVES DAR ES SALAAM!!!