leavin' on a jetplane

i just have a quick moment before getting this final packing done and taking bags down to the buses. it's been a fun staging event here in philly, and the group i am with seems to have some really great people in it. it's definitely going to be a fun two years, and thank you to fyock for sending me off with the perfect pat's cheesesteak!

we head over to kyiv tonight by way of munich, and by friday i will be with my new host family! until i get there, i will not have any real chances for outside communication, so i will write some details of first impressions and the other excitement i've experienced when i have a chance. until then (as i've been told to re-iterate over and over to friends and loved ones), "no news is good news!"

it’s gettin’ real

it’s hard to believe that there’s only a week and a half before i head up to philly for the PC staging event and meet the people that i will be spending the next two years with overseas. i’ve been thinking about this whole adventure for so long now that the waiting has become almost commonplace. the idea that this thing is actually going to happen in 10 days, well…it’s finally startin’ to get real!

lauren and i had a great final roadtrip this past weekend when we went down to birmingham, al to visit my oldest friend Kevin and his wife Emily. it’s amazing to think that we’ve known each other since second grade, and it was really great to see him happy and hear about the exciting next steps in their lives. best of luck with the job decisions guys, can’t wait to hear where you end up!

and a helpful hint for anyone who decides to drive the long, scenic highways from alabama to virginia, watch out for the signs around knoxville. if you let someone distract you by getting excited about the shoe outlet signs and happen to stay on 75N instead of cutting east through the mountains, you might add four extra hours to an already 11 hour trip! not that we did that and ended up pulling into Richmond at three thirty in the morning though J

otherwise, everything has pretty much been about getting ready for the trip. i’ve met with two returned volunteers and asked them all of the questions i can think of. the 67 people in my group have been throwing ideas back and forth over yahoogroups and facebook, so we’ll at least recognize each other’s names when we meet for the first time. and i’ve read as many blogs of former and current volunteers as i can find (these have been extremely helpful). i guess i’m as prepared as i’m going to be before stepping off the plane in kyiv and realizing that i have no idea what anyone is saying around me!

speaking of which though, time to get moving on some more shopping/packing/language studying. the plane leaves on the 23rd!

pictured above are

• emily, kevin, me in the birmingham botanical gardens
• lauren in a rodeo event with their big baby beau