The bags are packed and.... I have room?!?!

Hello all! I have received many hugs over the past month, and I know I am going to miss you all so so so much! My final band concert got real last night - I am proud and honored to be part of an incredible tradition of band music in Franklin County. Band concert nights are synonymous with summer and I will miss them so much. I am lucky to be part of such a wonderful rite of the season, to which I definitely plan on returning some day.

So I did some pseudo time lapse photography of the packing... 

Note the recently unpacked, repacked and organized kitchen contents from my old house in back... Oh I love moving and giant life changes. I guess I do bring it on myself...

You will now note that the suitcases have jumped up on the bed and started packing themselves... NOT.

This was last night when I lost steam and left for St. Albans. The rest of the stuff on the floor has since been packed. That is a pair of socks to the right, not a bunny head...

Sorry I need to learn whether to caption photos on top of them or under them, I seem to have trouble with that. You get the idea.

Somehow all of these photos have neglected the fact that there is indeed a 3rd bag, I didn't fit the contents of my life into just 2 bags (one of which is definitely overweight) We are allowed extra budget for overweight and extra bags because that is (relatively) so much cheaper than shipping things to the DRC. There were also extensive YES/MAYBE YES/MAYBE/MAYBE NO/NO piles, but ALL the piles have fit and I do have extra room. Not a lot, but enough to make me uneasy. The last two times I have moved abroad I only had 2 bags, and no extra room, so I guess that is the difference? No idea.

The packed and done picture isn't here yet because the camera is... packed. But you can see the process of yesterday. That cat worked hard doing NOTHING and being NO help... Also forgot to photograph that.

Anyway, as you can imagine, I am about as mixed up emotionally as possible. I am most definitely ready to go, but also sad to leave. I will leave you with a quote that has been bouncing around in my head this week:

You are the decider of the world that you will get to know.

NONONO - Pumpin' Blood - Lyrics

Perhaps if you are interested I could give a bit of detail on what is inside the suitcases when I unpack them (wait didn't I just unpack and repack?) on ANOTHER CONTINENT!!! Bahhhh!!!! <3 

So.... I'm moving to Africa. In 18 Days.

Hello everyone...

Apparently I am blogging now! I don't know how much I will be able to keep in touch here, but I figured I would try and see if I could keep to a schedule and have a nice record of my time at TASOK when this is all said and done. A quick (not quick, you do know me) intro:

When I think about all the roads that led me to my decision to start job searching in Africa, I think about my family's vacations and exchange students. Throughout my childhood, our family took many trips to many locales... always meticulously planned, using maps and seeing attractions we had picked along the way. I loved seeing new things and experiencing things I had only read about (Anne of Green Gable's house comes to mind) We had exchange students stay with us too, which also made me consider travel (and language) as well.

http://www.canadianexpatnetwork.com/public/images/154.jpg

I guess from those exchange students, I realized that I wanted to be able to speak the language in the countries where I wanted to travel, and thus began my study of French in the 9th grade. What began as a 'which teacher seemed nicer' choice became one of the abilities that I am proudest of. Not to say that I am an expert French speaker or that my accent is something to be proud of, but just to say (as modestly as possible lol) that I am proud that I can (mostly) speak another language and I am proud of the fact that learning a language has opened doors for me, giving me experiences I wouldn't have had otherwise. (And making me a little bit bolder...) As any good French book will tell you, French is more than Paris, and I was captivated early on by the idea of speaking French in Africa, an idea that has clearly stuck with me throughout my life.

http://showuswhy.wikispaces.com/file/view/carte-francophonie-2008.jpg/190288328/800x470/carte-francophonie-2008.jpg

No discussion of this choice would be complete without a mention of school. I have loved school for as long as I could remember, and that led to my study of Elementary Education. Originally, I thought that teaching, like French, was something that I could do in many places across the world, and I left after college to teach in France. When I returned to Vermont, I focused on getting some teaching experience, and that led to my employment at Sheldon School, a place where I met loads of wonderful people and had lots of fun. I started to try to picture myself there for an extended period of time, but my 'itch'/travel bug/wanderlust kept rearing it's head. I decided (painstakingly, after a lot of thinking) that I wanted to try to switch things up, find a place where I could speak French more regularly, teach elementary school, see more of the world, and meet more wonderful people.

In short (haha) I consider Bakersfield, Vermont my home and Franklin County an insanely beautiful place where many of my 'people' reside, the people who will help keep me sane (to the extent that that is possible) throughout this journey. I really can't explain the 'itch' inside me that keeps me traveling the world... but I know that I wouldn't be confident enough to do it without all of you thinking of me and cheering for me, and for that I am truly and deeply grateful. Thank you for your friendship and love!

ttfn as Tigger would say

PS I promise as a rule to have more photos and fewer words! If you have any comments/questions, just ask, you know me, I could explain/talk for hours!This is, after all, an Ellen story...