Goodbyes, well, suck

Already I feel like I'm falling behind on my blog, and given that I haven't left yet, that's pretty sad; however, the last few days, weeks really, have been crazy busy.  Every moment of every day was planned with breakfasts, lunches and dinners with specific people.  In between all that, I was trying to wrap up my apartment, pack my bags and do all those last minute errands.  It feels like it finally dawned on everyone that I was actually leaving.

It was so nice to see everyone for one last time.  Whether that was the final group dinner with my high school friends in Huntington, the last skype date with my college friends, or hanging out with my all my family members.  I do realize there are some people that I didn't get a chance to see or even call before I left.  For all those people, I'm sorry I didn't get around to it!  And I feel super guilty about it, but, I, of course, want to stay in touch with you all, so be sure to write or continue to email.

I hate goodbyes anyway.  I'm not very good at them, mostly because they never feel real to me.  And it still doesn't feel real that I've left Newport Beach for good, let alone the United States.

Just an additional note: for anyone that was around me these last few days, you know that I've been so worried about my luggage and taking so much.  I was just facebook chatting with another trainee, who's already at the hotel in Philly (!), and she's just as concerned about how much luggage she has.  So I feel better and justified.

I've got two days of staging in Philadelphia ahead.  It includes a trip to the health clinic for vaccinations, some icebreakers and an overview of Peace Corps expectations.  We will be leaving Thursday morning at 2:30 am from the hotel to be bused to JFK.  From there, we'll be taking a 15 flight to Johannesburg and then it's a hop, skip and jump to Uganda.

Again, goodbye to all my friends and family still in the states and hello to my next adventure.