Packing magic

Somehow I've managed to fit all this











and all this











and all this










into these three bags



I wish I had done something truly magical, like making them not weigh 50lbs each... (not the carry-on, that would be excessive).

Freak out

I leave in 48 hours.

I feel "ready" but I have this sneaking suspicion that I'm missing something...

I just got back from Illinois. Taking Danielle to school/seeing family/meeting people who know people who have grandkids in K-stan. Fun time. I also received a gift card for Barnes and Nobel, another pretty journal, and a day planner. I need to go spend the card, but I need to keep in mind that I don't have much room left. I'll get back to you.

Welcome back to the land of the "living" (high-speed internet) Sarah!

I'm not invincible?

I've been sick for the past two days. I mean, completely beat down, it hurts to move and I'm exhausted walking upstairs sick. Gross. I hated that. Hopefully that's the last time for awhile, it was not pleasant.

Fortunately, that gave me time to do a lot of things that wasted time... like watch all of the Lord of The Rings movies. I tried wasting time reading, but my sinuses made my eyes all blurry. TMI, maybe, but if you're reading this you probably actually want those details.

I've also started packing. Here's what I've decided to do. I have everything I want to take inside the luggage coming with me. I will remove one item every day from now until Friday, and bam! It should be done. It might be the most brilliant/stupid idea I've ever had. To be fair, I've had a rough couple days and I can't be held entirely accountable for any great ideas I came up with.

Hooray for Diphenhydramine hydrochloride!

Ok, but seriously, I've been thinking a lot about this blog, and a lot of people tend to start new blogs when they start a new adventure. This is partially to keep the adventure and person's personal life separate, and I understand that. But I can't help but think that it's sort of unnatural to start a new journal/website just because something "exciting" is happening. I mean, my life will seem pretty normal no matter where I am, if I'm there for long enough. So it's official. I'll be writing here about K-stan when I get the chance. I have a friend who once told me that she doesn't want a fancy journal, because she doesn't feel like her life has anything exciting enough to put in it...

Here's to every day being exciting enough for a fancy journal, no matter where you are.

Answers to the tough questions

(1) exactly where I'll be: Exactly in Kazakhstan. For the first two or three months it will be in the old capital of Almaty, and then... it could be anywhere. Except apparently they do not send volunteers to the Caspian Sea area, which I'm sort of bummed about, because Ursula sings about it in the Little Mermaid... I was sort of hoping for something I could brag about later... Anyway. I think that I want to focus on Russian and not Kazakh (however, I change my mind every day on this decision) and if I do learn Russian, I have a better chance of being in the north of the worlds 9th largest country. Still not that specific, but there you go.

(2) exactly what I'll be doing there: Teaching English to "secondary school" children. Again, the age range there is like, 11-18. It could be a more narrow age range, or it could be all of them. This is all decided once I'm in country. I am going to work on secondary projects in my community. I get to decide what these projects are, so ideas are greatly appreciated. (Examples include, but are not limited to: orphanage work, starting English Clubs, sports clubs, summer camps, teaching about womens leadership, etc...)

(3) exactly what I'll be eating there: Ok, here is the thing. I have already told myself that I will, on at least three to five occasions, eat cow head. Apparently it is served in the middle of the table on a plate and everyone gets to have some... I have also read of pieces of leftovers being in soup. I suppose it depends on my host family and the region in which we live. I am planning to bring ranch dressing mix and possibly Tobasco sauce to assuage my palate when it becomes too much for me. I think that, as with most things, I will get used to it eventually. The first few months are going to be difficult, but I think the first few months after you get a "real" job are probably difficult too. Same problems, different location.

Those are all the answers I have for now. Details will come eventually.