Here We Go!

I’m currently sitting on an airplane on my way to Philadelphia for Peace Corps staging and departure.  To say that the past few days have been a roller coaster of emotions would be an understatement.  On Thursday, I finished packing all my belongings, including three bicycles, into my 5x5 storage unit.  It was quite a feat.  I was glad to be done with that, as the unit is in Woodinville and I was growing tired of the trips back and forth.  Friday was devoted to packing and final preparations.  Trying to fit everything you want to bring for a 27 month adventure into two bags with a total weight limit of eighty pounds isn’t easy (especially when you don’t have a scale to weigh them on).  Packing was going ok, until I realized that I had accidentally put all my Peace Corps paperwork in my storage unit, underneath three precariously stacked bicycles:

…commence meltdown number one.  After collapsing on the floor and swearing at myself, I managed to pull myself together in time to meet Christopher for dinner with friends and a late movie.  After the movie came meltdown number two.  Up until this point, I hadn’t cried about leaving at all… now I was a complete basket case.

Luckily Saturday was a beautiful day, which helped to raise my spirits.  My dad arrived from Europe in the early afternoon and I picked him up at the airport.  We drove up to Woodinville so I could dig my papers out of storage.  Then we were able to enjoy the wonderful weather with a run along Lake Washington.  We spent some time basking in the sun on the dock in Coleman Park then went to make preparations for a little family going-away party.  The evening was wonderful.

Sunday morning, I realized that I only had one day left, and the stress started to catch up with me again.  People deal with stress in all different ways.  I sometimes deal with it by blacking out… which I did.  That one gave Christopher quite a scare.  After I pulled myself together and took a bunch of ibuprofen (I managed to hit my head on the way down), we went to Easter brunch with the Cuttings and dinner at Dad’s house.  Christopher and I got home from Bainbridge at about 9pm and I finished up my packing before bed.  I could only hope that my bags were under the weight limit.

When I got to the airport this morning, I weighed my bags – 75 pounds!  Phew.  That was about the only easy part of the morning.  More goodbyes (Christopher and my mom) made for a very weepy Lucy.  I was starting to have serious misgivings about going, which I’m sure were all related to leaving my family and friends.  When I got on the plane, however, I began reading my spiffy new Guatemala guide book, and was reminded of what an amazing adventure this is going to be.  I began thinking about all the reasons I joined the Peace Corps, and reassured myself that I’m taking the right path.  As I write this, I feel just as excited about joining the Peace Corps as I did when I was first accepted.

I want to end this post by saying that I’m so incredibly thankful to my family and friends for their undying love and support.  I could not have set off on this adventure without your help and kind words.  I feel blessed to have such a strong support system, and I hope you know how much I appreciate each and every one of you.

Now I’m getting weepy again, so I think it’s time to sign off.  For those of you who are planning to come visit me in Guatemala, I can’t wait to show you around my new home.  For the rest of you, see you in a couple years!