accepted by the country

They like me! They really do!
(visa has been approved.)

i bought the ticket.

january 7. I'm dreading the tears on that day. The big ones that leave thunderstorm sized rain drops on the upper half of mom's shirt. I'm dreading hugging my brother 'good bye for now'. I want to put my dad's wisdom in my visa/passport fanny pack. (The one that goes under your clothes. It makes me feel like an undercover FBI agent. Cue Bond music.) It's the pack that stores my most important personal information. If I suck in really well I might be able to fit him in there.

January 8th doesn't exist in 2009.

January 9. I'm looking forward to real sleep. all day. no food. no sight seeing. I will find my place of residency, buy a mattress and adios for 8 full hours. April and I will talk about riding a kangaroo after that. Because on January 9, I will have no curfew. I can hang out with the kangaroos until 4am if I please.

I think January 19th will be the hardest day. That's when April goes home. I think the tears will be hailstorm sized. I pity the chap who sits next to my weepy sister on the longest flight of her life. Bless her heart. My poor room mate. She, by default, will have to cuddle with me. She has to. I don't care who she is. I don't even care if she speaks English.

January 20. My first day away from the world I've been the star of for 21 years. My first day of Ramen Noodles and peanut butter crackers.

I get so excited thinking about a reality only 43 days away. But those first 14 days scare the crap out of me.

All the good byes.

All the frustration that Angela, by airline regulation is considered 'passenger' and not 'carry on'.

I don't know what I'm going to do without everyone. I know I'll be me. I know I'll make lasting friendships within 24 hours of being there. I'm wired for community. Community follows me. It's all that outta sight outta mind stuff that makes my lip quiver. Going isn't the hard part. It's the leaving.

It's a week after the benefit and things seem to be speeding up quickly.
My beautiful friend Kaitlin Irons will become Kaitlin Norton on Saturday at 2. In Tennessee. I will be there in brown.

Wednesday, I have a medical exam in Hallandale, Fl at 11:30am. They have to make sure I don't have HEP A,B, or Cyphyllis. I need a chest x-ray and an AIDs check. They want to know that a baby isn't growing in my belly. Luckily, none of that is in me. Isn't that wonderful? Wait, I mean, I do have a chest...but everything else is elsewhere. Not here. So the exam should take about 20 minutes. It should go swimmingly. And I get to spend the first half of the day with my parents, because mom and dad don't want me to drive in the Miami area traffic. So we will rent a car and get our oily greasy fast food hands all over it's leather seats. And we will listen to Shane & Shane and James Taylor as loud as dad can handle it (me and mom are rockers).

I still haven't done quite a bit of things. Thank you's aren't sent out yet, prayer cards aren't printed yet, accommodation isn't taken care of, airline ticket isn't either...I have a lot to do, but I feel okay.My last day at the church is Wednesday. Sad but good. It's a chapter closed. I hope I don't forget to do something that leaves them in a lurch... I want that chapter to end well for them too...

And finally, I met a man I think would be suitable for Angela Cavallo's husband. She needs to meet him and fall in love with him. And they can love Jesus and make music and minister to youth together. And they can wear white belts and part their emo hair to the side...