Packing my life into two little bags...

Well the last two days have been quite the adventure in themselves. Saying goodbye to my friends, family and colleagues was just the beginning. Couldn't ask for better people to have in my life and they gave me quite the little send off!

 - Asante (thank-you)

But like I said that was just the beginning. As the master-procrastinator that I am, of course I hadn't even looked at my knapsack and just how small it is until yesterday. With a list as long as Santa's naughty list, it was my challenge to fit it all into an 80L knapsack and a smaller 20L backpack. Packing not only for my time in Morogoro completing my project but also for my Kilimanjaro trek in December, it quickly became mission impossible.

First stop was the pharmacy. I had already filled my travel prescriptions earlier this week but now it was time to purchase the over the counter pills that will make life in TZ so much more comfortable (i.e. Imodium - everybody poops but nobody likes to poop too much).

After spending a small fortune on anti-diuretics, pain killers, allergy medication, bug spray, and other skin products it was time to finish my laundry and decide just which 5 pairs of pants and 6 shirts I wanted to live in for the next few months. Easy enough. It wasn't until I had everything laid out and ready to pack into my big knapsack that I realized I had a kitchen table full of stuff and a bag half the size. I owe a big thank-you to my fellow YCI'ers for sharing their secret vacuum bag techniques to shrink your clothes to half their size!.

And it all fit!

So...my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

But not everyone is ready to see me go...

Poor little Lucy was very sad...bags usually mean someone is leaving.

This will be my last entry for a few days as I will be traveling to TZ and I will be in Dar es Salaam for orientation the beginning of next week (not sure about access to internet).

I want to thank everyone for their support over the past few months, especially this past week.

I look forward to keeping in touch with you over this blog and please leave comments...

- Ben 

xoxo