Packed and ready

I'm leaving for the airport in about three hours. From DC, I'll go to Chicago, then London, then Amsterdam, and finally Accra. The PCO staff will meet me at Kotoka Airport in Accra and take me to Buduburam with the other new volunteers.

I finally finished packing about an hour ago. Both my main bags each weigh less than 25 pounds, so I'm good to go on the luggage front. By comparison, went I went to London in 2003, I had about 120 pounds of luggage. Then again, I didn't take a lot of lightweight, fast-drying clothing on that trip.

Because I thought it would be fun, I took a picture of all my luggage.
The big red backpack is my new friend. And yes, I will look like a pretty typical Western tourist with it. However, it has a removable daypack attached, which will come in handy. I've decided to name the backpack the Doodlebug. AU people will also notice my SIS bag, which holds fun things like books and travel documents. The other black bag is just more stuff. It really seems like a lot, but I guess it's not too bad for 5 weeks.

It's been an emotional roller coaster these few days. I go from being nervous to excited to indifferent pretty much at the drop of a hat. Right now, I'm just exhausted after having been up all day. The time stamp on all this blog's entries is for local time in Ghana. Back on the east coast of the U.S., it's around 1:30am. I'm hoping for a brief nap before going to the airport.

Anyway, my housesitter's stuff is all piled in a corner, ready for temporary occupation. However, we all know that Buster is really going to be in charge of the apartment while I'm gone (which is really no different from any other time).
As you can see, he has his peanut butter jar hidden under the bed. That means he's ready for action.

Anyway, back to business. I'll be getting a cell phone once I get to the camp. I'll publish the number as soon as I get it. In the meantime, you can check out www.africanprepaid.com or www.bigzoo.com to check out calling rates.

Time for a nap, then off to the airport I go. If I don't get a chance to drop a line somewhere en route, look for something once I'm settled.

Peace and love.