Gomez

I finally have my flight details, which precipitated my first peace-corps-stress-dream involving empty suitcases, being lost and alone in the middle of a desert, and a horizon filled with smoke.  Standard stuff, right?  My itinerary is a direct 15 and a half hour flight from JFK to Johannesburg, South Africa followed by a 2 hour flight to the Namibian capital of Windhoek.   I'll start packing next week when I'm back in the Lehigh Valley.  The Peace Corps has a lot of Wiki pages, including one specifically on packing for Namibia.  They really highlight the need for good shoes as volunteers walk a lot.  It would appear that no number of shoes is too many.  There is an 80lbs, two bag limit.  I don't think I'll come anywhere close to the limit since I can't pack my dog;  

Gomez

His name is Gomez and, yes, he is as awesome as he looks.  All of my human friends and family know where I'm going.  Gomez, on the other hand, will think I've just left the house for a bit.  It's hard to leave my friends and family, but I have the comfort of knowing that I'll be able to communicate with them from time to time and that they understand where I've disappeared to.  I'm also comforted by my suspicion that Gomez likes my parents more than he likes me (food bribery.  He'd hand me over to a Somali pirate for a piece of anything remotely edible).  He was perfectly fine while I was in Southeast Asia and seemed to be very comfortable at my parents.  There, he has doggie neighbors, my mom that sneaks him bits of food under the table, and my dad that gives him long walks nearly every day.  I'm more concerned about how I'll feel being separated from him.   That part will suck and there's nothing I can do about it but wear it.  He's a great dog and I'm going to miss him. 

My dependable truck of 13 years will be signed over to my dad in two weeks so he has something more dog friendly to haul Gommer around in.  My phone will be deactivated as of March 14th (and sent to The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence - if interested in donating an old cell phone, follow this link; http://www.ncadv.org/takeaction/DonateaPhone.php).   These two actions will complete the downsizing process that I started roughly 18 months ago.  I remember clearly the morning I decided to pursue an invitation to volunteer with the Peace Corps.  I walked through the three floors and basement of my old house taking stock of all the things I would need get rid of.  It seemed an impossible task at the time.  I'm happy that I've managed to reduce my belonging-in-the-world footprint as much as I have.  It's an odd feeling to be able to fit all you own into the corner of a single room.  During this process, I often wondered if at some point I would become fearful of what I was embarking on or feel some sense of loss over the things I was selling and giving away, but that hasn't occurred.  I just feel light and unhindered by material belongings and ready to move on to my next challenge. 

It was great seeing my old Arlington gang last weekend.  I've got 3 more weeks of bouncing around left before I'm off.  I plan to head to NYC to visit a few folks the weekend after next.  I have to fit a shopping trip in sometime before I leave to finish off my packing requirements.  Not much else to share for now.  I hope you are all well.  Thanks for reading.