Last Days Stateside

It’s hard to believe that in less than 24 hours I will be in Philadelphia, meeting my other cohort members and getting ready to begin staging on Tuesday. Tomorrow morning I fly out of Seattle, leaving my family and friends for 27 months (unless some of you decide to visit me. Hint hint wink wink). If I thought the past few weeks have been a blur, this last week went at light speed. It was filled with flickers of packing, cleaning, coffees, and goodbyes.

Just this morning I said goodbye to the ‘burg, wondering what it will be like when I return and I can’t help but feel that majoring in Geography was a fitting choice. As I heard repeatedly during my college career, geography is the study of how people and things interact with/in space. So the fact that I said farewell to so many places seems oddly appropriate. I know that when I return to the ‘burg these places will be distant memories and my interactions with (and interpretations of) them will be new. Perhaps drastically, perhaps just subtly. But that’s no small reason why I’m headed off with the PC tomorrow. If I wasn’t wanting to alter my world view or my interactions with places or people I wouldn’t be doing this. I’m not feeling nostalgic per se, more like projecting the sense of nostalgia and alienation I will have with these places when I return.

Anyway.

I got packed yesterday in a flurry of activity. I’m guessing I have about 70 lb in my checked bags, plus a full carry on. Considering the fact that this is what I’m taking for two years, I’d say that’s not bad! And a fairly sizable portion of that is books, journals, and paper. If only you could have seen my bed in the weeks leading up to my departure. Piles of clothes, stacks of books, camping gear, cameras, and other random items on my packing list. To give you an idea, it looked something like this (but A LOT messier):

You’re probably wondering how nervous I am (perhaps on a scale of 1 to 10?). I would probably rank it at about a 4. And I think the majority of that will go away once I meet all my fellow PCVs during staging in two days. They are the ones I’m going to be living and working with for the next three months (and, to a lesser extent, the next 27 months), and I just hope I don’t make too bad of an impression. Fingers crossed! It’s not that I’m not nervous about Malawi, but my fernweh has gotten the better of me.  

On a slightly unrelated note, I happened this quote yesterday, and it seemed pretty fitting for the next few years. “It’s your experience. Discover your own wisdom.” I’ll do my best to do just this while I’m abroad.

I’m not sure when I’ll be able to update this blog again (remember, I likely won’t internet again until June) but keep checking back! In the meantime, I’d love letters from y’all!!!! My address during PST is under the “Talk to me!!” page. Letters take 1-2 months to arrive, so start writing now! I’ll start as soon as I have downtime/the energy (I’m anticipating a bit of a gut biota revolt against my new diet).

 I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Farewell for now,

Dylan