Its official. 6:24am I boarded the plane and headed to Philly for our staging event. Though the goodbyes were hard, it was time to start a new chapter. As a quote I once heard...leaving is always hard until you do it then it is the easiest god-dammed thing in the world. This quotes indeed fits my situation. Leaving was hard until I actually did it but now as I am here in Philly it makes me wonder what was so hard about it.
I arrived in Philly around 4:00 and met up with 3 other guys whom are also going to be RAP volunteers. After shuttling our way to the hotel we were all starving after a long day of travel that we took a taxi downtown to get an authentic Philly Cheese-steak. We wandered around downtown and strongly considered walking all the way back to the hotel until we realized that we would have to walk 2 hours to get back. Also once we decided that we should take a taxi we realized that the path we were going to walk would have lead us to walking the freeway we realized it was a smart idea to take the taxi back. The other PCT are AWESOME! It seems as though we all have a lot in common and everyone is very enthusiastic about the adventure that lies ahead of us.... enthusiastic for everything except for the 15 hours plane ride we gave to take. Though I will miss my life here in America I am excited to see what lies ahead and to begin this wonderful 27 month journey!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
It is so hard to leave—until you leave. And then it is the easiest damned thing in the world.”
The countdown keeps dwindling. 7 days….7 days is all till I
board a plane for Philly and start this incredible journey that lies ahead of
me. It has been a mix of emotions as the day draws closer. There is such a huge
amount of excitement that I have for my next adventure and I look forward to
the new challenge, the new experience, and Meeting the 69 other individuals that
will accompany me along this journey.
Packing is done. Though they have been packed for well over
a month, I went through my bags one last time tonight to make sure that everything
is on order. Though I am well under weight: 55 pounds and our limit is 100, I still feel
as though I am going to arrive and realize that I brought many unnecessary
items. However, there was a link to a blog that was sent to us a few weeks back
and it made me realize that what you pack in two bags really doesn’t matter: “The memories, friendships, laughter, work and
totally unique experiences could never be quantified. As I zipped up my bags
one last time in Botswana I realized how ridiculous it was to worry about what
to pack. Peace Corps service is obviously much more than anything you can fit
into luggage.”The goodbyes have begun and each one is harder than the last. I have gotten used to seeing a lot of these people on a daily or weekly basis. Having a wonderful constant in my life but soon that security net I have built here will soon be gone. In the physical sense at least. I will miss them dearly. I am very content and happy with my life and maybe that is what makes leaving so difficult…to know that things will never be like they are now again…I will never again be like I am at this moment. Letting go of the familiar is always hard…until you do it. Then it’s easy. It’s the days leading up to it that challenge me. I reminisce about good times and think of all the things I will be missing out on while I am away. But even through all of these mixed emotions I have no doubt that this is the path that I am meant to lead. It’s all in god’s plan and I have taken so much away from the recent experiences in my life, may lessons have been learned but it is time to move towards a new and exciting adventure
7 days till Philly. Until then I will continue to enjoy the simple things in my life that I so greatly enjoy!
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