Lux et umbra vicissum…

Our bedroom’s a bit of a mess, but that’s not so different from normal. 🙂 I don’t have enough donations to stuff two large suitcases like I was hoping to, so I’ll take two medium-size cases to make things easier on me. I’ll be able to fit almost all of my personal belongings in my backpack and travel purse, so I shouldn’t have to worry about lost bags. At least, I won’t worry as long as they make it while I’m still there. So far when people have talked about losing their bags when going to Ethiopia, the bags have arrived within a week. Unfortunately, the frequency of bags being lost in the first place is relatively high. So nothing I need for everyday survival will be in my checked baggage. 🙂

I decided to bring laundry soap this time, too. I’ll only be bringing the clothes that fit in my backpack, so I’ll need to wash them a few times while I’m there. I may let the hotel take care of it in Addis Ababa if it’s not too expensive, but in the other areas we’ll be staying I’m not sure they would have any laundry service available. I’ll wash the clothes I bring in the sink and hang them… somewhere… to dry overnight. I’ll let you know how that works out.

For now, mostly what I need to do is switch things from the one huge suitcase into two medium ones. Once I’ve done that it’ll just be a matter of double checking against my packing list to make sure I didn’t miss anything! Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been packed this far in advance. Ok, so that’s kind-of sad. Oh well.

While I’m in Ethiopia I’m going to try to email Joel occasionally to let him know how things are going, but I don’t expect to be able to blog. Maybe Joel will post some of my emails or something. Anyway, since tomorrow is Mother’s Day I don’t know that I’ll be on much, and knowing that I have a chiro appointment in the morning Monday and the flight out in the evening, I’m not sure if I’ll be on again before I leave.

Wish me bon voyage!