Airport

Hey guys,

I am sitting in the Grand Rapids airport, lapping up all the free internet while I can. There are some pretty appealing snow globes here by the way, featuring the great state of Michigan- but instead of fake snow on the inside, they used glitter- and the snow globe I got from San Diego had snow instead of glitter. I was confused. I liked it though, since there are so few snow globes about Michigan.

Thank you to anyone who said goodbye, and who fed me before I left. I enjoyed my 'fuckit, I'm moving to Africa' diet.

oops, we're boarding now, I'll write more when I get to Philly.

Show, meet road.

Alright, I'm packed. For those of you who don't know, the Peace Corps is pretty strict on the amount of things that you are allowed to bring. Specifically, according to the handbook, I am allowed to bring:

"Two checked pieces of baggage with combined dimensions of both pieces not to exceed 107 inches (length + width + height) and a carry on bag with dimensions of no more than 45 inches. Checked baggage should not exceed 80 pounds total with a maximum allowance of 50 pounds per bag"

Now I have my 80 pounds of luggage, my 45 inches of checked baggage, and a bit of a back ache. In case you were wondering, these are the things that I brought:

Bag one- a hiking style backpack courtesy of Megan:

-sleeping bag (bought on my trip to New Orleans, right Courtney?)
-pillow
-jumbo sized camping-type strap compressing bag thing (currently in use to compress the sleeping bag and pillow, courtesy of Piotr)
-3 person tent
-hat with cooling crystals (as seen in Utah)
-Bandanna
-Doc Martens (from 1998... I had a Daria phase)
-not one but TWO solar showers (thanks Auntie MA and Uncle John)
-TONS of batteries (thanks Aunt Kathy)
-Utility tool/ awesome knife (thanks Kimberly)
-Various locks (laptop, bike, padlock)
-Backpack (a backpack inside of a backpack. Meta)

That's just the first bag. 30 pounds of awesome.

The second bag was my birthday present from my mom, this is the fifty pounder:

-Scrabble
-Knitting book
-Knitting needles
-Yarn
-Embroidery book
-Embroidery floss
-Sewing Book (Imma learn to make my own clothes. For real this time.)
-Harmonica book
-Harmonicas (one from my trip to Memphis with Robert, one from Uncle Spike)
-Two flashlights
-Nalgene bottle (from my mentor teacher!)
-Travel French press
-Extra glasses (from Auntie MB and Uncle Tom)
-Calendar (handmade by my beautiful cousin Courtney)
-Various chargers
-Surge protector
-Toiletries bag (shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc.)
-Clothes (some shorts to wear under my skirts in Malawi, T-shirts & tank tops to wear underneath my dresses in Malawi, p.j.s)
-Flip Flops

Now for my carryon, which does not exceed 45 inches:

-Books (Spectrum Guide to Malawi, Lonely Planet Africa, Shame of the Nation, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Say You are One of Them)
-DVDs
-Tin full of photos (tin courtesy of Rica)
-Journal (from Carrie)
-Book lights
-Sun glasses
-Head phones
-Camera
-Lap top
-Peace Corps paperwork
-ipod
-Wallet
-2 changes of clothing for staging (business casual... whatever that means)
-Stuffed bear (to use as a pillow, and for moral support)

I probably missed some stuff, but as you can see, I did not bring nearly enough books. If you are scratching your head about anything to send me, the answer is books.

Packing?

I am bad at packing for this move. I have a basket in my room that I put things in from time to time in a very haphazard way. Right now it has a scrabble game, stationary, a Frisbee (jealous?), a journal and a Zach jacket.

In addition to this basket, I actually do have a piece of luggage packed. It is 45 pounds, and I am afraid that I forgot what is in it, but I have no idea how it can possibly weigh so much. Wait. No. I know. Remember the 90's? Let's just say that I am bringing my Doc Martens from the 6th grade to Africa with me. Those bitches are heavy.

Stalking

A few weeks ago, I went to New Orleans with my cousin to work for Habitat for Humanity, and to drink and dance and eat a lot. While we were there, I got to get back in touch with a friend from way back who is currently in Teach For America New Orleans. She told me that before she started her training, she felt like it was all a mistake- she would show up on the first day of training, and they would say 'oops, sorry, there was a mistake, you don't actually belong here.' I know the feeling. Maybe it's nerves, but I am having trouble coming to grips with the fact that I am moving away in 17 days, but here I am, throwing all of my clothes in a box to take to goodwill.

Actually, I didn't get to finish sorting my clothes for charity. Every time I start packing up, my mom comes up with something else to do. Today she decided the day was too pretty for chores, so we ate lunch on the deck at Rose's. It was sweet, but I need to get to business.

On another note, I discovered some other future Malawi volunteers on the Peace Corps Journals website. It is cool to know that I will get to meet these people soon, but it makes me feel like a bit of a stalker, sneaking around, reading about my future co-workers without first saying hi. So to any fellow future Malawi volunteer/ stalkers out there who will be at the staging event in Philly on the 25th, hello- I am excited to meet you. Warm heart of Africa, here we come!

why change is a good thing

After I accepted my invitation, I looked at a calendar and realized that I had less than two months to do everything that I wanted to do before I left for Malawi, so basically I quit my job and have been visiting as many relatives as humanly possible for the past few weeks.

As you can imagine, it has been a blast. Since I last posted (blogged?) I:

-Drove cross country to do Habitat for Humanity with my beautiful cousin Courtney this was actually planned before receiving my invitation, but was nonetheless friggin sweet

-Visited my Busha (for the first time in about two years) I fixed the aspect ratio on her TV and ironed her work shirts in exchange for DeLuca's Pizza- WORTH IT

-Visited Piotr in Detroit who says you need to join the Peace Corps to visit the third world?

-Went to Saugatuck one last time to pick up Carrie's birthday present Shh... it's a seceret

-Partied/drank at all my favorite East Lansing haunts more on this later

-Gone to Schuler's Bookstore an embarrassing amount of times what will I possibly do without Schulers?! This store practically raised me!

I almost feel like I'm dying and am somehow trying to cram everything I love about my life here in the United States into an eight-week span. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is the most fun/slightly sad vacation ever.

If I don't see you before I leave, I'm sorry- I truly am, I'm trying to arrange to see everyone I am related to or love before I go, but sometimes things don't work out.

Now that I have been sufficiently sappy, let me explain why I am maybe not so sad after all that I am leaving. Because I am Melissa, I choose to relate my point in a long drawn out story that doesn't seem to relate to anything until the very end, when you find out that it maybe relates to what I was talking about, but not really, and then you are frustrated.

Ahem.

For the past few days, I have been sleeping on my little brother's couch in East Lansing. It is the first week of classes at Michigan State, so all of my not-yet-graduated friends and relations are in time and free to hang out in the evenings. In short, it is the perfect time to visit.

Anyway, after burgerama at the Riv last night, and the post-bar zombie shooting at Pinball Pete's, I went back to Chris' couch, and fell asleep after watching about an hour of Adult Swim. Basically, it was the perfect college night.

Later, my brother's roommate came home with a girl, and they stayed up until all hours of the night talking in the other room, and using the bathroom with the door open. This, though a little annoying, was fine, because after all, I was a guest on the couch, and, well, whatever. I pretended to be asleep.

After a few hours, I heard a knocking on the back door. It was somebody I'd never met before, but my brother's roommate seemed to know him, so I figure everything is kosher, and I, once again, pretend to be asleep.

Soon I am joined on the L shaped sectional couch by this newcomer, and, in the spirit of letting bygones be bygones, I (still) pretend to be asleep... until he tries to share my pillow, when I flip so that we are lying with my feet near his head. Now that I have revealed myself to be awake, the newcomer strikes up a conversation. How did you end up on the couch? Who are you? How do you pronounce this street name so that I can call a cab? All of these are questions that I happily half asleep answer until once more, I pretend to be asleep.

Then he starts tugging at the fitted sheet I am sleeping on top of, and I become annoyed. I look over at my couch companion, curled up under the corner of my sheet he has managed to free, and I feel bad for him, so I offer to get him a sheet of his own.

I return with the promised sheet, and once more, lay down and pretend to be asleep. Then he starts rubbing my feet. Yeah, my feet. Finally I address my new couch buddy.

"Dude?"

"Yeah?"

"I will kick your ass if you keep rubbing my feet"

"..."

"Seriously."

"Fine, I'll call a cab"


Dear college,

Our time together was wonderful, but I think we've been delaying the inevitable. The first four years of our relationship were a whirlwind- and I'd never trade them for anything, and the extra year we got to have together during my teaching internship was amazing, but I think it is time for me- you, the both of us- to move on.

It's not you college, really, it's me. I don't want to say I've outgrown you, because that would be cruel. The truth is, we both knew this day was coming.

Melissa