Staging

I made it out of Sioux Falls with no overweight baggage fees thanks to the kind lady behind the counter. Though I'm not sure the seams are going to hold on said baggage for the whole trip.
The new friend I met in Chicago when my flight was cancelled shared the food her mother made her before leaving India. YUM!
Julia, Ree, KK and Fidel met me in Philly and made sure I had some last minute love, food - cheesesteak hurray! and drink. Made it to the Continental for a fabulous martini - memories of my past life going out with AAA.
Staging was suprisingly painless with very little sleep the last two days. There are fun new people to meet - all kinds. Turns out there are 45 of us headed over to Malawi. I would guess 6 of us are 30+. It is exactly like Quad in that I never quite know what is suppose to happen next which forces you to take one moment at a time. Not that I need a plan or anything:)
In a couple of hours (2am Saturday) we hop on a bus to JFK airport in NY for our 15 hour flight to South Africa and another 2.5 hour flight to Malawi.
This might be the final communication until April.......cheers!

Note to incoming volunteers: Do not stress business casual. People were wearing everything from jeans and a t-shirt to slacks and button up. Our registration was Thursday night. It took 20 min and then we could do what we wanted. The next morning we walked 8 blocksish to receive our yellow fever vaccine only. If it is raining, wear your rain boots. That whole thing took about 2 hours (if your last name is in the first half of the alphabet) and then we have free time til noonish. Baggage is 100lbs for two checked bags. They weigh them together. They are serious about 13-15lbs for your carry on and you also get a 'personal item'.

Thanks!

My friends and family as well as complete strangers have been fabulous with their send offs,encouraging messages, and help getting everything to come together. Thank you!
Special thanks to Mom and Dad for putting up with the last minute craziness. My final day in SD was filled with 'guillotine' meals - pancakes, eggs and BACON for breakfast - fried chicken for lunch - graham cracker bars and homemade pudding for snacks - YUM!

FYIs

I learned the neither the USPS, UPS, nor FEDEX allow duct tape on the outside of packages. Thank goodness I was in line in SD and not in VA having to strip that package.
I learned the IRS does not put you in jail if you forgot to hit the submit button while submitting your taxes the prior year. Seems they don't mind making interest on the money for a year.
I learned a living room floor covered with stuff does not fit into two checked bags or meet the weight limit.

The Final Countdown

ummm...yeah...so I'm leaving for Africa in twoish days. Africa via Philly but still need to have everything done in 60 hours! Peace Corps brings the new group of Malawi volunteers together in Philly on Thursday. We do some paperwork (life insurance and all that fun stuff), get some vaccinations (more fun stuff) then it's off to Africa at 2 am Saturday February 26.  Note - my 414 cell number will be suspended until May 2013.