Packin'

I enjoy blogging. It's like talking to yourself in front of the endless landfill that is the internet.

As I stare at my ever growing pile of stuff and my seemingly ever shrinking luggage, I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible to shrink my 3 dimensional belongings to a Cantor dust...ORRRRR maybe I can say that, if the set of my items is infinite (which I think they are, at this point), BUT I can still count them (giving them cardinality aleph-null like N), the dimension is zero and I don't have to pack them at all. That will either save me all my baggage fees...or cost me an infinite amount of money for the infinite size of the luggage, depending on whether the airline's scales examine it in 0,1,2 or 3 dimensions.

(^-^)

Here's a few blurbs of advice to future Peace Corps volunteers, or world travelers:

1) Play Tetris. It comes in handy when you start packing.
2) When people offer you free things because of your journey...take them. They'll feel better about contributing to your service, and you get stuff/food. It's a win-win.
3) Tie up loose ends. This is a must do. Probably the greatest life lesson I've learned is leave no task or relationship incomplete. It's like taking a shower for the soul.

And most importantly...at least so far -
4) Never make close friends, because saying goodbye is hard. It's really, really hard. And if you're like me - a hopeless romantic already - it doesn't get any easier.

As my friends...and yes, faithful reader, you are one of them...while you are losing someone to Africa, remember that I am losing you to America.

As Gandalf would say, "I will not say, do not weep; for not all tears are an evil." I've cried more in the last four days than I have for...maybe forever? But it's been wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. You've touched someone half a world away. How cool is that?!

OK...this is not helping me pack much. Real advice: Don't pack books? I dunno. I'll try and give more advice when I get out there. Right now, though...packing.

Oh, wait, real advice...PACKING TAKES A LONG DAMN TIME. Don't procrastinate.

This will probably be my last entry from Florida for...a while. I'll try and update once more up in Staging in Philadelphia.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself,
Ryan Monaghan