Going-away gathering

We just had our going-away party on Friday, it was a lot of fun! I think there were about 70 - 80 people here throughout the night, the house was packed. It was so great to see everyone, some of them drove a long ways to get here for the party. Thanks to everyone who made it here, it meant a lot to us, we were glad to be able to see so many people before we leave!

Here's a few quotes about goodbyes/traveling/inspiration I found online that seemed fitting:

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes. ~Henry David Thoreau

Be the change you wish to see in the world. - Gandhi

Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love. ~George Eliot

Man's feelings are always purest and most glowing in the hour of meeting and of farewell. ~Jean Paul Richter

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J. R. R. Tolkien

“The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” - G. K. Chesterton

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. - Albert Einstein

Packing

We leave in less than two weeks now! It's starting to feel more real, and I'm realizing we have to say bye to so many people it will be hard! We're having a going-away get together on Friday so we'll see a lot of family and friends then.

How do you pack for two years in a foreign country? There's a lot of suggested packing lists we've been looking at and advice from people that are already in Tonga.

Here's a few things we've gotten so far:
hammock
batteries and battery charger
digital camera
lap top (should be here tomorrow in the mail!)
DVD's
lots of extra supplies - shampoo, contact solution, etc.
small tent for camping
2 small sleeping bags
flashlights
kool aid - to make the water taste better
jolly ranchers/granola bars
2 rolling duffle bags to check
guitar for Brett
Clothes - I have a lot of long skirts, button up shirts, and t-shirts. Brett has shorts and t-shirts. And we'll each bring a rain jacket and a couple of warmer sweatshirts/pants.

We'll have to try packing everything soon and weighing it. I've been sleeping in almost everyday, we were in duluth for my grandma's 80th birthday this last weekend, and my sister's been in town for the last week and all of this week.

Staging

Our staging materials came in the mail yesterday, and we found out we lost a day - we leave a day earlier than we thought.

We just booked our flight to LA on Oct. 6th, we stay over one night and have orientation all day on the 7th, then fly out around eleven at night to leave for Tonga!

We've been going over the introductory Tongan we got in the mail, here's a few of my favorite phrases so far:

Fakamolemole - sorry
Faka 'ofa - oh how sad
Pulelulu - Wednesday
Malo lelei - hi

Jobless & Homeless

We're now homeless and jobless, just waiting to leave on Oct. 7th! Last Wed. was my last day at CL, and Brett was done on Tuesday, and we're all moved into my parents house. It just feels like we have a lot of time now after being used to a busy work schedule. And most of our stuff is in boxes so it's hard to find anything, I hope it stays warmer out this month so I don't have to dig for winter clothes!

We've started to think about packing, we bought a really cheap, small tent at Target and some more clothes. We still need to get a laptop to bring with us.

And today we recieved a small packet from peace corps - an introduction to the Tongan language, it came with a CD so now we'll get to hear how Tongan sounds! And our orientation/staging is in LA like we thought, we'll get our staging packet 2-3 weeks before we leave.