Halloween at 30,000 feet...

In a little more than 20 days I will board a plane for Washington, DC for what the Peace Corps deems as three days of “staging”. I imagine being herded from meeting to meeting where I will receive more information than I can humanly retain. Yet, I am thrilled to spend a few days back in the town I called home for a few years. I hope to get to Dupont Circle to see the old homestead, and grab some first class Italian at Pasta Mia in Adams Morgan. Oh, but while in DC one must not ignore the greatest Spansh restaurant ever...Lauriol Plaza. Yummers!

According to the official Peace Corps staging schedule, my group (Namibia27) has an appointment at “the clinic” for a round of shots on Halloween morning and then we are whisked to the airport for a 15-hour plane ride to Johannesburg. It’s a unique way to celebrate Halloween, right? We will spend the night of November 1st in South Africa and board a plane to Windhoek, Namibia the following day. After that, it is 27 months of, well, stay tuned because I have no idea what to expect. I do know I am ready to be teaching again. I have been subbing at my old school, and at other schools in Boulder, and I miss having my own classroom. Speaking of things I miss, I am having Tilly and Katie withdraw and I have not even left yet. I am trying to wean myself off my attachment to my dogs, so they are living with Tibi more often. But, I am taking lots of pictures and making lots of little movies of them sleeping, barking, eating and pooping (OK, perhaps I do not need footage of either of them having a bowel movement) so I can experience Tilly/Katie moments while in Namibia.

One last thing…Go Gamecocks! I will attend my final Gamecock football game next weekend as they travel to Chapel HELL to play North Carolina. In the same trip, I will attend my first Wake Forest game as they host Florida State on Thursday night. I am trying to talk Chris into painting his face for the game. Chris, paint your face!