One day left (Un dia mas)

Time really couldn't go any faster. . .I have one more day to complete my great packing challenge and then everything begins! The preceding exclamation point is an exhausted one. . .it is excited to encounter what will come but anxious because nothing has yet passed. . .and yet, the challenge always is to focus on the present (ode to you, dear Jose). As I have been trying to get ready, I have glimpsed at a few blogs of current volunteers. Reading about their first week in the DR, moving from various host families (I just found out we'll have 3 host families!), finding their own place to live, having goats and milking cows (ooh- I really like this idea), and facing the challenge that the work has to offer excites me and overwhelms me as well. But heck. . .we're going to do this in full "estilo loco" (crazy style)- Chaska Ñawi style. . .I'm throwing myself into this experience 110%! And everything will turn out fine. . .I know I have some good people looking down over me. . .and a candle or two burning for me (gracias abuelita). . .y todo la energia buena del mundo conmigo (and all of the good energy of the world with me).

Well, what my experience comes down to right now is 80 lbs. For me, this wouldn't normally be a difficult thing. I'm kind of a one - two pair of clothes type of person. . .re-wear, re-wear, and re-wear. The less I wear, the less I have to wash in a bucket. Sierra style, you might call it. Well, the Dominicans apparently don't live that way (from what it sounds). They like clothes, and nice clothes at that. And well, of course it would be my luck to be paired with a country that prides itself in the way it dresses! Mountain woman is going to have to learn how to do things differently. So. . .now, I have more than I would ever pack . . .and 2 bags too (one more than I would normally have- usually my backpack would suffice)! 80 lbs. . .well, sadly, I'm finding that I may not be able to accommodate my dear trusty sleeping bag. . .but it's a 0 degree and is probably too warm for the climate. Sounds like we won't need one for the first 3 months and by then I'll hopefully encounter a lighter and less warm one if I need it.

I have so much to do. . .and only one day left. Well, here it goes!