Fifty-six days left

But who's counting? We have not made enough progress on sorting, packing, throwing away, giving away and storing all our stuff. Plus we have a number of things still that we'd like to buy before we leave. I need a day pack, for instance, and new clothes, according to Susan. The house is still full of stuff: an unsorted, amorphous mass of things weighing on us. But we've been to San Francisco to see friends, Susan's been to Vegas and Portland to spend time with friends, we've been to Geneva to see my mom and my sister Katja, we've had Jim visit from California, my brother Rasmus and his wife Marie arrived today, and we've been studying Armenian. These things really are more important than packing. It wouldn't take more than one long day to throw everything we own into boxes if that's what it comes down to, although we wouldn't have anywhere to put all those boxes, which is why we need to reduce our belongings to a manageable pile. And we've been learning about Armenia: blogs, news, wikipedia, talking to people, emails to current and former volunteers. Apparently it's not quite Shangri-La, but most Peace Corps volunteers seem to like it.

Sorry about the self-absorbed banter. It's hard to think about anything else. But starting May 28 we'll have more interesting things to say.

72 Days and Counting . . .

I just figured out that we have 72 days left until we leave for our staging location in Philadelphia. As I sit here surrounded by piles of paper, boxes of books and clothes, and entire house full of stuff, I wonder how we are going to get it all done. Fortunately, I know that it's possible. After all, we sold a house and moved to Massachusetts in the space of 8 weeks. And we have waaaaaay more time than that now!

We are beginning to get more and more e-mails from Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV's) currently serving in Armenia with incredibly helpful suggestions, and we are finding those in the group about to head to Armenia. There is actually quite a bit of freedom in not knowing where we are going or precisely what we will be doing. That is tempered with a bit of panic at what we are about to undertake. The old "one day at a time" is going to serve us well here I think.

So I just learned that my high school class is going to have it's 40th reunion in October. It's really the 43rd because we missed the 40th in 2007. Shocking to believe it's been that long. Depending on our vacation status, I may be able to come. But as that is near the start of the school year, I rather expect I will be just getting settled in our new location. And Peace Corps doesn't let you take vacation during your first 6 months. It would have been fun to see everyone, but I will do it remotely.

That's it for now. Am learning to use a new Mac after being a PC for years. It's an adventure, but seems to work seemlessly.

Susan

Minus 20 degrees FAHRENHEIT?

In other words, minus 28 degrees Celsius. Simply cold. But that's what the Peace Corps says our sleeping bags should be able to handle in Armenia. I can imagine (and find) bags for -10 or -15 degrees Celsius (say 10F), but even that seems cold for indoor temperatures. One can build a warmer shelter in a snow bank.

Come to think of it, do Armenians too sleep in fancy sleeping bags in the winter? Don't they have blankets or possibly comforters? Susan suspects that there's something rather PC-specific about the need for heavy-duty sleeping bags.

This is just one of many strange issues we confront as we start to prepare for our departure. They do keep us busy. At least I (Fred) made a decision today and bought new hiking boots. It's a start.