Travel Arrangements

I leave in 2 days- 2 days, WOW. It has been a week of Wows though. Here is the tally:

80-100 lbs of First Aid supplies
16 lbs of antibiotics
20 lbs of medical books
25 pairs of medical scissors
4 pairs of glasses

I look at it all strewn across my bedroom (so the dog doesn't eat any of it) and
a) wonder how it is going to be packed
b) am amazed at what I accomplished in 10 months

Gotta admit I am feeling pretty good right now- proud, excited, fortunate to be in a position to do this trip.

I picked up the 80-100 lbs of first aid supplies from Parkview Public School yesterday- 3 Blue Boxes worth, carefully packed- stuffed full of, well, stuff! Tomorrow and Monday I need to go through and decide what can come out of its packaging to make it lighter, smaller, compressible. I also picked up 16 lbs of antibiotics from Novopharm. The meds I am not going to repack as I don't want to tamper with the bottles in case that affects their shelf life.

I am cleaning my house today and tomorrow so when I return it will be all ready for me. I don't know: is that a female thing or would men do that too? I also mowed the lawn yesterday nice and short so it can go to sleep for the winter. Making lists of what not to forget when I am packing- chargers for camera and cellphone batteries, email and cellphone contacts, nail clippers ( I always forget those and need them midtrip), swiss army knife (remember to pack it in my suitcase, not carry on), pay bills that need paying, it is a busy weekend- of course there are 4 hockey and 2 football events in there too. Somehow what needs to be done will get done, and the rest will no doubt wait for my return. The kids will have to make to with some hastily prepared meals and takeout for the weekend I am afraid.

Anybody out there confirm whether you can take bamboo kniting needles on a plane? I want to knit my way there and back to pass the time, might get a couple of pairs of socks done in that 24 hour period there and back? Of course the dog ate my last needles so would need to add that to the To Do List- get set of double pointed size 3 needles.

I heard from Clare and Thomas in Sierra Leone. Our arrival and first week is organized. We are being picked up at the airport through cdpeace. They have a truck which will hold all our luggage, thank goodness. Thomas has a cousin working at the airport who will greet us and escort us through immigration. We are staying in a guesthouse overnight and will then brave the ferry to Freetown in the morning and be on our way to Mapaki. Cian was jealous that I won't need a coat for the next 3 weeks but reminded me how cold I will be when I return.

As a reminder I will potentially have email access on my jane.gloor@sympatico.ca address off and on until Oct 28th so feel free to email me. I will be carrying a cellphone and be able to receive text messages for free. Gary has the contact info for that if you need to reach me. Once we know our travel plans beyond the 28th I will email the information. I may be out of contact from October 28th until I return to Freetown on the 4th or 5th of November. Don't worry, I will be safe and I feel that I have done all I can to ensure that through my preparations in the past few months. I look forward to returning with many stories and pictures to share.