Carrying around my body weight

I returned from Costa Rica on Tuesday and have spent most of the last week packing. My parents have been very indulgent about having my belongings strewn across the upstairs hallway as I struggled to pick 100 pounds of clothing, shoes, electronics, and other "necessities" that would fit in two duffel bags (plus a carry on and personal item). Below are photos of me with my obscene resulting baggage which my parents assure me is legitimate for 2 years but still feels excessive when strapped to my person. There's also the photo of everything I tried to shove in those bags (and while it didn't all fit, you'd be surprised what I got in there thanks to the magic of ziploc bags). On the subject of photos, I posted a few from my trip to Costa Rica as well. There should be a link to a Picasa album on the right hand side of this blog.

Tomorrow I take off for DC and I'm so excited to catch up with many of my friends there. My orientation (Staging in Peace Corps parlance) starts on Friday, we leave for Macedonia on Saturday, and arrive on Sunday. After the first week, I'll be placed with a host family that I'll live with for the 3 months that I'm in language school. I don't think I'll have regular email access while I'm living with the family, but I'll try to post here as I'm able from an internet cafe. Hopefully when I'm placed in my permanent site, I'll be able to get home internet access. I'd love to hear from folks while I'm gone but just bear with me if it takes me awhile to respond to you. I am happy to say that you should also be able to reach me on Skype (for the uninitiated, Skype is a free online phone / video phone service). I also got a phone number through Skype that you can dial just like a regular phone number but I answer it on my computer. The cost for the call is whatever you are normally charged for a call to a 202 area code. Pretty nifty, huh? I'll send out the numbers via email, I don't want to post it online but if I miss someone, drop me a line.