Leaving on a Jet Plane

My bags are packed, and I'm ready to go.

Well...not quite. I am definitely ready to go, but the task of packing a bag to travel halfway across the world for 8 1/2 months is quite a daunting one. I have an unfortunate tendency to pack everything I could possibly want or need when going on vacation, which usually means that on a weekend trip my luggage could sustain me for several weeks. This trip does not allow for such extravagance, however, and my goal is to pack everything - aside from 2 carry-ons - into one (very large) duffel bag. It will be a miracle if I actually accomplish this task, although the fact that airlines are now charging for your first checked bag is somewhat of a motivation to keep it to a minimum. We'll see how it goes.

There is still so much I need to get in order to feel prepared for my trip, although I'm not sure whether it's even possible to be prepared for what I'm about to encounter. The fact that I will be leaving everything I currently know is starting to weigh on me, and I can only hope that once I arrive that I will share the fondness for this place that so many others have expressed. As with any new chapter in life I embark on this journey with mixed feelings: excitement for the amazing experience I'm about to be a part of, sadness at missing such a large part of the lives of the people I'll leave behind, and apprehension about going to a place which I know very little about, not knowing a single person. Despite these mixed emotions, however, I have no doubt that this is something I will cherish and remember for the rest of my life, and I feel so lucky for the opportunity. My parents are going above and beyond to make this trip possible for me, and for that I am extremely grateful. At this point in my life they should be rejoicing for getting one more daughter off their payroll and out into the 'real world', but instead they are preparing for yet another year of supporting me. This trip is going to be quite expensive to say the least, and without their willingness to fund it I would not be going. It's as simple as that.

I received an email I a few days ago from one of my contacts in Dodoma which gave me a new outlook on this experience. It was an article written by the Rev. Lauren R. Stanley, an Appointed Missionary of the Episcopal Church who is serving in the Diocese of Renk, Sudan. She writes,

Living and moving and having your being in a place that is foreign to you in almost every aspect forces you to look at God’s people in new ways. It forces you to let go of all those things you are used to, all those things you have always taken for granted, and makes you reset your priorities. Sometimes, those priorities are small: clean water for bathing, for example. Sometimes, they are huge.

It forces you to decide what is important, and what is not, what you will cling to, regardless of the harm that may come your way, and what you can let go of, because in God’s greater scheme, it’s not all that important any more.

I hope that during my time in Dodoma I can make a difference, even in a small way, and help those who are less fortunate than I am. After all, isn't that why I'm traveling 9,000 miles across the world? It is, yes, although I know there is so much more to this journey. I want to help people, but I think this trip will have a profound impact on me as well. I hope to return to the U.S. in April with a renewed outlook on life, ready to take on whatever challenge comes my way. There are so many trivial matters in our day to day lives which cause us so much anxiety and stress, and I'm hoping to learn not to sweat the small stuff, because as Rev. Stanley said, "it's not all that important anymore."

So in 14 days, on August 3rd, I will be leaving Atlanta, arriving in the coastal town of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania about 24 hours later. It's strange to think that the trip I've been talking about for months now, which at one point seemed so far away, is here. And it's real. I'm actually going, and I can't wait to see what's in store.