hold fast

I am in the States, in Mississippi, for pre-field orientation, or PFO if you prefer. I'm now into day three, but as I just received a third message asking if I was in the States, and why, I thought I should probably do an update. My sending agency is the Network of International Christian Schools, or NICS. They're based in Southaven, Mississippi, which is like 20 minutes from Memphis, Tennessee (where this guy is from - #babe). Each year they run PFO for their teachers who are going out to the field to serve in one of their 19 schools. You can find out more about NICS here - the video is long, but I heard the story yesterday and it's totally worth a listen! PFO is basically a lot of lectures, broken up by a lot of food, and some sport (not for me, obvs). It's been really great so far, to be honest, way more useful than I was expecting because I am a cynic by nature. We've done some self-awareness stuff, a lot of personality tests and stuff, which have only con

- while it is financially advantageous to make the most of your hand luggage, and its complete lack of weight restriction, 26kg is a lot  to pull through airports behind you. - living out of your suitcase is a doddle in comparison to living out of four suitcases/bags which you're afraid to touch out of fear that in 10 days all those things will never. fit. back. in. - outside should not be warmer than inside. Take notes Mississippi. - jetlag is a killer.

I have been travelling all day, and am in Toronto until my flight in the morning. And you would all feel worse for me if not for the fact that an amazing  family got me a hotel room and it is awesome. Check it. Ted and Bongo are all up in it. (My wake up call is for 3am though, so don't be too jealous!) So here is a rundown of my day: Futuristic lifts in Dublin. I swear Justin Timberlake shot a video in one of these. Saying bye to the 'rents. I'm a rebel, always. Passports at the ready. (I have already mixed his one up with mine once.) Paddington on the plane. I took this photo. WestJet should let me be their publicity person. St John's is pretty. I mean, I didn't know it existed til last week, but still. Dublin to St Johns was cosy. In that every. single. seat. was full. And I caught a cold. And was harshly judged for sneezing and sniffing and blowing my nose. It was less than enjoyable. Then, Canadian c

I leave in one week today. ONE WEEK. Yesterday I packed my first suitcase. Today I will likely unpack said suitcase. Such is life. My father is (not very) lovingly calling the front room the "jumble sale", and if you saw it, you'd get it. This is all meant to go into two suitcases - and my clothes aren't even featured here. So yeah, that's clearly  happening. Fitting your whole life into two suitcases is quite simply just not realistic. (Especially when you're also bringing a considerable amount of really cute baby clothes and shoes.) The Bolivian Embassy claimed my visa would be posted three days ago, in its next day delivery envelope. It has yet to arrive. They're trying to give me a breakdown, I can only assume. I have yet to hit the 80% fundraising goal so I can be officially okayed to go to Bolivia by NICS. My flights are already booked. Whoops. There are a lot  of things that need to fall into place before next Saturday.