Onward and.... onward.

Well, I started today by wrestling a rearing horse, so I guess everything's smooth sailing after that.

Today's party was lovely, I got to see everyone and there was much story swapping and hugging and so much good food I nearly burst. I have accomplished nearly nothing on the homework front, but at the moment I realize that I'm beyond panicking over that. I'll get done what I get done, and then I. Will. GO.

That said, I'm in the penultimate leg of packing, wherein I'm slobbing around the house in my least favorite clothes and having to dig what I need out of bags and then put them back. Actually, that is a very good thing. You see, if you have to pull everything you need out of a bag, all day long, that means that everything you need is packed. Win!

I hope.

Anyway, I'm somewhere between this



and this



.....

I'm going to miss you guys SO MUCH. I got an unlimited Flickr account, and I have a newer, lighter, fewer-batteries-taking, more-pictures-holding camera this time, so lots and lots of photos to come, I hope. Computer time may be limited, so they may come in big batches, but I hope to upload often and well. I'll be taking higher res photos this time, too.

I'm using the same bag I bought for Russia last time, which has also been my main bag on and off for the last two school years. It has weathered more than any bag I have ever owned, and was just washed for the first time. It is green, it is cheerful, it is less American looking than a backpack, and it has lots of straps and pockets to make it the ideal airplane bag. It even has a strap that can be used to compress a coat into an innocuous piece of your one (1) carryon, which must weigh no more than 6 kilos and fit in that dumbass plexiglass box. This makes it the perfect size to balance precariously on and then fall off of your one (1) suitcase, which must weigh no more than 20 kilos and be easily identifiable in a lineup, lest you be transferred to a different flight last-minute.

Traveler's luggage tip № 42: Ribbons, my friends, will save your life. I kept my luggage only by dint of tying bright, bright blue ribbons to the handles last time. The harried airport workers asked me hopelessly if there was any way to spot my bags, and when I replied that they had glittery metallic blue things tied to the handles, a wave of relief washed over their faces. That really helps, they said. And I didn't have to use my emergency shirt and underwear, after all.

Traveler's luggage tip № 42(a): Always, always have emergency underwear.

.....

Anyway, back to the salt mines. All that remains is to finish packing everything I own, finish writing everything that is due, and finish saying goodbye to everyone I love. Eep.