A goodbye tribute

I wrote this next piece on the way back from my hometown while sitting on the bus in the Okanagan. There are a bunch of goodbyes I have had to say over the past couple days so please bear with me and the drama.

Goodbye house. You have been such a great place to live. We have many memories that we will hold dear to our hearts because of you. Thank you for being spacious and accommodating when we had people over. Thank you you for having all that cupboard space in the kitchen and a bath tub in the bathroom. We were so happy to live above ground and bask in the light from your many windows. You not having air conditioning has actually helped prepare us for Togo's climate. We will miss you.

Goodbye car. You were such a good car! So good in fact, that, it was hard to see you get towed away (even though it was by that good organization that helps people). You were my first car and you were given to me by opa. For seven years you drove me around to all the places I needed to be. We went everywhere together from the pacific ocean to the prairies, the north okanagn to the south, in winter and in summer. You drove others around to the places they needed to go and even experienced a few road trips with good friends. Thank you for all those memories.

Goodbye cabin. Every time we were together I knew that summer had officially began. Leaving you always meant that fall was fast approaching along withball it's changes including school, relocating etc. I have so many memories with you that I treasure. You welcomed so many people onto your dock over the years including dear friends and aging family members. The sleepovers with the cousins in the pink room and on the covered deck were something all of us looked forward too. The stories we will take with us are numerous. Know that we are looking forward ito a time when we can come to you again.

Goodbye Toby the dog. I never got to say a real goodbye to you or hug you one last time. You are the best dog a girl could have asked for even for a girl who is more a cat person than a dog person. Thank you for always being so excited to see me whenever I came home to visit especially after a hard day somewhere else. Please Keep mom & dad company while we are gone. You are a good dog Toby and know I will miss you a great deal.

Goodbye Tommy the cat. Alas you were the landlord's cat but, you became our cat too while we were at the house. You were so friendly & playful. You also did a fantastic job keeping the mice away which we really appreciated. You make a great mommy and know we will miss your two kittens too. They provided endless hours of entertainment these past few weeks.

Goodbye violin (also known as my baby). Dearest violin where will I be without you? We have played so much music together over the years. You were with me through symphonies, orchestras and all around the world You know that I would love to take you with me but I can not. It is safer for you here than it would be there's especially with the climate and humidity differences. You will not be forgotten. I know that my fingers will still know how to play when I get back as I am taking your cousin along. Take care of yourself dear friend.

Goodbye fast Internet connection. One doesn't realize what they have have until it's gone and that is how I feel about you. Over time we have become so comfortable with one another. I rely on you everyday and you almost always come through for me which is why I am having a difficult time imagining life without you. In Africa things just won't be the same without you. I won't be able to load YouTube videos at the same speed as I could before, streaming movies will be out of the question as well. The good news is those very annoying video ads will no longer be able to work where we are going.

Bittersweet

The countdown is drawing to a close fairly quickly here. In exactly 17 days I will be landing in Togo. That being said there are only 15 more days before I leave Canada and only 9 more days until I leave the Okanagan.

How am I feeling about this? Well it really depends on the day.

A majority of this past weekend was spent out at the cabin with family and friends laughing, speaking german, eating junk food by the handfuls, sunathing til we all turn red and swimming in the freezing cold water to cool off. I treasure this time.

I find myself trying to take snapshots with my mind so the memories stay with me for the next two years. Its interesting that I say this now because years ago I would not have really made an effort to remember all these little moments.

Sometimes we don't know how precious life is until we are faced with it not being quite the same way it always has been. What I am trying to say is that as time carries on I appreciate how important family and friends are.

Up until recently you would have never heard me say that I experience homesickness. In fact when I left for Africa the first time I did not feel sad at all. Perhaps that was I knew that 3 months was short term and quite temporary so not too much could change in that amount of time. I would get to see everyone again soon enough. Fast forward to Christmas 2 years ago when I was away from home for the first time during an important family time, I felt so homesick it almost hurt to breath during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

I was close to tears because there is comfort in familiarity and community and I really missed the community that has been apart of my life
since I was small. Now it wasn't that I was in a place with no people, there were people there just not all the people I had grown up with or felt familiar with. Will I expereince the sme feeling in Togo? I would imagine yes whenever there is a wedding/anniversary/birthday/celebration I can't be at.

I will miss those familiar faces and the traditions that come with such events. As time goes on I realize that those events are also changing. When I come back things will not be the same as before I left as change is inevitable. This makes me sad too. Like I said earlier there is comfort in the familiar. As much as I love adventure and I can't wait to get back to African soil where I will have the chance to experience new things and make new friends a part of me can't help but feel sad.

Leaving is really bittersweet...

Exhilified

I have been trying to come up with an exact word that describes how I am feeling about moving around the world to Togo, starting a new job as a teacher in one months time.

Today I found that perfect word when I was at the university talking with someone in the education faculty. I had been saying that I felt a mix of emotions like excitement, fear, happiness and sadness. She asked if perhaps the word I was looking for was Exhilified a combination of exhilarated and terrified all at the same time. Indeed that is the word I have been looking for. Leaving Canada will be bittersweet but I can't help but feel exhilified!

Small Group Thank You

With help from our small group D & I were able to purchase an iPad to help lighten our suitcase load. How is it helping? Well it currently holds 35 books on it. That is at least 20 lbs of extra weight we can cram into our suitcases.

Besides the extra added space in the suitcase, this gadget will also be able to help me in the music classroom by acting as an accompanist while I teach. I can also record students voices on it and play it back to them. As to what else it can do I -- am finding out more everyday.

Mock Pack #1

So the other night D and I did a mock pack trying to see how much we could fit into my 2 suitcases. We have 5 rubbermaid bins full of stuff we are trying to take in only 4-5 suitcases. The bins are divided up into different categories:

• Music teaching resources/materials which includes a few music instruments as well
• Kindergarten resources/materials mainly kids books, stickers, art supplies and a book on art projects
• Clothing all durable 100% cotton (or as close to that as possible) & good quality shoes
• Comfort stuff which includes food items like Sheriff lemon meringue pie filling or our favourite Shampoo from Lush
• Tech & Camera equipment
• Miscellaneous items including small dolls for little girls, motorcycle helmuts, thank you cards and Canadian flags

We only packed 2 suitcases one was already 16 lbs overweight while the other was 6 underweight. Due to the airlines I am flying I am only allowed 2 suitcases. I am trying my best not to be overweight on any of them as I will be charged an arm and leg for doing that. So how are we going to fit everything? I have no idea. We already had to sort out things that we don't really desperately need from things we can't live without. Do I really need Kraft peanut butter? I guess not but I still would like some.

Another Blog

Came across another teaching/Africa blog worth mentioning. The writer has since moved on to other places but I find myself relating to what is being said even though I have never been to Malawi. Here is my most favourite thought which comes from one of her last blog posts entitled Home. The last post has been written 5 months after her return back to the States after being in Malawi for a year.

Now that the dust has settled, my year in Malawi feels dislocated in my memory. It is as if my brain compartmentalized itself into American life and Malawian life... With the benefit of hindsight, I now recognize that when I left Malawi I also left behind a part of myself, a part that I hope to, with time and due diligence, incorporate back into my life.

http://jessemcv.blogspot.com/

Pack lists

I am a list person! I make lists while I am waiting at appointments or in restaurants. I use scrap pieces of paper, notebooks or posterboard if the lists require more room. Right now on our fridge there is a large posterboard to help us figure out what we still need to do before moving day in 40 days.

The pink poster holding 6 sheets of legal size paper is appropriately titled "To Go to Togo" it takes up the entire front part of our fridge. Since D and I are both visual learners, it helps us see just how much we still have to do before we leave. Some days I get to check off one or two items on this gigantic list. Other days I only add things. Whenever I add more than two things I get frustrated because the list seems to be growing as oppose to shrinking. It is during those times that I need to remember a wise piece of wisdom someone once told me:

make a list full of things you have already done so as not to get overwhelmed with all the stuff that still needs to be done.

I agree wholeheartedly with this statement which is why you will see certain things penciled in and checked off after they have already happened (such as graduation or go to the mall to check prices or plan goodbye parties).

So how do we know what we need to do and how can we make sure we don't forget anything? I came across this website here www.helpiammoving.com

It breaks down tasks about 12 weeks before an international departure down to moving day. It has been really helpful in giving us an outline of what needs to happen when. Since Daniel is staying here an extra month to wrap up the business he can also take care of any miscellaneous items that come up. We vacate our place at the end of August so there will not be too much for him to have to take care of.

Resources

One of the most valuable resources in my quest for a job was a website called International School Review. It costs $30 a year but the information on there was/is very helpful. With the help of ISR I was able to narrow down some of my options after interviews when the job offers came in.

I was given the chance to talk with one of the founders of the website in person over coffee. The person's stories and experiences were memorable. The advice I was given was fantastic. Some of it as basic as "Buy good quality 100% cotton clothing for the hot and humid climate or you'll regret it. Make sure it's good quality so if it is handled by roughly by someone washing your clothes it won't end up in shreds after being worn 3x" and "Pack picture books. Regardless what the language capabilities are of your students everyone will be able to understand with the pictures" or "Does the school have an evacuation policy in place? Make sure you ask before you go." The person also looked over the sample contract the school sent me. With their help additions that may need to be added to the contract and what questions I may want to ask the director before I accepted the job.