The Last Few Days

Overall, I had a productive weekend. I finished watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Star Wars movies so that's out of the way. I am now ready to be de-nerded for 27 months. I went to Bruno's with Shawna Saturday night for one last fabulous Italian dinner. We also saw "Zodiac" which I highly recommend to everyone. Sunday was spent reading Peace Corps posts online, filling out forms and studying history and language lessons. Some new words I picked up:
I can do it myself
I can't
To sleep
To drink
To eat
Hello
How are you?
You are welcome
Give me, please

I can also now count to 10.

The language is coming along rather nicely. I'm sure I will still be in for a rude awakening when I arrive in Kyiv. After reading through all those posts, it is clear that pretty much everyone is starting to freak out. I don't think I've ever been this stressed out and on-edge before. It's amazing how many things need to be tied up before one can escape the country for 2 years. Things like medical records, bank accounts, credit cards, cell phones, taxes, absentee ballots (since an election will be held in my absense), finding a power of attorney, etc. Add to that stressing about fitting 2 years worth of essentials into two 50 lb duffel bags. I cancelled my car insurance and Netflix subscription last week. I'm renewing my subscription to Entertainment Weekly so my parents can mail out back issues to me periodically. I also called out of paranoia to make sure my visa and passport are in order...everything is good to go. Slowly things are getting knocked out, but everyday becomes a little more nerve-wrecking. It is said that it is normal to have days of doubt and frustration where you question what you are doing. I read the booklet entitled "On the Homefront: A guide for volunteers' families" and it totally freaked me out! That book was really dark and dreary and scared the hell out of me. I guess none of it was new to me, but to read it all in one quick read really hit me hard. Today was one of those "doubting days"...all day. At day's end, I'm back to being excited and that makes all the difference. Plus, hey, it was 70 degrees out today...spring is here!!!