thoughts on getting ready to leave....

oh my lanta i can't believe all the work it takes to get rid of all the "stuff" we own! actually, the hard part is making the tough decisions......should i keep the toaster oven my brother gave me for the wedding?! how could i ever part with the pirate hat i got at the baseball game ten years ago....you know, the major decisions.

the most difficult thing i have had to do up to this point is hand my beloved dog, Bunte, over to friends in boston. Bunte has been with sheela and i for most of his life. sheela received him as a gift from a stranger (long story, involving stolen bikes, US embassy, drug dealers......) and he made it back to the states not by us, but by way of a wealthy bostonian family that heard of the legend of Bunte. he was the ring bearer in our wedding, our protector on late night walks and he always seemed to be there like it or not while cooking or watching tv. he is honestly the best dog i have ever been around and he truly does have an amazing story. unfortunately this is the chapter where i exit. i miss him dearly and kind of regret not trying to push the issue of bringing him to bangladesh. that being said, the people he is with are wonderful and i know he will be extremely happy finishing out his years with them. Bunte, i love you.......

other than Bunte's departure things haven't been as difficult as i had thought. i guess we set the bar high or low with that event. i have been looking forward to purging and parting ways with all the "things" we have collected over the course of five years. we aren't actually getting rid of everything. the school gives us four thousand dollars to ship whatever we choose to dhaka. other important items will be stored in three locations: both our parents' houses and a friend of ours in chapel hill.

so what do you take on an overseas two year adventure!? well, i have done this before....however, the circumstances were a wee bit different. rather than bore you with the stuff i am bringing let me bore you with items i am leaving behind but really want to take:
1. my machete (from belize, a must have in many situations)
2. my hammock (also from belize and also a must have in many situations, don't count this one out just yet)
3. my collection of kurt vonnetgut books
4. my cornhole set (google it)
5. my kayak that i haven't used in two years

yeah, that's about it. to tell you the truth.....good riddance to all the things we don't hold on to!!

our final departure is on august 3rd from omaha, nebraska. there is supposed to be a killer party on the third. that should be fun. i anticipate seeing people i haven't seen since that last time i left the country and telling the same story over about fifteen times. kidding, i am really looking forward to seeing some people from my past.

the flight will be quite lengthy and should prove to be challenging with a two point seven-five year old. we fly to houston (three hours) then to dubai (about fifteen hours) then on to dhaka (five more hours!) to top it off, i work on the next day. that is kind of a bummer.

seems like that's enough for now.