Prepping

I'm not sure how much of the craziness that we are experiencing is just "par for the course" in the Foreign Service, and how much is because our post is a developing island. However, we find ourselves having discussions I never thought we would have!  I mean, you know you aren't in Alabama anymore, when your dinner conversation consists of " We need to think of any big Christmas gifts we want because of the size restrictions on shipments to post"  or " I wonder if I can get vanilla extract in Colombo?" then there is " Oh, we need to get an artificial Christmas tree because they won't have Christmas tree farms in Sri Lanka" It's crazy and I think Erik put it best after a recent visit with family when he commented about how little we discussed our move, he said "I just don't think people can even relate to our day to day life anymore"

It's true.  When we get up in the morning, we always have a cup of coffee together.  Our morning conversation goes something like this.  Erik:   " I got all ten visas filled out and I am going to walk them over to the embassies to speed up the process"  Me: "Good, today I have a call into my doctor to see when my last MMR vaccination was, a call into the pediatrician to get George's last Hep A before we leave and a call in to Costco in DC to arrange storage for our consumables shipment as well as pick up.  Oh and by the way, we need to pull the trigger on the 4 new suitcases, a tux for you and some rugs because post isn't sure that we will have some in our new home."

I mean, it's another world, literally. One that sometimes we pause and just almost get giddy that we have the honor of being a part of!  And sometimes one that we pause and nearly hyperventilate at the thought of the path we have chosen. This last month and next month will be particularly hard as we are once again saying our goodbyes, packing our belongings, and taking a leap of faith that we will love our new adventure.  It will also be particularly fun as we communicate with new friends already made at post who are helping to make or arrival a smooth transition.  I love it when I open my email and have an email from someone in Sri Lanka.  It grounds me, and helps me focus on what lies ahead.  It helps remind me that even though this part is hard, when we get to post, when our kids get a to live in another culture, when we have to rely on our faith in God and each other, we will only be stronger and better than before we started the adventure!