I think that it will be exciting, probably scary at times, and parts of that will be a little painful, but in the end it will be good.

I am hoping that this really opens their eyes in ways that sticking around here cannot. As much as I truly love the Coralville/Iowa City area, I am aware of what a bubble it can be. I’m hoping that the kids get a real sense of perspective from this experience. I am really excited for this trip, though. I think my hairline has receded 6 inches as well. So far the only known casualties are the running shoes that I was supposed to take on the trip (entombed somewhere in storage), a public library book (God only knows where that is- we’ll eat the fines), some sore back muscles, and lots of sleep. We have packed our entire house into one small room, fixed all the leaky plumbing that we’d been putting up with, and it is ready for the renters to move in. There have been about 25 trips to Goodwill and the recycling center and an amazing yard sale thanks to our fantastic neighbors, the Fleeners. We have health insurance slated to start in 48 hours that should carry us through the trip.

We have all US and many of us have Canadian passports that are photocopied and also stored in the cloud. I just finished my last notes from work and made my last changes for next year’s class.

We’ve arranged for international banking, we have talked several times with our insurance agent, we have booked flights, hotels, BnB’s, we’ve gotten lots of shots, we have a bag full of malaria meds, we’ve practice packed, checked our wills, and said some sad good-byes. We are now 2 days from pulling out of town for the year.

The deep breath before the plunge