Happy Birthday Orissa! My baby is 19 today. I hope your day is magnificent and filled with love, chica. <3
This is it. My last post before I leave for Ghana...
I have realized in the past year, thanks to someone I met on a bus in Bolivia, that I am a person who truly lives in the moment. What this sometimes means for me is that I miss some of the excitement of what's to come, simply because I am not thinking of the future. I'll be en route somewhere and almost forget why, for example, I am spending 16 hours on a rickety bus to Santa Cruz! My anticipation is more of a faint buzz than thoughts of all the specific possibilities awaiting me. It's like... I'm happy just to know that adventures will happen and don't bother myself too much with exactly what they will be. I wouldn't have it any other way, but meeting that person, at that time, let me experience the joy of really thinking about things to come. The two of us spent many minutes, could have been hours, who knows, exclaiming over what we thought the jungle might be like... and I liked having someone to show me that new perspective.
In this case I am back to my natural state of flow... going with it, that is. I am here, now and that is where my focus is, for the most part. A chunk of the past may wander by at times, but the future tends to stay in its place. And that's okay with me. But here, if I want that extra excitement, I can always find one of the great women of my group to dream with!
So, right now I am at the hostel in Montreal, about to go out and wander around the city. The last couple of days have all run together in my mind; Monday and Tuesday's endless errands, packing and laundry, saying goodbye to my host family, my coworkers from the Red Cross coming to visit at camp, a LONG day of debriefing at Sunshine Camp yesterday, singing and meditating around the campfire, a very SHORT night of sleep last night, the flight, the bad, sleep-deprivation-induced jokes, the mountains of luggage... What exactly is in all those bags is beyond me! Seriously, people, our group has enough luggage to sink a small yacht. Hopefully not enough to take down a 767 though, otherwise I will be going for the second atlantic swim of my life!
I'm sorry for the lack of news on plans once we arrive in Ghana. But like I said... "in the moment" kind of person! I know that we are going to the beach on our first real day in the country... that's about it. Once I get settled and the future becomes the present I will have more to share! So, here goes... off to AFRICA!
We leave for Ghana (via London) tomorrow night at seven.
Con mucho amor,
Julia
Showing posts with label flight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flight. Show all posts
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Is it Raining Outside?
Oh My Goodness. This must be the most speedily I have ever updated the blog.
This morning I was none too excited to begin this adventure, but I guess it's hard to be optimistic after a practically all-nighter of packing and worrying. I am not much of a good-bye crier, but this morning I made an exception... The security officer at the Kelowna airport made a joke of asking if it was raining outside. With cherry season and the short notice of this trip I just didn't have time to mentally prepare for a six month absence. And at first it felt like I was being ripped away, rather than bounding off into the horizon.
The plane ride was pretty long, stopping in Edmonton and Ottawa before arriving in Halifax at 3:45 BC time/7:45 local. After each stop the flight attendants would say stuff like, "Oh, you still on here?". Yes, it was a long day of zooming through the clouds: catching up on some much-needed sleep, listening to music and letting my thoughts wander around, with only Bits and Bites and bottled water for sustenance. In an emergency exit seat with lots of legroom and no one beside me, thanks to Rhonda. :)
My outlook has changed almost completely since this morning. I feel ready to face everything new and interact with the group, something I dreaded this earlier today. Lesson learned, sleep=important.
Thanks to everyone who came over to my house last night, it was a perfect good-bye for me and I am really glad I got to see you all!
So. I got to Halifax no problem, I am not ridiculously over-packed (as I expected), I saw the Parliament buildings from the plane, I am in a province I have never visited before, I saw Shaun Majumder at the Halifax airport, I have had a swim in the hotel pool with some of the other girls, and I even get to update the blog! Life is good! And the time change is to my advantage... waking up at 9:00 tomorrow will be a breeze. :)
ALSO, let me just tell you a cool story. As I was packing my backpack for this trip I went to rip off the baggage tag from my return flight from Peru... only to notice that on it was an announcement for new non-stop fligths to Accra, Ghana! The Prophetic Luggage Tag escaped the trash can in favour of my future CWY scrapbook!
Yes, life is good and I suppose that's all I have to say to you for now. I hope you find ways to realize how good life is when you are in a terrible mood too, because it rocks!
Con amor,
Julia on the other side of Canada!
This morning I was none too excited to begin this adventure, but I guess it's hard to be optimistic after a practically all-nighter of packing and worrying. I am not much of a good-bye crier, but this morning I made an exception... The security officer at the Kelowna airport made a joke of asking if it was raining outside. With cherry season and the short notice of this trip I just didn't have time to mentally prepare for a six month absence. And at first it felt like I was being ripped away, rather than bounding off into the horizon.
The plane ride was pretty long, stopping in Edmonton and Ottawa before arriving in Halifax at 3:45 BC time/7:45 local. After each stop the flight attendants would say stuff like, "Oh, you still on here?". Yes, it was a long day of zooming through the clouds: catching up on some much-needed sleep, listening to music and letting my thoughts wander around, with only Bits and Bites and bottled water for sustenance. In an emergency exit seat with lots of legroom and no one beside me, thanks to Rhonda. :)
My outlook has changed almost completely since this morning. I feel ready to face everything new and interact with the group, something I dreaded this earlier today. Lesson learned, sleep=important.
Thanks to everyone who came over to my house last night, it was a perfect good-bye for me and I am really glad I got to see you all!
So. I got to Halifax no problem, I am not ridiculously over-packed (as I expected), I saw the Parliament buildings from the plane, I am in a province I have never visited before, I saw Shaun Majumder at the Halifax airport, I have had a swim in the hotel pool with some of the other girls, and I even get to update the blog! Life is good! And the time change is to my advantage... waking up at 9:00 tomorrow will be a breeze. :)
ALSO, let me just tell you a cool story. As I was packing my backpack for this trip I went to rip off the baggage tag from my return flight from Peru... only to notice that on it was an announcement for new non-stop fligths to Accra, Ghana! The Prophetic Luggage Tag escaped the trash can in favour of my future CWY scrapbook!
Yes, life is good and I suppose that's all I have to say to you for now. I hope you find ways to realize how good life is when you are in a terrible mood too, because it rocks!
Con amor,
Julia on the other side of Canada!
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