Schrödinger's cat

It is time to move, once again. Only temporarily though. I would both like to and not, a bit like Schroedinger's cat I imagine. To avoid the usually chaotic outburst that is my suitcase on arrival, I have been packing things in trash bags and labeling them. "Miscellaneous", "Socks", "Scarves" are some of the categories. There is an entire box full of supplements too. Adulting involves a healthy diet and then some. It involves moving alone, yet again, yet again. M has left town and it feels strange, surreal. I think this is the weekend where I am in denial about my trepidation about moving and sadness about people leaving, graduate school and other things ending. I've been really good at keeping it under control, putting out all the fires. But not this weekend. I have spent most of my time in bed this weekend.

Checked in and waiting to leave

I may have officially set my own record for one of my worst check-ins. Woke up seven minutes before the Super Shuttle arrived. Overweight baggage. My usual repacking strategies did not work and I had to throw away stuff. All my liquids were fine but I forgot to empty my water bottle! The international leg of this journey hasn't even started :). Plus the airport is really warm and my usual tactic of wearing multiple layers to stay warm and reduce baggage weight seems to be currently backfiring. But yay!

Almost gone

I leave tomorrow morning. I have a super shuttle coming at the unearthly hour of 5:30 am. Maybe my first lesson is to not book international flights before 2 pm because that may be the only way I can get good sleep the night before :). I am all packed and I think I have everything I need. Sadly the jar of Nutella has to be left behind. I am also happy to being sent away with hugs and gifts and a sunny Minneapolis day.

In no particular order I am looking forward to:
1. Ordering coffee at the Narita airport because my Japanese friend said to order something, anything to experience the customer service
2. Arriving in humid, hot Ho Chi Minh and exploring it for one whole day
3. Visiting the office of the NGO where we will be working
4. Figuring out if biking will be possible in Hue
5. The field work
6. Figuring out how to document what we are doing well
7. Using my free time to explore both Hue and other places.

Yay for travel! Also yay for leaving Minneapolis for the first time in the nine months since I arrived here (except for a brief trip to Brainerd right at the beginning).

3, 2, 1..

I am three days away from leaving and it has been an intense week. The last of the papers and projects have been submitted and the semester is finally over! I am not quite packed yet but I will get there (because I have faith in my packing list, I do). I do feel sad that just as it is turning sunny in Minneapolis, I am leaving, but oh well.

I wish I had a nice paperback to read along the way. I will be carrying my Kindle and plan to download ebooks (especially books by Scott Fitzgerald which I had been reading before the semester got a little crazy). I also don't have a Lonely Planet Vietnam - perhaps I should get one. I do have a few magazines, including ones in Spanish that friends have lent me (the Spanish ones for me to improve my very poor Spanish beyond quiero hablar Espanol :)). 

I will have two days in Ho Chi Minh city and I am excited about that. I also feel lucky to have met or spoken with people (many students on campus) who are from Vietnam or have lived there for a while and have given us lots of tips. 

From what I have been told about Hue, where we are going, was the old capital of the kingdom, it is famous for its food and it is a popular tourist destination. I think where we are staying is in the old kingdom/palace area and I am looking forward to exploring. I am also getting more and more excited about the work we are going to do: this is going to be a new experience for me!

On that note, I am going to head out to enjoy my last days in Minneapolis for the summer!

Start!

I leave for Vietnam in less than a week; I will be there for two and a half months. I really should start packing. I have no local currency but I have an emergency jar of Nutella. This is going to be a hell of an experience and I can feel the excitement building!