Two weeks

We’re two weeks away from boarding the first flight on a long journey to the other side of the world. With 14 days left, my pre-departure To-Do list has unchecked items.

The To-Do list started off as a pretty long list. When the list only existed in my head, it didn’t seem that long. I think that it was after the Northeast Link meeting that I consciously started forming the list. The meeting was amazingly insightful, but I have to admit that I didn’t really know what to expect going into it. (Maybe that’s why it was that much more valuable.)

As Liz mentioned in previous posts, there were some team-building exercises, but my favorite part of the meeting was a talk by Paul Taylor, a former US Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Paul Taylor was an international diplomat and his daughter was born in Ecuador—a tidbit that made a connection with me.

Ambassador Taylor’s topic was How to be a good US Ambassador when traveling. He started off by saying that he wasn’t sure if we would hear anything new as he could tell that we were a fairly well-traveled group, but I listened intently because I figured he’d offer new insight. The most resounding tip, for me, was to make sure that we were up-to-date on current events in the country where we were going. (There were other New England district teams at the conference that were going to other countries.) This piece of advice was a good reminder that I needed to do this. So, I created a Google Alert on Nepal, and as soon as I did, I learned so much more on the country where I’d be spending the next 32 days of my life.

The very first thing that I learned was that the country was experiencing DAILY 14-hour power outages. I’ve read various explanations as to why, but regardless, those are some looooong power outages. Hmm . . .

Immediately, I started thinking, Wow. This is going to be really different. All this time, I figured that this trip would have a few elements of the most different travel experiences that I’ve had, but suddenly, I realized that we were in for a unique experience—a WONDERFULLY unique experience.

And it starts in just 2 weeks.

 ~Katherine

Where in the world is . . . .

We didn't think that we were getting too far out of Kathmandu, but it was a pleasant surprise to know that we'll be traveling to the east and west regions!

Getting to know us

Hi all followers, thought I would help you get to know us a bit more....at least me.

At the NE link we played a game I know as two truths and a lie as a team building event.

How it works is you say three interesting facts about yourself...only one of the "facts" is a lie.

Your team members have to guess which one is the lie....clearly the better you know someone....the easier it is the pick the lie and win the game.

In case we have to play again, here are some interesting facts about me that are true.

I have a twin sister
I played the trumpet in the middle school band
I took French in high school
I have traveled to over twenty different countries
I completed a half ironman
I love chocolate and fruit for dessert
I won the DARE essay contest in middle school
I love to laugh and tell jokes
I write poetry for special family occasions
I was a competitive swimmer for 12 years
I ran high school track (distance mostly)
My father, grandfather and great grandfather were all engineers
I have never received a speeding ticket or been the cause of a car accident
I am left handed
I love live music of any kind
I was the top graduate of my major at Uconn in 2006

Five weeks and counting . . .

Liz, Katherine, Matt, Barbara and Nate at the GSE Northeast Link meeting, 29-Jan-2011

Things have really started coming together lately. Last week, we got our day-by-day itinerary and attended the GSE Northeast Link. This week, Barbara, Nate and I received our flight itineraries. (We leave Thursday, March 10 and return on Tuesday, April 12.) As Barbara put it, We're really going!

With five weeks left to go, there's still so much to do! Stay tuned . . .