Hello, Hello trusty friends- I am resurrecting "Jen Across the Sea"! I apologize for having not written anything for over a year but I've had some unexpected turns that kept me from writing- but I've returned with another huge adventure in front of me and I'd love to take you along for the ride!
First the update- out with the old and in with the new. That pretty much sums up my time of absence.
1. Met lovely new* boyfriend
*who is really no longer new since we're almost at a year!
(I will refer to the lovely new boyfriend as "Paul"... since that's his name and I doubt he would appreciate being refered to the nickname my students gave him, which I think is endearingly cute, but one which may cause him to blush and I can't think of anything else at midnight on the eve of my departure)
2. Moved into a classic london townhouse with 5 roomates
3. Went to mad job fair and accepted mad job in Zambia!
(See blog entry "Don't eat the Ostritch" for creepy foreshadowing)
4. Then moved out of london townhouse and in with aforementioned lovely boyfriend
5. Continued romance in Colorado, France, Italy, Wales, Cornwall, Devon, The Lake District, The Peak
District, The runnymeade roundabout, and Malta.
6. Said goodbye to the UK and all the wonderful people I came to love there.
7. Flew home to colorado to be with my family and the cutest neice ever before leaving for Zambia.
And now you're all caught up.
So, here I am- sitting up late because I can't sleep, itchy all over from the nerves, and scared that tomorrow will come. I hate goodbyes. I don't do goodbyes well. I usually skip them all together. When I was leaving Tonga- one of my closest friends actually had to ask me, minutes before I got in the taxi to go to the airport, "Aren't you going to say goodbye to me?" And I remember thinking- "well- getting in this taxi pretty much sums that up, doesn't it?" But only because I am a vertible waterworks. Prone to sentimentality and nostalgia. Cursed with a mind that works like a hollywood movie (think "The Way We Were" of slow-motion flash backs of all the happiest moments with some god-awful music like "Memories" or "Wind beneath my Wings" in the background.) And you'd think for someone who leaves so much this would get easier but I'm starting to think its getting harder.
I don't know what tomorrow will bring- well, actually I do. Alot of sitting on a plane...that will land in Frankfurt. I won't actually get to africa for another couple of days. What I'm going to do in Frankfurt for 12 hours is beyond me. I did think I would get a haircut but when I said, "I could get my hair cut in Germany" out loud, I reconsidered to visions of a shaved head or a mullet or some other horrific follicle concoction.
So, really, for the next 30 hours enroute, I will be reading Harry Potter, Real Simple, (aka. organization porn) and sleeping involuntarily with the help of coma-indusing pills, innocently named "sleep aid" from Costco.
Then.... Well, I'll have to get back to you on that.
Things I am worried about on my next adventure:
Malaria and many, many, many other diseases
Ex-Pats and the lifestyle
My Job
Wether or not I'll be able to run
What to wear
My shippment actually arriving
Flying in Africa
Not having Paul with me
