Leaving Tomorrow!

This will be a quick post, since I have to get up at 4am tomorrow.  But I finished my packing, in 3 bags.

1 rolling suitcase (40 lbs.)
1 dufflebag (15 lbs.)
1 carry-on backpack (15 lbs.)

The first time I packed, everything was in the rolling suitcase (no duffel) and it weighed 57 pounds.  Now, in 2 bags, the total weight is 55 pounds.  Magic!

And I finished both of my required books, leaving me some nice optional reading for the plane!  Peace out, USA!

Awesome News!

The big news is....I GOT MY VISA!!!  I can now actually get onto the plane! 

This might be the best photo ever taken of me. (*sarcasm alert*)

 

 

 And I got back all the paperwork with the visa....now I see why it took so long.  There were approximately twelve thousand different stamps and seals to prove I am not a criminal.

Hilary Clinton signed this!  Fancy!

Confession: This actually happened yesterday, I just got preoccupied and didn't blog about it.

.....but today, something even MORE exciting happened....I got an email from my host family!!  (I might have screamed a little.)  I thought I wouldn't get any info on them until I arrived in Bolivia.  The family is a mom, a dad, and three kids (ages 21, 14, and 12).  They have 2 cats and 2 dogs, and like to garden and cook (LIKE ME!).  I read their letter (which was in Spanish) and I totally understood it!  I am REALLY excited to meet them.  With all the stress about reading and packing and taking classes in Español, it was nice to have a dose of pure excitement.

In other news, I weighed my suitcase and it came to a whopping 57 pounds.  (Like carrying around a small child.  All that xc/track weight-lifting will come in handy.)  So I need to re-pack to have 2 suitcases, as opposed to one, because of silly baggage rules.  (I refuse to leave things behind.... I need two bottles of sunscreen!  Two pairs of pants for four months is not being excessive.)

Other activities for the day....making vegan pizza and chocolate cake!

Green pepper and tomatoes

Green peppers, tomatoes, and TVP

And some kitty pictures:

Another one of Elbow

Nala has been a little neglected so far on my blog.

¡Adios amigos!

Adventure #1: Packing

Hello!  Hooray for my very first blog post!  I leave for Bolivia in 6 days today so I decided to get cracking on everything on my pre-Bolivia to-do list....such as packing, reading my homework about globalization in Bolivia, complaining about bureaucracy, getting some Bolivianos (aka Bolivian money), practicing my Spanish, etc.  Clearly the most important of these is packing (although complaining is a close second), so I decided to tackle that today.  I've been gathering stuff for a while, so packing was just the art of stuffing all my stuff into a suitcase.

Doesn't look like THAT much, right?  Well, I quickly discovered that my sleeping bag (for my rural homestay!) took up half of the little rolling suitcase, and resigned myself to taking the big rolling suitcase.  I tried to get a cat to pose next to it for some perspective.

Looks pretty big, right?  Apparently this suitcase is a real-life optical illusion.

Got filled up mighty quickly!  But look at Elbow, isn't he cute?

Perfect fit!

Meow!

My luggage tag--I practiced translating this to Spanish for my host family.

So with that out of the way, I decided to reward myself by checking my email.  Yes, I had just gone half a day without going on the internet.  (I deserve a medal for this).  And the visagods were benevolent!!!  My visa was mailed today, and it has package tracking, so I can further stalk it and worry about its arrival.  Five mailing days until I depart (come on FedEx, don't let me down)!

Next I moved on to reading some of my books.  Reading about globalization is pretty depressing, if it's understandable at all.  Sometimes I feel like I'm already reading in a foreign language when I crack open these libros.

Here's my pile of books to read.  I'll be reading these bad boys on the plane.

Here's my pile of books I've completed.  (Impressive, yes?)

And here's one of Lainey, just cause she's adorable.

Well, other stuff happened today, but I'm starting to lose interest so y'all probably are too.  Kudos to you if you read all this.  I won't hold it against you if you just looked at the pictures. :)

P.S.  I also made some homemade apple/lime juice with our juicer!  And more importantly, I took pictures.  This juice had 4 apples and 2 limes.  Next time I'll add a carrot or stick of celery, because it was a little too sweet.  But without further ado, PICTURES:

We like to use the pulp in soups or breads, so I cut the seed out of my apples and peeled the limes.

All those apples condensed into just one fancy glass!