its happening

tomorrow is the day. we leave philly at 7:30 in the morning. we have an amazing group, with some truly amazing people. i know that we will do good in this world. we will.


not much else to say now. but i will post more at the airport in new york.


and as sarah said...

"peacing out"

-gabe

i'm leaving tomorrow. and i'm going crazy. there is still soo much to do. and yeah, i did just add an extra "o" to the word 'so'.

thanks are in order

i would like to thank any and everyone who has in some form told me goodbye in these last few weeks. it has meant alot to me to hear from and see all of you.

its strange that i've spent the last five years of my life trying to find a way to move away from all of this. and now that i have my way out, i'm finding millions of reasons to stay. i am not staying. so, don't go about and try to make that happen. i'm just saying, hey. i love ya. yeah, ok, there. i said it.

i love you all. and i'm gonna miss you. ok. you happy now? and don't tell mom i said that, because she'll use it against me. you know how she is.

but yeah. its been a rough weekend. the visit to baton rouge was amazing. i do believe that i have the best friends that anyone on earth could ever ask for. they are them. i am me. and we are, well, us. i'll miss them the most. it was rough to let that go. it is strange. i've called baton rouge home for over five years. and now its just a place. it isn't home. not anymore. i am now simply a visitor.

and then, the party here at mom and dad's house was amazing. the turnout was much better than expected. especially since the original party was all but cancelled because of Hurricane Ike.

there is still much to do. and i'm sure more that won't get done.

but i'll keep everyone updated as the insanity unfolds.

ten days

so. my passport went through! it came back from the state department and i'm still going to mozambique. so, i'm guessing thats a good thing. what else is new. not much. still stressing out. still buying shit i probably won't use. and still waiting around to leave.


earlier in the week. monday it was. i had received a call from SATO, the travel agency that handles all of the Peace Corps passports, visas, and tickets. well, apparently when i had lost my passport three years ago in South Africa, the embassy that issued me a temporary passport never told me i still had to report my other passport as missing.

so the american end of this deal has been waiting for me to send in my current passport for the past three months. and they just decided this week to have me send it in. well, one DS-64 form later. i'm scot free and the new passport has been made.

also, do you know how much it costs to overnight a piece of paper?!?!

guess...

just do it.

$37

yeah. put that in your pipe and smoke on it

Seriously.

so, i'm about twelve days away. yeah. i know. gabe has an amazing ability to keep an updated blog. you can tell by my last post being over a month ago. perhaps i'll just say i'm trying to get everyone used to me not posting alot. yeah. thats it. i'm getting you used to not hearing from me...

so, whats new?!?! well, Hurricanes Gustav and Ike have messed up my Portuguese learning abilities. well, they interrupted my schedule. the Rosetta Stone program was great, but i know the way i learn languages. i need the actual use of the language. but it did give me a solid vocab base. which will be really helpful.

i've also started to realize how much shit i have to pack. too much. i know i won't need it all. but i'm a "just in case" kind of packer. what if i need this? what if i need that?!?! oh well. we'll see when i get there.


not much else to report. i'll keep this updated more when there is more to report.