Preparations...

If you know me at all, you know that I've moved around a lot. I have lived in 7 different countries, in 3 different continents, and we're not even talking about different cities in each country. I have to pack often. But I HATE DOING IT! It is the worst thing in the world for me...

Well, now I have less than 1 week to:
- Pack my entire house (not the furniture, luckily)
- Cancel all services, internet, phone, etc.
- Get all the necessary vaccines and medications to take to Chad
- Take all my things to a storage unit
- Meet with the owner of my apartment to inventory everything (it's their furniture) and give the keys
- Go to the bank with the owner to get my deposit back
- Spend a night in a hotel
- Fly to Paris

This might seem like not such a big deal... It might not seem like a lot. But it's very time consuming... specially the packing part. And the inventory. I would do it in 3 minutes, but the owner is very meticulous and when I got the apartment, it took 2 1/2hrs... this time it will probably take longer. So the part about the inventory and the bank will take all of Wednesday (banks here take forever). This means I have no more than 3 days to pack everything and take it to storage.

But today, when I went to get my vaccines (yellow fever, tetanus booster), the nurse asked where I was going, and when I said Chad, her first question was "hmmm... sorry, but where is that?" And when I showed her on the world map conveniently posted behind her desk, she asked me what I was going to do there. And I realized that very soon, I will get to poke people with sharp objects again. I will be involved in patient care again. I will be seeing blood and guts and everything in-between. It's been 6 months since I saw my last surgery, and you know what? I MISS IT!

So all the packing and drudgery involved in getting me to the Surgical Center of Moundou, Chad? -- it's worth it!!

And that makes all the difference in the world... :)