Almost there

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I have a few things to finish up with before I leave and I’ve been consistently anxious about this whole thing. A while ago I was nervous that I wouldn’t get to go at all, but facing the reality of it has become another thing to fret over. It’s not the actual trip I’m worried about at this point; it’s the looming hassle of straggling bits of paperwork and formalities I dread for the next ten days.
I’ve got this hesitancy to leave and I’m anxious to go at the same time. I’ve been assured of the near universal kindness of strangers— especially in Ghana. I keep telling myself that I’ve got friends there waiting for me; we just don’t know each other yet. The director of their international program is an English professor and a poet, there’s a seamstress within walking distance of where I’ll be staying, and they eat a lot of rice. I can handle this.

(by the way, the cat in my profile photo isn't mine. I was cat-sitting him over Christmas. Doesn't he look thrilled!)

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