"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

Words cannot describe how grateful I am for these past few weeks. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Your love and support mean everything. I have been completely humbled by this experience and I will take your prayers, kindness, and encouragement with me to Ecuador. 

I started the dreaded packing process this morning. Up until now, I have been "thinking about" packing and filling in where I need to, but I haven't physically tried to shove everything into a suitcase yet. With less than one week to go, I guess there's no time like the present! 

I keep having nightmares that I'll get to the airport and they'll tell me I have the wrong date, or I'll make my connecting flight but somehow end up in Tokyo, or I will forget something important like my visa and instantly be deported. However irrational they might be, these are my fears. 

On a more positive note, I have been able to connect with the other volunteers whom I'll be living/working with and they all seem like really cool people. What a relief :P Most of the volunteers are recent college grads so I'll be the old lady, but I promised them I'll stay up past 8:00 pm. On weekends. Maybe.   

As I begin saying my final farewells, I wanted to say one more time how grateful I am. If I missed giving you a hug - I will have two for you when I return! Thank you, thank you, thank you.