Africa.

Ethiopia in September.

I have a lot to learn.

I applied for a new passport today. I tried about a week ago and found out the Midtown service center no longer issues passports. Now I remember reading about that but I forgot all about it.

I went to another center this morning. I thought I had everything I needed, but I left my birth certificate at home. When I got home and looked at it I was remined of my last trip, September of 2000, a lifetime ago. I had to have certified copies of my birth certificate for a work trip to Cuernavaca. The birth certificate copies have to be certified, they have to be stamped with the state seal. I was supposed to go on that trip with a group and ended up going alone when the other teachers resigned and the group leader was not allowed to board the plane because he had a photocopy and not a certified copy.

I'm very glad I ordered extra copies of the birth certificate for the Mexico trip so that I could attach one to my application today. I had a few moments of true frustration today. Drive home to get the missing paper, take and retake the passport photo, write 2 checks, correct a few things on the application, remind myself this is all part of the process.

Now wait 4 to 6 weeks, and hope it does not take that long.

I've been reading articles online about Ethiopia and the need for clean water and sanitation. I have a few new things to worry about and more things to do ~ make travel medicine appointments, get my swollen knee checked out, make sure we have all our meds refilled. I know we will not sleep in tents, we will have a couple of long plane flights and will need medicine to prevent malaria. Madeline was happy to find out that one of her acne meds is also an anti-malaria medication so she's all set.

We went to Lucy's Ethiopian Restaurant for lunch. There are a few Ethiopian restaurants close by and at least 2 Ethiopian grocery stores.

I remembered reading about teff, a gluten free grain used to make injera. The injera at the restaurant is not gluten free, but our server said that in Ethiopia, the injera bread is made with only teff and no wheat. Maybe I'll have a chance to try it somewhere else here before the trip.

The lamb dish I had was pretty good, a little spicy. My daughter liked her food, it was very similar to a middle eastern dish she likes.

I'm aware of my spending, my debt. I don't feel prepared for this. We were at Target and saw some luggage for sale pretty reasonably priced. I don't want to buy a lot of stuff for the trip, but I'm going to have to get at least a few things. It was suggested that we could each get a couple of sets of fishing wear at a place like Cabela's, light weight pants and tops we can wash in the sink overnight. Wear one, wash one.

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

We are getting excited. The issues we had today with the passport remind us that there will be more unexpected things along the way. Time to be open to learning a lot of new things, be flexible and adaptable to whatever happens and to let go of the idea that we have any control over this. I want to appreciate the time I have with my daughter and not get upset about little things.

Gratitude.

I'm grateful we are going later rather than sooner, that my passport application is in the works, that we got the call and we have a pretty definite plan for where we are going and when.

Amazing.

I hesitate to say what will happen next, I really want to experience all of it and not spend time thinking a lot about yesterday or tomorrow. I will be a traveler, not a tourist. I will allow myself to feel all the feelings along the way and know that we will be taken care of as we do this. Yes. We said yes. My daughter asked me today if I was glad I said yes. There is fear, there is worry, there is all the unknown, and still yes. I am glad we said yes.