So we got the BIG decisions out of the way - we are leaving Botswana, going on a big road trip, and then moving to Kuwait. But in the past week, I cannot remember a time when we have had to figure so many things out.
First, the car needed a new steering rack as it had been leaking power steering fluid. Not a cheap or easy job but when you are about to go on a road trip, what else are you going to do? We bit the USD 500 bullet. Check.
Our shipping arrived last month, and the original plan was to just ship half of it back to the US. So, I have been sorting things out and got it down to less than half of the fourteen boxes than arrived just four weeks ago. We talked to Fred and Liz earlier in the week, and Liz asked the question - "isn't it difficult to sort out everything that you wanted to bring to Africa"? I felt quite confident in my organizing and replied with some bravado that we were simplifying our lives and that this was some sort of a cleansing catharsis we were working through.
Which of course is B.S. We found out on Monday that to send half of our belongings back would cost twice as much as it did in October. This would seriously hamper our travel plans, and so we stayed up much of that night trying to figure out what were our options. In the meantime, we had moved out of our flat and into Rafa and Rosemary's, since they are still away on holiday. The head of school stopped by the next day to insist that we could and should stay in our own flat until we leave next week, and so everything went back yesterday but we still have stuff in two places.
The only word that comes to mind in describing this scene is an Afrikaans one that does not have a sufficient English translation: deurmekaar which kind of means upside down and chaotic.
We've decided to leave everything here - the house furnishings, the camping equipment, Russ' mountain bike, books, and virtually all the winter and summer clothes we own. Russ said he wanted to get all new clothes when we got back anyway and I will probably do the same. But what has been difficult is that there are some items that we cannot leave behind, and I am still in the middle of figuring out what can definitely stay and what cannot.
Lest this all sounds too extreme, we will pay for excess shipping on our flight home, which entitles us each to one more fifty pound bag. So we will not be arriving on American soil completely empty handed.
It is a little stressful. But we laugh, talk, rub each other's backs, and go for ice cream every day, and it goes a little easier. The little tag sale that was planned has mushroomed into a huge event. Yesterday we sold $100 worth of clothes at $1 a piece. For those of you who think that 100 pieces of clothes is a lot, there is much more to go. I am a clothes and shoes hound, I admit, albeit gained through second-hand stores (does that somehow justify my closet?)
The positive mantra we keep spinning is "what is most important is the two of us, the rest is just stuff". We are indeed simplifying, more so than I ever have in my life. Between everything that we sold in Dalton in August and now, we have pared down our earthly belongings significantly. Once we get through this (hopefully today), I know it will be a huge relief.
We are also deciding our flight back because the prices are so reasonable at the moment. It basically just came down to picking a random date in the second week of May. Thankfully, we found a travel agent who could navigate some of the excess baggage language.
In any case, we are eating well this week with friends as we start to say goodbye. We have been twice out to our favorite place in Gabane - a great bar that also allows you to braai marinated meat that you buy, along with the requisite pap, all of which you eat with your hands. We found an Indian restaurant that we had never been to, and tonight we are going over to some friends' home for an Iraqi feast.
We are looking forward to being on the road next week. The decision to start our journey in Bloemfontein, South Africa has been made!
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