2. Preparing to leave

Needless to say Ron and I are thrilled to be going to the Republic of Georgia. We leave October 3rd. We knew this was a strong possibility in August but didn’t get firm confirmation until we were in Washington DC August 24th. To make things a little dicey we are traveling a good bit between August 24th and when we leave: LA for four days in early Sept., Montreal for an ICMA conference Sept 12-16. And Ron goes to Paraguay Sept 19-26. Ron and I like life intense!

You can hardly imagine what it is like to move to a foreign land for two years. The most difficult part is the minutiae. Let me give you some examples. We need to notify the elections office so we can still vote. There’s an election coming up and I worry that our ballot will not arrive in time at our post for us to return it before the deadline is passed. Oh I see my driver’s license will expire while I am away so I go to the DMV and find out after waiting for twenty minutes there are specific procedures I have to follow in order to get an extension but I have to wait until I get a letter stating that my license is about to expire. Oh I see my ATM card and credit cards will expire while I am gone. They don’t send these things to me internationally so I will have to find another way. Thank goodness for Wayne and Dana who will handle our mail and this detail will be handled. I need to notify my bank and credit card companies that we will be living in Georgia and don’t cut me off thinking someone has stolen my card-it’s me making those withdrawals and charges. I better pick up a 2010 calendar because I can’t read the Georgian alphabet. I need to see all my doctors before leaving town. What do you mean she has no openings until AFTER I have moved? I probably can’t get my supplements, vitamins and prescriptions in Georgia so I had better get a good enough supply to last me until I get settled and can order them online. Well you get the picture.

On Friday the 11th of September the shipping company rep will be here to ‘survey’ what we are shipping. We need to have three piles: what is going by airfreight, consumables (deodorant, foodstuffs, Band-Aids, etc.) and household goods (stationary bike, weights, summer clothes, our kitchen, etc). Airfreight will arrive 3-4 weeks after we do and the other items 4 months or longer. This means we need to think through what the heck goes in what pile. We also need to do a practice ‘pack’ to see what will fit into our suitcases. We need to do that before next Friday in case everything we want to take won’t fit we will then put it in the air shipment pile. You won’t believe what it costs to take more than one suitcase with you internationally. If you exceed the size allowance by one inch it is an extra $175. More minutiae-measure that big suitcase.

I freaked out when I realized that we will be attending some Embassy functions. Remember me, Ms. NW America with a fabulous wardrobe of casual clothes. I’m the one who thinks dressing up is putting on my clean jeans! Oy! I need a couple of Embassy outfits. So I went shopping when we were in DC at a training with Treasury. I got discouraged at a department store but found a small shop that had a couple for ‘evening’ tops that will go with a pair of dress slacks and a beautiful silk coat I had made in Thailand. Whew! Saved. I was fretting about shoes for such an outfit but discovered a pair of fussy little heels in my closet. Saved again. Fancy parties aren’t exactly my thing.