It’s down to the wire as I make my final preparations for my trip.

It is so much easier this time because I know better what to expect and therefore what to pack. I made a list last year in my journal: Things to Remember for Next Time. That list included:

·         a bathing suit (There awesome beaches that I’m not supposed to talk about, lest you think we’re just on a really exotic holiday masquerading as a mission trip.)

·         a refillable water bottle (We send ahead cases of bottled water, but we have really great water filters so we can drink the local water. If I bring my own water bottle I’ll always know which one is mine, as well as reduce waste. Trash is an issue.)

·         my device chargers (I didn’t think I needed to bother before since there is no electricity widely available, but it turns out we get a few hours of current a day via generators and there are often compatible outlets available – although there isn’t any standard electrical code.)

·         more skirts ( I went with I thought were more utilitarian wardrobe choices that turned out to be less than ideal. Skirts are breezy and cool in a tropical climate, but the unreliability of finding a toilet when you need one – especially as we travel dirt roads through the interior - means finding relief in a bush is quite likely. I feel much more comfortable discretely hiking my skirts than I do dropping trou before God and Africa.)

·         my own small pillow (I don’t know what they stuff their pillows with – maybe some feathers, but they felt like there were probably bones and other body parts of the chicken as well.)

I pride myself on being a very light and efficient packer. I don’t want to carry around any more than I need to, but I felt like I was a little too spartan last time. I’ll bring a little more of myself this time – like cute shoes.

What I won’t bring this year are books – I have my Kindle, praise the lord! That means more room and less weight. Win-win. Nor will I bring food. Last time I packed a bunch of protein bars and granola bars for fear that as soon as I set foot on the dark continent, I too would risk starving to death. Not so. In fact, my fantasies of losing 30 lbs while doing God’s work was completely squashed. I may have even gained a pound or two while I was there. 

Today’s task is to take care of the money. I have scheduled payments for all my bills for the rest of the month. (Thank goodness for online bill pay and direct deposit!) The Liberian currency is wildly deflated Liberian dollars. A 20 dollar bill is worth about 67 cents in US dollars. Fortunately, US dollars are accepted pretty much everywhere, so no worries about converting money. The only thing is you can’t use a bill larger than a $20, and you can oly use the newer $20s with the “big heads”. So I’m taking a couple hundred dollars in tens, fives, and ones. My children graciously gave me money they had been saving in change jars, so we spent Saturday morning rolling change which I have to go cash in at the bank today. I was so moved and proud that the money that they save every year, throughout the year for spring break, they wanted to send to Africa with me.