Dawn in the Tucson Airport

I’m sitting in the A terminal of Tucson International airport at 6:15 and the sky is just beginning to lighten. Because cheap flights from Tucson always have at least one connection, dawn at the Tucson airport has been a staple of my life for the past 4 years while shuttling  back and forth from Washington, DC. This is my last dawn at the Tucson airport for a long, long time.

It was really hard to say goodbye to my parents. I’m starting to realize already how much I’m going to miss them. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of my family and friends who have been so supportive through the Peace Corps process, through my college years, through everything, especially my Mom, Dad, my sister Kaitlin, Grammie, and Grandpa Ade. I couldn’t have made it where I am today without you guys. I love you all, and I will miss you so much.

Today I’m flying to Philadelphia for my pre-departure orientation by way of Chicago. The whole trip will take somewhere around 9 hours, including my layover in Chi-town. Somehow, I managed to under pack, even for this trip. The scale at home must be wrong, because the big duffel I thought was stuffed at 50 lbs turned out to only be 43 pounds here at the airport. Other than that, all I have is one medium-sized duffel and a daypack. From what I hear “Africa eats things,” so it’s just less stuff for me to worry about losing or breaking.

Feeling a weird mix of emotions right now. I’m sad to be leaving, but excited to meet my new training class in Philly tonight, and to be on my way to Africa on Wednesday.