TWO WEEKS

Hi friends.
I am now approaching the end of my rope. Like literally, this rope is only 14 days long (approximately 17 feet and 5.4 inches* long according to super scientific calculations processed through NASA (*completely fabricated number by Laura Olson)) and from there I'm not really sure what I will be holding on to. And if you haven't seen me lately...I look a little like this:
TWO WEEKS?
Seriously though, this (TOTAL RECALL) is one of my favorite movies of all time (TOTAL RECALL). If anyone wants to demonstrate their true "friend"-liness to me, it will be by watching this movie with me before I leave and discuss with me how much the remake will suck. Am I right? Or...am I right??? Noboday likes Colin Farrell.
COME ON PEOPLE!!!
Moving on to more serious topics though...:
I am so very NOT prepared and walking around like a stupid squirrel not really sure which way to go when a car is charging right towards me. This is very VERY hard.
And just a couple days ago I got my super-fancy-high-tech-carry-on-bag from Eagle Creek. Now I can actually practice packing. And I'm not kidding when I say that. I really need to practice packing. My checked bag cannot weigh over 50lbs (but I could have two.) I hope to have only one carry-on and one checked bag and later regret not having enough stuff with me when I get to Cambodia. That's what I usually do when I travel anyway...it's cooooooo.

I finally finished a large portion of my PRE-DEPARTURE-TRAINING packet which was 300 pages long, by the ways. And I owe a lot of my thanks to my extremely helpful person-helper dog, Beau:

EXTREMELY HELPFUL PERSON-HELPER DOG


But really he didn't do anything but put his face all up in my grill when I was trying to type some shizzz about development and project design. Whatevs. The real credit goes out to my friend Geneva who has always given me good advice in hard times. On like, "how do you kiss boys?" and "what if they have gum in their mouths?" (disgusting. OBVIOUSLY, you never kiss them and you NEVER talk to them again because gum (and boys) is disgusting.

What? Where was I? Who am I? I don't know anymore.
All that I do know is that things are getting real, REAL soon and I'm still not getting hit by the "real-ness" wave. What?
TANGENT: Have you heard this song?
This song brings back good memories and is all in all a really lovely song by Grizzly Bear. I believe my next two weeks in Minneapolis will be a lot like this song.
It makes everyone, even babies, wanna dance. Or just bounce up and down.
Listen to that song. Be happy. I'm happy.
Peace out
&
LOVE,

your Peace Corps Volunteer.

Up-dizzle...

TWO MORE DAYS!

And by that I mean I have two more days EXTRA in Minneapolis before I leave FOREVER (not.)

We (the Peace Corps K6 crew) finally got word from the Peace Corps, at 4PM (Central Time) on Friday June 15th, as to when we'd officially be gathering for staging in DC. Unfortunately for some, the e-mail was too late for them to book on Friday so they had to wait until today (Monday June 18th, yo.) 

I leave Minneapolis on July 12th in the AM and fly to DC via Delta Airlines (Flight 5708 if you feel like tracking it??Like Rain Man. False, he memorized all airplane crashes in history. Sorry.) 

I arrive in DC around 11:38AM and zoom over to check into the Holiday Inn Georgetown. From there I will endure a series of tests in which I will be poked and prodded my men in white space suits i.e. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Or maybe it will be more like the welcome tour at Jurassic Park. We'll be locked into a rotating movie-theatre in which we'll watch a documentary of the history of PC, and then meet the dinosaurs that will eat us at the end of the movie. I HOPE SO!!!!

My next tattoo. 

Anyway, after the brainwash-sesh, I get to sleep in a comfy hotel bed until I wake up to the bullhorn and we're all lead out of the building like cattle on our way to the slaughterhouse at 7:30AM. Our flight doesn't technically leave until 1PM. Why so early to the airport? I don't know. But I really like airports so whatevs. 

Then I'll be on a flight to Bangkok for the next 23 hours.......................................................................

Then we spend One Night In Bangkok. 

We leave Bangkok on Sunday, July 15th and arrive in Phnom Penh around 7:25PM (their time?)

My mom asked me if it felt real now that I have my official staging dates, flights booked, etc. And no. It still feels pretty not real. Also, I've been keeping tabs on the weather in Cambodia and it appears to be about 80ish degrees at night time. For the whole night...and top that off with at least 75% humidity. And this is monsoon season we're talkin'!! I'm sure no one will want to ever touch me once I'm there as I will be sweating nonstop. I will be sweating while I'm sitting. Sweating while I'm thinking. Sweating while I'm taking a cold shower. 


For all you Minnesotans out there I will do a weather comparison for you:


Today in Minneapolis it is humid as hell. Standing in one place for too long with the sunlight anywhere near you will create droplets of sweat in your elbow-pits and on your brow. According to weather.com our current humidity is only 43% and it is decreasing as the day moves along. 


Now, travel by teleportation or jet ski to Phnom Penh where there is a 12 hour difference. It is 84 degrees. It is nighttime. It is 70% HUMIDITY. 


Just saying. I hope I can adapt to this weather. But by the power of Grayskull, I will overcome! By golly, one of my 5 strengths according to the Strengths Finder 2.0 is adaptability! Come hell or high-water, I will adapt! 


And now I am done. 


Love,


Laurax  

Look Who's Blogging...

Oh Gee Golly Bobby, here we go. 

I'm rockin' this blog thing to keep ya'll informed on my whereabouts (that's one word?) Maybe some of you people don't know and if you don't know, I'M GOING TO CAMBODIA. And it's a pretty big deal. I mean "Peace Corps" big deal, yo. And so much of a big deal that I'm going to blog about it AND I still don't even know 100% when I'm actually leaving....

WHAT?! 

You say "What? How can you not know 100% when you're going, Laura?" 

Well, let me tell you.  A handful (or more like 8 hands full...) of awesome individuals, including myself, are currently waiting for the Peace Corps and their travel agency to contact us. 

We were told we'd be leaving for staging on July 9th and that we were to hear from the travel agency, SATO, a month in advance. It is now July 15th, 2012. Let me count the days that I have left real quick...1...2...3...25!!! I have 25 more days until I get into an aeroplane, fly to Washington, DC, and meet my new friends for the next two years of my life. YIKES! 

I'm in a surreal state of mind lately. I spend most of my daytime staring at a computer screen, forgetting the original reason for being on the internets, and quickly turning to Facebook in order to fill the void. ARGH FACEBOOK!!! You make it so difficult to get anything done!!!! And I seriously do have A LOT to do. 


How would you prepare yourself for a two month "vacation"? I am one of the most productive people I know, so I have no trouble with my preparation. Like today, I toured the Summit Brewery in St Paul and drank some free beer. If that's not a perfect example of preparation, then I don't know what is. I also take my dog for long walks which allows me to think about all the things I have to do. Did I mention my dog yet? His name is Beau and he is a good dog. He is also sooooooooo happy I'm home all day wasting my time like it's going out of style (because it really is!!!) 

This is my dog, BTDouble-U's:

There's also a rat on my shoulder. FLIP YOUR DOGS EAR!!!


Other than being a professional time-waster, I've also had the chance to meet up with old friends, family, and (ex-ish) co-workers. It's like all of a sudden I'm a HOT COMMODITY! Who wants some Laura time?! Please grab a number and wait for it to be called...
Just kidding, sorta. I'm not actually that popular. But I am that popular with my dog. He won't leave me alone!!!


Enough about my dog. 


To close this off, I'd like to thank an awesome and talented friend of mine, Alison Deuhs Allen. She is an internet-blog-computer Master and I am yet a wee little interwebs-grasshopper. She basically did everything to make this bloggy thing look the way it looks.  I'm extremely happy with how it looks already and there is the possibility of making it look even more purty and unique. 


Check out Alison's blog: Deuce Cities Henhouse 

And now I'm going to go to bed. (probably not.)