And, we're off...

Today is Thursday, today is Thursday,

Thursday ROAST BEEF,

Wednesday so-oup,

Tuesday spaghetti,

Monday string beans,

all my fellow campers, we wish the same to you.

I’m at the point of no return now. I’ve left the cozy confines of my Buffalo home with just what I could carry on my back. And in my carry-on. And in two kinda-substantial suitcases.

I’m in Atlanta for now. Usually on Carter Work Projects, I’ve gone to the country of the build and spent a while looking around (acclimating to heat and time zone as well) before meeting up with my fellow campers at registration on Sunday of the build week. I even did that when the CWP was in LA.

Security concerns about and conditions in Haiti have made everything about this CWP different. Atlanta is the weigh station. We will register and have opening ceremonies in Atlanta on Saturday, for on Sunday we wing to Haiti on two charter flights. We are not allowed to find our own way to Haiti. We are not allowed to leave campus once we arrive, except to be bused a short distance away to the build site (no, Tammy, you wouldn’t be allowed to walk there). And, of course, there are the platform tents that we’re sleeping in. With the mosquitos. And the spiders.

Part of my prep work included spraying down what clothes I knew I’d be taking to Haiti with Permethrin, an insect repellant. For the first time, the Volunteer Manual warned us to insect-proof our clothes because the mosquitos are so bad. Mosquito nets for everyone at night. I think that the clip light I used for getting safely to and from the bathroom on the Canal Tour this summer might not get that particular use here – once I’m in the mosquito net, I’m sure I’m not going to want to leave it. Apparently the plethora of spiders still isn’t enough to control the mosquito population adequately, so I lined up all of my clothes and sprayed chemicals on them, “paying extra attention to waistbands, cuffs and socks,” in what turned out to be not-as-well-ventilated an area as I had hoped. My master bathroom will not be having a mosquito problem any time soon. Nor my lungs.

I spent the last few days in Buffalo saying goodbye (despite my attempts to get past flying/travel anxiety, I still firmly believe that I am doomed on every trip). I also spent it copying my photo ID (for when my passport gets stolen) and photographing my luggage (for when it gets lost, so I don’t have to try to explain what a Hockey Night in Canada hockey bag looks like, old logo, to someone in Georgia). I also had to head back to Valu Home Center – I had purchased the usual tools that we bring on these things, only to get an e-mail suggesting a different set of tools. We’ll be using screwdrivers? Really? I can actually DO that…

Come time to check in, a lesson learned in Germany paid off: just pay online for the second suitcase, already, because you know you’re going to need it, and it’s too much of a hassle to change at the airport. And I did, which is good, because I did. Pay for it, and need it. I could have kept everything underweight in one suitcase, if I wasn’t bringing extra tools and workboots to leave with Habitat, plus Carter campaign buttons and Sharpies and extra-wide masking tape (which I’ll explain later), and a sleeping bag and pillows (yes, plural, or I’ll snore), and if we could do laundry at the build and I only had to bring two sets of work clothes instead of six. And an extra (and kinda heavy) bottle of Permethrin, because at registration Habitat is giving us three T-shirts to wear for the build, so we’ll have to treat those Saturday night at the well-ventilated hotel before we go.

So, I’ve come early to Atlanta, perhaps moreso that I could finally STOP packing than for any other reason. I’ve offered my time to volunteer for Habitat in organising registration, but with only a fraction of the usual number of volunteers able to go, I take it their lack of response means they have it under control. So I’ll do what I usually do in Atlanta – quality time at the Hrib Crib, visit the Carter Center, probably the World of Coke, maybe I’ll actually make it to the aquarium.  It’s not quite the discovery of a new country that usually precedes a build, but it does involve all the Coke Zero I can consume on the premises.

Home of Crack Bacon

Where I'm Going, and Where I've Been

Crack bacon keeping me busy!

The repacking begins...