23 more days!

The day-count is running down very quickly! I got a good, sturdy internal-frame backpack a few days ago. This morning I woke up and noticed that my flashlight had fallen off my windowsill and landed behind the nightstand. It was only the position I was lying in that allowed me to see it at all. I didn't want to forget it in the inevitable last-minute rush, so I stuck it in one of the side pockets of my new backpack. Standing there, it suddenly occurred to me that forgetting my pocket knife would be inconvenient, so I went to get it, and stuck that in a pocket too. Just for good measure I tossed in my pocket first-aid book... and it didn't end. I packed my sleeping bag and liner, and started collecting a few articles of clothing before I stopped and shook myself: I still DO have another week and a half before I even set out.

Before flying out of the country, I've got a few stops to make. In a week and a half I'll bus it down to Chicago to visit my uncle and a few friends before hopping on the train to East Lansing. I have family and about a million friends in EL that I want to see before I go, so it will be a very busy week and a half. I will get to see my old a cappella group, Capital Green, host and subsequently dominate the annual ICCA competition. (That's the International Championship of Collegiate A cappella for those of you not cool enough to know that.) I can say farewell to MSU, the Peanut Barrel, Sindhu's Indian restaurant and the Lansing Refugee Development Center.

From East Lansing I will take the bus to Detroit to catch my flight on Feb. 8th. It is a very early flight, so I may actually have to take the bus there the night before and just spend the night in the terminal. (It's not as bad as it sounds, except for once in Santo Domingo when I had 2 Dominican guys trying very hard to get me to go party with them and their "sister". This supposedly gorgeous sister was not present, and I have a nagging suspicion that I would have ended up with a lump on my head and no luggage had I went to the "bar" with them.) From D-town I'll fly to Miami, arriving in the early afternoon. Since my staging event isn't until later in the evening, I think I may try to hit up South Beach for the afternoon. This will be the last beach I see for a while, so hopefully the weather will be nice enough for me to soak up some rays and splash around a bit before it's landlocking time. I'll pack my swim trunks near the top of my luggage. :)