Excitement and procrastination...

I don't really understand why excitement and procrastination seem to go hand in hand with me.  October came and went without my being able to return to Malawi and finally this evening I depart for the inaugural medical clinic in Kasese, AND  I still haven't packed.  I've thought about it. A lot.  I've purchased gifts and toiletries, etc. but it's still scattered all over the house.  Hell, I still need to go buy a duffle bag or a trunk.  Poor Jimmy Verner (my husband) gets roped into doing the scutwork of updating my status with the state department, teaching me last minute computer stuff and running the last minute errands I come up with.

Although my plans to return before now didn't work out, it has been several months since Orant Charities has been able to send a team.  The clinic compound where we will now be based sustained substantial wind and rain damage early this year and was not fit to be occupied.  But, they're ready for us now.

This will be a small group.  Just me, Dr. Grace Stewart, and soon to be doctor, Casey Carney.  Grace and I went to medical school together in the days when women were just making a dent in the medical profession.  She is a family medicine specialist and a mission veteran as well.  I thank her for the slap in the head three years ago that sent me on my first adventure in giving.   I will lean on her clinical expertise heavily.  Casey is one of Grace's medical students and I am very much looking forward to getting to know her.  I also look forward to seeing my friends Ray and Luke who are in country, and meeting Luke's wife, Araceli, who moved to Malawi from Lubbock!!!!

This is my fourth trip to Malawi.  My path as a "mzungu" (word for white folks which means journeyer or traveler) has taken me far in my life even though I have spent relatively little time there.  I have grown up so much in the last four years.  Don't get me wrong.  Years of therapy prior to this probably had a lot to do with it.  It's just that I feel a maturity and peace now.  It is so good for one to just step outside the comfort zone, experience what is really out there in the world, touch God's children.

I hope I am not too tired and have internet access so I can update this blog regularly. (I still don't know where in the world the word "blog" came from.)  I know a couple of people who actually read it.  It helps me reflect on my experience as I write, and I enjoy having my memory jarred by reading it myself later.

Later…gotta pack.