Two Weeks

Two weeks till we report to staging in Washington, DC. 14 days is not a very long time. At all.
I'm glad I've gotten to go see family and friends in Raleigh and Memphis these past two weeks. Raleigh was great fun. Memphis was a bit more difficult, saying goodbye to grandparents and such. This weekend I'll go to Ashland, Wisconsin to see my sister for a couple of days then fly to Chicago to see my friend Dylan until Tuesday next week. And that'll be the last stop. When I get back from this trip, I'll have about 5 days to finalize all preparations before going to DC on the morning of the 27th. So I'm putting a lot of effort in this week to get most everything done that needs to be done so that next week isn't absolutely insane.
I bought a Malagasy-English dictionary a couple of weeks ago. It's been real helpful with starting to get the language under my fingers but it's also a bit daunting knowing that I'm starting from zero with this language. French was difficult to learn but at least French and English have some common ground. Spanish came easy due to the French. But Malagasy? There is NO common ground there, save for a few words borrowed/corrupted from French.
And here's a shout-out to all you current volunteers in Madagascar who have posted/commented in the February stage's Facebook group. Your input has been invaluable to all of the preparing (packing and mentally) we've been doing to come be a part of the work in Madagascar. Thank you! And stay safe with Giovanna!

Stay tuned folks. This is gonna be a fun ride!

James