Backing up for a moment

This past December I was, as Anne of Green Gables would say, in the very depths of despair. I was burned out on my program, trying to figure out what to do with my life, and completely deprived of Vitamin D. In order to distract myself from a serious case of self pity, I was sitting on the couch and staring at Nate, waiting for him to come up with something that would solve what was clearly shaping up to be an existential crisis. Nate was ignoring me and checking his email, when lo and behold, yet another email from MASA popped up. Usually these emails are ignored, but I was about to have that existential crisis and we needed to talk about moving to Israel. Clearly this was the most sensible and cautious way to proceed with life.

A conversation ensued about actually living up to our stated ideals of being more involved in the Jewish community and spending significant time in Israel. Approximately five minutes into this conversation, all school induced depression forgotten, we had decided that we were going to spend the next year in Israel. It was just a matter of figuring out the right program. MASA sponsors about 160 programs that range from living in a geodesic dome in the Negev to studying Talmud in Jerusalem. We wanted to understand that actual realities of Israel and we didn't feel like we would get that if we were isolated from minority communities or living in a swank set up in Tel Aviv, or focusing solely on language studies. Suddenly, we came upon Tikun Olam in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. We wanted Hebrew and Arabic study, a significant volunteer commitment, an urban location, religious diversity, and an opportunity to critically examine how we fit into the Jewish community at large.

In any case, we'll be figuring things out as we go along. It is already more than a little bittersweet to be thinking that we'll be leaving Chicago in two days, but the excitement is starting to kick in.

Packing and apartment detritus

With only one full day left in beautiful Cincinnati, Ohio, it's time to get this blog-thing started. Today's theme: getting rid of stuff.

There are those boxes of stuff that accumulate over two years. I've always been terrible about "editing" my life and am an admitted clutterbug, but ten months in Israel followed by two (or more?) months on the road requires condensing everything. From a two bedroom apartment to a bicycle that will carry everything is a bit of a leap. Thus far, I've donated 15 small bags of clothing, three large garbage bags of kitchen things and a big box of shoes. Books I cannot give up have gone into storage courtesy of good friends and family. Furniture has been sold, donated, and given away to aforementioned good friends and family. Nate is currently running around tying up loose ends, with the new camera in his pocket, so I can't share with you the chaos of the apartment. Gosh, what a disappointment. Because I love lists, I present for your reading pleasure my packing list. Aren't you excited?

The following items are packed and ready to go:

Clothing
5 shirts
1 long sleeve wool jersey
1 short sleeve wool jersey
2 pairs cycling shorts
5 skirts
2 dresses
5 pairs Swiftwick socks
4 underwear (discussion on Patagonia and Ex-Officio AWESOMENESS to follow)
1 raincoat/windbreaker
1 fleecy coat-thing
1 smushable hat
1 really big scarf that doubles as a blanket or skirt

Shoes
Born loafers
Teva flip flops
Keen commuter sandals

Camping/sleeping
1 thermarest camp pad
1 Mountain Hardware Raven tent
1 teeny tiny pillow
1 yurt sack sleeping bag

Bicycle stuff I'm responsible for
2 Ortlieb roller pack front panniers
2 Ortlieb roller pack front panniers
Marjorie Binghamton, The Bicycle (you can see pictures of her at the page of awesomeness)
1 Ortlieb backpack converter

Personal/don't smell like a teenage boy things
12 bars of Liggett's shampoo soap
10 Nature's Gate SPF 50 sunscreen
1 Dr. Bronners peppermint bar soap
1 toothbrush
2 toothpastes
4 flosses
1 deodorant
1 travel towel


Electronics and such
1 Dell Lattitude D630 on its last legs (come on baby, just another year!)
1 camera
Assorted chargers and adapters

Other
My passport

The personal care, clothing, and shoes all fit into one of the large panniers, which will be attached as a backpack for carry-on purposes. The camping gear all fits into one of the small panniers, which will be stashed in the bike box as checked luggage, along with the sunscreen and toothpaste. Hurray for the age of asinine luggage restrictions. Electronics and identification along with other assorted sundry items will go into the other small pannier as my personal item for carrying on. Nate's list includes the fun stuff, like a couple of card games and all of our bicycle repair things, so you'll have to wait for him to entertain you with another list.

Tomorrow we're off to the zoo to say goodbye to our favorite creatures and to take one last walk around one of the most beautiful botanic gardens in the country. Thursday we'll be in Chicago and Monday we'll leave O'Hare for a long, long, long flight that will eventually touch down in Tel Aviv. As of right now, we're 90 percent finished with cleaning out and packing the apartment, so there will be a little bit of that, too.