Packing and other prep

ZOMG. Whodathunk it would be so stressful to pack for an international move? It shouldn´t be that difficult. Boy, is it. I started official packing procedures this weekend. It nearly drove me to drink (and by "nearly" I mean "twice"). I think I almost have everything under control, but there will be a lot more learning as I go.

Speaking of learning, that was a big theme of the weekend. I spent hours reading about culture shock, googling rando facts and stories of Chilean experiences, and youtubing educational videos about the city of Santiago. On top of this, I also practiced my Spanish by reading a portion of "Freakanomics" to myself aloud. The more information I took in, the more I realized I was lacking. I feel like my Spanish is horrible and I don´t know anything about how the people really operate. This should be the second stage of culture shock, not the pre-step. Oh dear. I´m already behind. Hopefully the brief vacay in Denver/Dallas will shake me out of it. I´ll work on taking in as much information as I can until that time and then just relax. Good plan? It probably is because I thought of it.

My living room right now

Ok, back to packing. I´m pretty sure I´ll end up down south with a lot of stuff I don´t need and will have neglected to consider some of the items that will be obviously needed at a later date. Am I the only one who has to choose between their unicycle and juggling clubs or a suit jacket and a couple pair of pants? That seems like a pretty difficult decision. I also regretted having to leave certain things behind like my wifi scale and backup protein shake blender. First world problems, I guess. That´s how it goes. I always envy those people who pack for a trip in 30 minutes with a bag that can easily be carried anywhere. They always seem to have the most appropriate items: nothing more and nothing less. Maybe I´ll learn that skill during this adventure. The Chilean people seem to be used to living a little learner. That´s a good thing.Here goes. Stay tuned.

Bonus - I  found out the significance of the fish on the cover of the book in the last. The image was chosen because one might feel like a fish out of water in a new culture. This came from the publisher.