Attacking Packing

I will be the first to admit that packing to live for 27 months in a new country is no easy task, especially when the constraints include limiting your checked luggage to two bags under fifty pounds each. (I'm paying extra to take my guitar--I'd die without it for 2 DAYS, never mind 2-plus YEARS). I've also tried to cheat the system with a large carry-on. Oh, and note that 1 of the 2 bags can't be accessed for the first three months of service. So...yeah, there's that. Here's where I started (also note that this is the night beforehand--procrastinators unite!):

Stuff laid out and semi-organized

After several hours, here's where I was (somehow Theresa remained in good spirits despite our negligible progress):

(Spongebob's French narrator voice): four hours later...

But, with a little help from my "Li'l Ray of Sunshine"...

Theresa is the packing queen. Hands down.

...(OK, so A LOT of help), we managed to
condense 2 years worth of crap into the pinnacle of organization, which is included for your viewing pleasure below:

Now I just have to deal with the "You must be able to manage your own bags" clause, as well as tweak the duffle bag, which is a mere 54 pounds of horrid, horrid unmanageable weight. No worries. I'm not leaving for the airport for another...8 hours. Who needs sleep before a two-day barrage of non-stop activity while transitioning 7 hours into the future to live in the heart of a community with a new language and culture for 27 months? Not this guy. That's for sure.

This will probably be my last post for a while. I've heard that the first couple weeks of Peace Corps service are brutally busy, so I promise to check in when I'm free. If all goes well (inshallah in Arabic), I'll at least have some neat pictures (possibly a video) of the wonders of using a Turkish toilet! Wahoo!