Packing Mania.

I’m not sure how everyone does it–moving to another country–but we are very blessed to be able to move in stages. It goes like this…we get to ship a trunk to Uganda each time a short-term mission team goes over to South Sudan. Next week, a team leaves and so we get to ship our first two trunks of household goods. It’s exciting! We’re beginning the move!

That means we have spent the last four days shopping, gathering, and packing. It’s been quite a weekend! We’ve been to Nasir several times and we have some idea of what we’ll need; we’ve shopped in Kampala and we know a bit of what we can and cannot purchase there; and yet, it feels like we have absolutely no idea what we should take. We’ve prayed a lot for wisdom on which items are necessary, which items will provide some extra comfort, and which items would be excessive and therefore will not make the cut. Lots of wisdom.

And then there’s the issue of my Type A personality. I’ve made a Master List…color-coded and categorized. Then I made a shopping list (one for each store) and a gathering list (for items we already own). Then we went shopping. Then the packing nightmare began. How do you fit two years worth of household items into TWO TRUNKS?!?!?

Oh, right, this is just a start and we still have four more trunks when we move in September, as well as a couple more later. But still…it’s bizarre packing for TWO YEARS!!

Anyway, just a few minutes ago I taped the trunk inventory lists inside the trunk lids and shut them…they’re ready to go! Hopefully, the items inside are items we’ll be very thankful to have packed and taken. Hopefully we’ll get everything else into the next four trunks. Hopefully…

Here’s some of the packing mania that has been going on around here (don’t worry, this page is now FULL of color-coded lists)…

So, back in 1999 when most of the world was concerned about Y2K and power loss and economic collapse and all of that fun stuff, my mom was busy getting prepared. A woman of action, she is. Fast forward to 2013 and I mention to her that I need a washboard for Nasir. Doing laundry by hand is hard work, so an old-fashioned washboard would be perfect. She can do one better…a hand-crank WASHING MACHINE!!! Just to be safe, pre-Y2K my mom ordered this and then stored it away when there was no big collapse. So she shipped it down to us last week, and we’re shipping it to Nasir, South Sudan to use post-Y2K.

Then there was IKEA shopping for a LOT of the items we are taking to Nasir. It’s seriously the best place to find inexpensive, compact household goods. And shop we did!

So, my good friend Myraida is a pretty amazing cook…and the best part is that she cooks a lot of rice and beans. You know, our staple diet in Nasir. So, she’s my resource for all things spices, rice, and beans and she suggested two Hispanic spices to make arroz y frijoles taste good: adobo and sázon. I haven’t tried them yet (although I’ve had her cooking and it’s yummy), but she and I are going to do some cooking lessons before we leave and hopefully it will change the way I feel about frijoles.

It is a strange place to be in right now. We own flatware (and plates and glasses and cookware), but ours is not well-suited for Nasir…and we’re still using it. Instead of taking it or buying stuff in Kampala, we decided to stock up on some new stuff here. It feels a little like it did when we were first married and starting our new home. Only on the other side of the world. Eight years into our marriage. But still just as exciting!