Packing List

Hello Internet,

It is becoming closer and closer to September. This is really a scary thought but also very exciting. On Tuesday of this week we reserved a moving truck this was the first time that it really hit me hard that we were leaving the states. I had a strange reaction of nostalgia, greed or something else. I like the states most of the time. We have everything we need and want and for that we are blessed. The truth is I am going to miss Fort Wayne. I am ready for a change but to leave our first apartment and hometown it will be hard to leave. There are so many great people we will leave behind. We are also excited to make new ones too.

I have complied a list of just about everything we will be taking to Morocco. This list is only for me (Matt). We can bring up to 80 pounds because of airline restrictions. All of my stuff comes out to be about 60 pounds so I can bring a little more luxury items. That makes it nice :)
Matt


Matt’s Complete Packing List

Luggage
Backpacking Pack (Check)
Duffle bag (Carry on)
Backpack (Carry on)

Clothing
T-shirts (5x)
Polo (1x)
Dress Shirt (1x)
Dress Pants (1x)
Underwear (8x)
Socks (8x)
Dress Socks (1x)
Thick Socks (1x)
White T-shirts (4x)
Jeans (2x)
Shorts
Shoes (Chuck Taylors)
Sandals (Chaco’s)
Dress Shoes
Sweater
Long Sleeved Shirt (1x)
Zip Hoody (1x)
Hiking Pants (1x)
Swimsuit (1x)
Belts (2x)
Rain Jacket
Thermal Shirt
Under armor

Electronics
Laptop (Netbook)
Laptop Charger
Laptop Case
PSP System
PSP Charger
PSP Games
Portable Hard Drive (500 GB)
Hard Drive Case
IPod Classic (120 GB)
IPod Charger
USB Stick (8 GB)
Flip Camera (120 Mins)
Tripod
Digital Camera
Camera Case
Camera Memory Stick (512MB)
USB Cable
Battery Charger
Voltage Converter
Rechargeable Batteries
8x AA
4x AAA
Headphones (2x)
Power Adaptor Plugs (3x)
Headlamp
Maglite
Travel Speakers

Personal Care
Deodorant (3x)
Razors
Face Wash
Toothbrushes (3x)
Toothpaste
Floss (3x)
Camp Towels
Allergy Meds
Motion Sickness Meds (2x)
Glasses (2x)
Contacts (6 boxes)
Contact Solution
Contacts Case
Hair Stuff
Shampoo
Body Wash
Loofa
Razors Mach 3 (x3)
Electric Shaver

Utility
Gerber Multi-tool
Knife Sharpener
Duct Tape
Sunglasses
Headlamp
Box of Pens
Cards
Zip Lock Bags (Gallon)
Tupperware (2x)
Money Belt
Wallet
Sleeping Bag
Travel Pillow
Index Cards
Carabiners (2x)
Travel Locks (2x)
Wallet

Books
NIV Slimline Bible
Moleskin Notebook
Lonely Planet Morocco Guide
Photo Album
Pocket Dictionary
Pocket Thesaurus
Five Star 2 Subject Notebook
Small 2 Year Planner

Packing

Hey everyone! Now that we are down to two weeks left in our apartment we have been packing like crazy! We have boxes spread out all over the place and piles of stuff. It's nice to be getting rid of a lot of stuff that we don't really need. We like to simplify our lives. It's amazing how much junk we have accumulated in our 1.5 years of marriage. It looks like we will be able to sell Matt's car soon too so that is exciting! Check out our youtube account we put up a video about packing awhile ago. :-) Oh and I'm not sure if we mentioned it but Matt cut his hair off!

Learning the Language

Hey everyone!
Matt and I have begun to learn Moroccan Arabic from some language tools that the Peace Corps gave us. I made a little video that shows what I have learned so far.

Looking Forward

Hello people. It has been a while since either of us have updated. So we though we should bring you up to date!

As of late we have started to think about our last days here in the states. We have taken a few boxes down to my hometown. Mostly just books that we don't plan to read any time soon. We also plan to put my car up for sale really soon. We have also been selling random little things around the apartment that we probably wouldn't use in two years time. We also finished up all of the paperwork that came in our invitation packet. We finished it quite awhile ago actually. So we are excited about getting government passports and are now waiting for our staging materials to arrive in about one month. Tomorrow is exactly 2 months until our projected departure date!

We are very excited to be able to start our lives over again and sort of improve upon ourselves. I believe the Peace Corps will help us with understanding ourselves and also the continual process of changing. I know with the way I am that if you look at pictures it seems like I change the way I look about every 6 months or so. Well my looks will soon be changing again. I am going to cut my hair off. I corresponded with a peace corps official in Morocco and he informed me that my long hair would most likely cause a silently negative reaction, so off it goes. I want to live my life in a way that helps me to truly understand the world that we live in rather than living in the same place, doing the sames things for my whole life.

Matt

Peace Corps Duties

Come to find out that teaching basic English is a part of the youth development program but it is not everything that we do. I am not really sure with the in's and out's of it all but I know we will be working in youth centers. We work in organized activities likes sports, arts, gender development, cultural exchange, and camps etc. All that is really vague to say when we get there we will find out when we get there. They have to assess our progress of everything really see how we are catching on to the culture and language to see where we will finally end up in country. After we find out our location then we have to assess the community and see in what ways we can help. Some things, like teaching English, are set in stone already but the other projects we have to start and develop maybe from scratch.

We have no clue in country where we will be but it seems it will probably be is a large town like Casablanca or Rabat. But who knows we could end up with the Berber people who are the farmer, lower classed types in Morocco. Either way we do not really care. We are just looking for a great experience.

It has been like a breath of fresh air since we got our invitation. I have not even updated our blog since because I have just been tired and trying to figure out what we do now. We have so much stuff to do and still have work responsibilities here to worry about. We would really like to have a going away party sometime in August. So we can explain to people what we are doing. We will see though.

We are hoping to do a video blog of sorts. We are going to buy a small portable camera called a Flip. It is very small and you can use it for up to 2 hours of recording at a time. Then you can put it on our computer.

I will write more soon. I have a ton to catch up on.

Matt

We Got Our Invitation!!

SO we got our invitation in the mail today and we have also begun our video blogging for our Peace Corps service, since it's official now.

Waiting on the Invitation Packet

Hello World,

I just wanted to update you a little. Have not received our invitation packet yet. It has only been two days now but I was under the impression that they overnight it, I guess not. I suspect that we will get it within this week. FedEx is the company that they are shipping through. I have always had bad luck with them. The last thing I got online it took a couple of weeks to get. I hope it does not take that long.

Waiting, the story of my life. Will update my you guys as soon as I hear something.

Matt