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Ready, set...
Aug. 2nd, 2004 04:21 pmEverything is actually coming together -- and not a moment too soon, I might add!
We both (finally) have job offer letters and our Qatari work visas have come through. We have proof of our blood types and are certified free of HIV, Hepatitis B & C and TB. On previous international trips my mantra has been "passport, ticket, money" -- anything else I could forget and leave behind, but as long as I had those things I was safe. Now I have an e-ticket and ATM card, so maybe my new mantra should be "passport, work visa, letter of fitness."
The endless errands we've needed to run are almost done: the dogs are in California, all our data is transferred to the laptop, power of attorney paperwork is filed, library books returned. We have new luggage, new shoes, new clothes, new glasses, and an impressive arsenal of over-the-counter drugs. The house is clean and we've said our goodbyes to almost everyone. There are so many parts of this that I'd never even though about, like renewing our car registration early so it won't expire or replacing the thermostat battery so the water pipes don't freeze if the battery dies.
I'm starting to get terribly excited! I'm very curious about so many aspects of life in Qatar, and it's exciting to think that I'll be there so soon!
Packing has been a difficult process. There's an enormous temptation to take too much, feeling like we have to be prepared for every possible eventuality, as though we can stave off disaster by packing enough Mylanta or circumvent homesickness and culture shock by taking all our bricabrac. I was rereading an Orson Scott Card book recently and was struck by this passage: when she picks him up at the airport, Diko is amazed that Hunahpu has only a small shoulder bag with him, even though she knows he won't need more than that during his time in Africa. Card says, "Most people ... brought much more than this when they travelled. Perhaps because they were insecure, and needed to surround themselves with familiar things, or to feel that they had many choices to make each day when they dressed, so they didn't have to be so frightened or feel so powerless. ... How remarkable it would be, thought Diko, to feel at home in any place" (Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus, p. 153).
Walking to church on Sunday, I related this to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
foobart and said I feel like this is what I'm doing. Even though the sense of control is illusive, it still feels less frightening to move somewhere new if I have my "stuff" with me; it provides the illusion of self-containment and self-reliance. And, appropriately, this turned out to be the topic of the sermon. The lectionary readings this Sunday were Colossians 3:1-11 ("greed, which is idolatry") and Luke 12:13-21 (the farmer who thinks he can become self-sufficient by amassing enough stuff). The pastor talked about the temptation to hold onto our possessions because they give us the illusion that we can be independent and take care of ourselves, instead of relying on God and our community. He quoted Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1967 sermon on this passage: "This man talked like he could build the barns by himself, like he could till the soil by himself. He failed to realize that wealth is always a result of the commonwealth."
And, since our church service is always thematic, we ended up asking forgiveness for "cling[ing] to our abundance" during the prayer of confession, thanking God "not necessarily for the abundance of your good creation, but rather for the abundance of sharing that which is good" during the Great Thanksgiving, and then reminding ourselves that "where our hearts are, there shall our treasures be also" during the closing prayer!
It was a very helpful service to attend the day before packing for a year abroad. It reminded me that, when I moved to London for a semester, I took only one suitcase with me. I had about a week's worth of clothing, a Walkman and my three favorite tapes, pictures offoobart and my family, a Bible and one novel... and I can't think of anything else. (The novel was Sense and Sensibility that time around.) And I loved it! I loved that my third of the room was always tidy without my having to exert much effort, because I had so little to take care of. It was amazing how rarely I missed the knickknacks I left behind. So this whole experience has strengthened my resolve to pack light. I want to take enough clothes that I don't have to go clothes shopping my first week, and I have to take some extra things like tax returns. But really, in taking a laptop, I already have more than I had in London: more music, more pictures of family, more access to my loved ones at home. Most people in Qatar have a lot less.
Well, break's over. I'd better get back to packing! Although most of the work is behind us, there is still a LOT left to do.
Next time I post may be from Qatar!
We both (finally) have job offer letters and our Qatari work visas have come through. We have proof of our blood types and are certified free of HIV, Hepatitis B & C and TB. On previous international trips my mantra has been "passport, ticket, money" -- anything else I could forget and leave behind, but as long as I had those things I was safe. Now I have an e-ticket and ATM card, so maybe my new mantra should be "passport, work visa, letter of fitness."
The endless errands we've needed to run are almost done: the dogs are in California, all our data is transferred to the laptop, power of attorney paperwork is filed, library books returned. We have new luggage, new shoes, new clothes, new glasses, and an impressive arsenal of over-the-counter drugs. The house is clean and we've said our goodbyes to almost everyone. There are so many parts of this that I'd never even though about, like renewing our car registration early so it won't expire or replacing the thermostat battery so the water pipes don't freeze if the battery dies.
I'm starting to get terribly excited! I'm very curious about so many aspects of life in Qatar, and it's exciting to think that I'll be there so soon!
Packing has been a difficult process. There's an enormous temptation to take too much, feeling like we have to be prepared for every possible eventuality, as though we can stave off disaster by packing enough Mylanta or circumvent homesickness and culture shock by taking all our bricabrac. I was rereading an Orson Scott Card book recently and was struck by this passage: when she picks him up at the airport, Diko is amazed that Hunahpu has only a small shoulder bag with him, even though she knows he won't need more than that during his time in Africa. Card says, "Most people ... brought much more than this when they travelled. Perhaps because they were insecure, and needed to surround themselves with familiar things, or to feel that they had many choices to make each day when they dressed, so they didn't have to be so frightened or feel so powerless. ... How remarkable it would be, thought Diko, to feel at home in any place" (Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus, p. 153).
Walking to church on Sunday, I related this to
foobart and said I feel like this is what I'm doing. Even though the sense of control is illusive, it still feels less frightening to move somewhere new if I have my "stuff" with me; it provides the illusion of self-containment and self-reliance. And, appropriately, this turned out to be the topic of the sermon. The lectionary readings this Sunday were Colossians 3:1-11 ("greed, which is idolatry") and Luke 12:13-21 (the farmer who thinks he can become self-sufficient by amassing enough stuff). The pastor talked about the temptation to hold onto our possessions because they give us the illusion that we can be independent and take care of ourselves, instead of relying on God and our community. He quoted Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1967 sermon on this passage: "This man talked like he could build the barns by himself, like he could till the soil by himself. He failed to realize that wealth is always a result of the commonwealth."And, since our church service is always thematic, we ended up asking forgiveness for "cling[ing] to our abundance" during the prayer of confession, thanking God "not necessarily for the abundance of your good creation, but rather for the abundance of sharing that which is good" during the Great Thanksgiving, and then reminding ourselves that "where our hearts are, there shall our treasures be also" during the closing prayer!
It was a very helpful service to attend the day before packing for a year abroad. It reminded me that, when I moved to London for a semester, I took only one suitcase with me. I had about a week's worth of clothing, a Walkman and my three favorite tapes, pictures of
foobart and my family, a Bible and one novel... and I can't think of anything else. (The novel was Sense and Sensibility that time around.) And I loved it! I loved that my third of the room was always tidy without my having to exert much effort, because I had so little to take care of. It was amazing how rarely I missed the knickknacks I left behind. So this whole experience has strengthened my resolve to pack light. I want to take enough clothes that I don't have to go clothes shopping my first week, and I have to take some extra things like tax returns. But really, in taking a laptop, I already have more than I had in London: more music, more pictures of family, more access to my loved ones at home. Most people in Qatar have a lot less.Well, break's over. I'd better get back to packing! Although most of the work is behind us, there is still a LOT left to do.
Next time I post may be from Qatar!
