And I'm off!

Whew! I made it! I've moved out of my apartment in Toronto, said fairwell to friends (including a fabulous Bollywood party), and got organized and packed for Nepal. On Dec. 6th a van load of friends saw me off at the airport as I flew to England. My 'entourage' was much appreciated in making leaving more fun, but the reality of having left Canada for a year has not fully sunk in yet!

Sara, Bethany, Carol at Bollywood party

Now I get to enjoy a bit of a holiday. I'm writing from my sister's place in Cambridge, England. By now, 3 days in, I am starting to get over jet lag, and catching up on sleep after the craziness of leaving. I thought I'd let you know a bit about my plans for this month, before I head to Nepal.

I will be spending Christmas in Cambridge, with my family, at Sharon and Jerome's. We're meeting here, as they will make me an aunt sometime very soon. It's so exciting to see Sharon so pregnant, to feel the baby moving, and to go shopping for things for 'Thumpa' with them.

However, I'm leaving Cambridge again tomorrow to go visit my other sister in Lisbon, Portugal. Donna and her husband Lauren have been there for the past 2.5 months, studying Portuguese. Why Portuguese? Well, this going to work abroad thing runs in the family, and in the new year they will be going to Angola (one of the Portuguese speaking countries in Africa) to work at a hospital there. I will join my parents for D+L's final week in Portugal, and do some sight seeing, and enjoy the warmer weather (especially nice after the cold and snow of Toronto last week).

Now that I've got through the busyness of moving, I hope to post here a bit more regularly, with pictures of Portugal, Christmas, and hopefully my new niece or nephew. And then on January 4th, I'm off to Nepal, and I'm sure there'll be lots of new impressions to post.

My parents created a schedule of the family travels over Christmas - it amused me, so I'm posting it here. It'll also let you know where I am when.

Dec. 3 - Mom and Dad fly from Toronto to London
Dec. 4 - Mom and Dad arrive in London, go to Sharon & Jerome's in Cambridge
Dec. 6 - Mom and Dad fly from London to Lisbon to Donna & Lauren's.
Dec. 6 - Carol flies from Toronto to London
Dec. 7 - Carol arrives in London, goes to S&J's
Dec. 10 - Carol flies from London to Lisbon, goes to D&L's.
Dec. 17 - Carol, Mom and Dad fly from Lisbon back to London and go to S&J's

Dec. 18 - Donna & Lauren leave Lisbon for London

Dec. 27 - Baby due

Jan. 1 - Donna & Lauren fly from London to Johannesburg
Jan. 2 - D&L fly from Johannesburg to Windhoek, Namibia
Jan. 3 - D&L fly from Windhoek to Lubango, Angola
Jan. 4 - Carol flies from London to Delhi, India
Jan. 5 - Carol arrives in Delhi and flies to Kathmandu, Nepal
Jan. 15 - Sharon & Jerome move to their new place just down the street.
Jan. 18 - Mom and Dad fly back from England to Toronto