Taking off…

I leave town for the next leg of the Great Adventure on Tuesday, a countable set of hours from now.  I am excited to be going, and very nervous.  I suppose I could look at these three classes as ‘workshops’ but they are really college courses that I will be attending with other students, many of whom will be a good deal younger than I.  I hope that I am not the eldest, but if I am I will try not to be the “weird old guy” and just be a student.

My backpack and camera bag are both packed.  Yesterday I took all the clothes out of the pack and re-evaluated my belongings.  I made a couple of changes and then threw everything in the wash.  Then I dried and folded it all again and re-packed.  All set.  The only thing I have left to do is go to the bank tomorrow and take out some traveling cash.  I’ll use my ATM card most of the time, but having some hard currency is always handy.

I went to the doctor on Friday and had a full physical.  I’m looking pretty good and I should have no problems while I am away.  My innards are working alright as is my noggin.  I will probably be eating more fish and veggies  and also hiking/walking a lot, so I’ll probably shed some weight–no great loss.  I could drop 7-8 pounds and not worry too much.

I am taking 5 rolls of Kodak 100ISO with me.  I can buy more there (probably Ilford), but I would like to have some with me when I arrive in Athens.  I’ll buy more the next day.  I have checked the situations with labor issues due to the economy and all seems to be working alright with few, if any, disruptions. What were reported here in the US last week as “massive strikes” were, according to all my friends in Athens little more than “worker’s holidays”, a common affair in places like Greece, Italy and the Balkans and nothing to worry about.

So now I just sit around and wait…

JDCM