Mongolia on Monday.

I'm leaving the country tomorrow morning.

I was hired two weeks ago and received my flight confirmation three days ago.

I still subbed and scanned charts at the office up until Friday, and at home we were having our carpets redone this week--so I couldn't start packing until yesterday.

I don't know why I'm not losing my mind right now.

I'm not entirely sure what's in my suitcase, but I know there are a lot of "warm" things in there. 

Their true warmth is about to be tested by temperatures I've never dreamed of experiencing.

I should be more freaked out right now. 

When I went to Uganda in 2010, I spent three months doing training and hyping up the fact that I was going out of the country for a whole ten weeks. I'd got to do some practice teaching and travel with other people from my college.

It was a big deal.

When I went to China in 2012, for a whole year, I faced a sequence of panic attacks for several weeks before I left. Once again, I did a lot of training and research and communicated with teammates beforehand.

It was a really big deal.

Now I'm going to Mongolia for two and a half months with less than a month's worth of notice. I'll be traveling alone and have very little idea what's going to happen.

And...it doesn't feel like a big deal.

I'm excited. I'm nervous about the unknown. The micromanager in my head is constantly buzzing about things I'm forgetting. But, overall, I feel like everything is going to be alright.

I can't lie, though. I have been a little anxious.

Over the last week a lot of details were up in the air and my flexibility and grace were stretched like a rubber band.

Here's how the week went.

Monday: The powers that be said I had a teammate. We would probably leave on Sunday (TODAY), but they weren't sure yet.

Tuesday: Still no flight information.

Wednesday: I didn't have a teammate anymore and my flight was scheduled for Monday (TOMORROW).

Thursday: I probably wasn't flying on Monday anymore because my teaching start date had been pushed back, but they didn't know when I would leave. 

Thursday night: JUST KIDDING I was flying on Monday again.

Friday-now: I've been moving my stuff back into my room (yay new carpets!), making calls, packing, and taking care of details.

To everyone who I haven't called or spent time with or said bye to...

I love you all, but I wanted to keep my mind intact.

I've hardly had any time to prepare.

And I'll be back in May. 

So it's no big deal, right?

RIGHT.

Tomorrow morning I'll fly out of Knoxville at 8:15, hit Chicago and Beijing, and land in Ulaanbaatar, Mogolia at 11-something on Tuesday night. 

Let's hope I make some good friends on the way over and that Frozen is a featured movie on the plane.