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> April 26 - Temporary Exile, Only 1 week left
Samantha_Dassler_Barlow
post May 6 2006, 09:35 PM
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April 26, 2006

Hey Everybody,
I am sitting in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport looking at the weary travelers all around me. Some are eating, some are sleeping, and some are staring at my rather large iBook screen. There is a baby taking her grandfather for a walk, making adorable baby sounds, but I can't seem to bring myself to smile at any of this. I am on my way home to see my husband, family, students, friends, and home one last time before I head out for the Healy on May 3, 2006.

I just finished my training in Fairbanks, AK, which is in the interior of the state. At the ARCUS office, we learned field survival skills and received training on how to post pictures and journals to our website. We also played around with editing audio files for pod casts.

I have been waiting to come to the training for 2 months now and I feel like it snuck up on me. Now, training is over and I have exactly 1 week from today before I leave for my actual expedition.

There is still so much to do! I have to finish gathering sub plans since I will be gone for a whole month of school. I have a few more items to buy - a new toothbrush, and other sundries. I have to finish writing my exams reviews and final exams. There are also the day-to-dayactivities that still need my attention. This makes me feel like I am not ready. I am going to have to work like mad to get everything done in preparation for my departure. What makes it even harder is that my head is already on the Healy and my body is in this temporary exile. That makes me feel like I am definitely not ready to go even though my head is already there. How am I going to muster up the energy and focus to get everything done and still do my best in the classroom?

Until this training session, my expedition has seemed so distant and there were a lot of things that I did not think about. There were a lot of unknowns about our travel plans. Now, I have my flight and hotel confirmation numbers, my computer equipment, camera, and cold weather gear. I also know how to work the Virtual Base Camp and reduce the size of my pictures to that I can post them. Thee are the things I have been waiting for to make this trip seem real for the last 2 months and now I have them. Does that mean that I am supposed to feel ready now?

Sigh,
Sam/Mrs. Barlow
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