My “pack-out” was yesterday. That means most of my family’s possessions were boxed up, and are now on their way to our new home. Our new home very, very far away.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan: Our new home is somewhere in this sea of lights and marble. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
For the past six months, I’ve known that my family would be moving on from our temporary residence in D.C. For six months, I have been preparing for this new “globe-trotting life”. And for six months, part of me believed it wouldn’t happen.
Me. Not believing that change is coming.
As I look around the now barren apartment, my new life becomes real. This is happening. Next month, my children will be attending school in a country that is half way around the world from here. We will be the minority. We will speak very little of the language. It is nerve racking.
It is also incredibly exciting! We are being welcomed into a country that few Americans ever see, or even know exists — I certainly had never heard of Turkmenistan before I was told we were being posted there. We will be able to learn two languages while we are there: Turkmen (the official language) and Russian (the “business” language)… At least I hope that we will pick them up! And we will experience many local holidays. My daughter is especially excited about Carpet Day and Melon Day!
Amy is excited about the excess of packing paper available to her!
It is real. After spending the next month or so stressing about living out of suit cases, getting paperwork in order, getting last minute health check-ups, and spending almost 20 hours straight in airplanes and airports, we will start over. We will finally embark on our adventure!
Hope the world is ready for the awesomeness that is my family! 😉
Photo courtesy of Olivia Fischer.
Where in the World is Danielle Valli 
The time for denial is over! 😉 I’m so excited for you! I can’t wait to hear what it is like.