Lightning Storm and the Adventure Begins

I have never seen a true electrical storm before. Lightning with tentacles across the sky is striking outside my window, probably one flash every 5 seconds. It's close, the kind you would expect to smell ozone from, but there is no thunder. That's the strangest part. No noise, no rain. Just flashes of light. My neighbors and I all hung out on the balcony for a good half hour, drinking beers and staring agape at the show in front of us. It made me realize how much I'm actually going to miss Austin, my little world I've carved out here in the past two years.

Mike and Dave, my deadhead older neighbors across the balcony, are moving out this month, too. We talked about having a porch party before we leave. Jen, my corner neighbor with the Tibetan Terrier, came out and we did some vague planning. Next weekend, or anytime this week actually. We're all basically finished with this chapter. More lightning.

This is the first time I've ever done a blog. I've kept a journal since I moved to Maringa (Brasil) when I was 15. Every day for the first few years, now only when I have something to say. Needless to say writing plays an exceptionally important role in my life at this point, nearly 8 years down the line. But I've never published my writings, and only shared my journals with a handful of people. And now I am writing with the hope that people I've never even met somehow stumble across this blog. Not to be grandiose, but I have a feeling that the experiences that are about to come my way will certainly be life-changing; I can't help but think that it will all make for good reading!

Countdown: 23 days to Rio, 49 days to Mozambique.

I just bought my ticket from Rio to Maputo (capital of Mozambique, but not where I'll be living) this morning. Reflected a bit on the relativity of airline prices when I jumped up and down because of the fantastic deal I got with South African Airways - US$ 1600 round trip, not including a domestic flight from Maputo to Chimoio, the city where I'll actually be living. I clicked the mouse to purchase the ticket from a South African site, priced in brasilian reais, bought with a US credit card from my laptop in Austin, and thought...this is it. Done deal. I'm going to move to Africa.

I guess today was a definitive day in terms of my upcoming adventures. Not only did I buy my ticket to Mozambique, I finally got my decision letter from Berkeley. I applied to get a Master's in Public Health, just another alternative for a very uncertain tangle of possibilites in front of me right now. I just knew the envelope was too thin. "Dear Ms. Burr, we regret but we cannot recommend you for admission at this time. Best of luck with your future endeavours." Strike one more vote up to the theory that the Graduate School at Berkeley doesen't really exist...

It finally started raining outside, big thumping drops on the banana plants in the yard. With a plane ticket, a letter, and a spring storm, my adventure begins...