What would you do with...

What would you do with 125 Gillette Sensor razor blades? We put them away to use for 2 years in Africa! Mike just called me from Costco to find out how many blades I use per week. Crickets... I don't know, less than one. Crickets... I'm thinking, I'm thinking... One every other week? I really have no idea and I wasn't prepared to answer that question. When I asked him to buy razors in bulk because he was at Costco, I was only thinking of one box for the near future. At least they don't really spoil, so if we have some leftover when we get back home we can keep using them.

But it's exciting! This is our first major grocery purchase to put away for a rainy (African) day. Every few days something happens that makes the move seem more real and more imminent. We brought the 4Runner home today and then Mike bought the razors. I guess the preparations are becoming more concrete and much less abstract than reading bullet points on a website.

The last two days I've been at a seminar sponsored by Mike's employer on safety and security overseas. After two days' worth of lectures that induced various degrees of boredom, I'm confident that... maybe I should stay home.

No, I'm kidding! I'm still excited to go. But I can't help feeling extra-aware and maybe a little paranoid. Anything that could harm you at home seems even more dangerous and scary in a foreign country. We learned about random street crime, carjackings, hostage crises, sexual assault, kids drowning in swimming pools (because apparently no swimming pool outside the U.S. has a fence around it), espionage, surveillance, natural disasters, bombings, and chemical and biological attacks. Basically, Americans overseas are targets, especially for spies and hostage-takers. So if we see someone coming toward us with either a camera or a gun, we should run in a different direction.