Motivation is hard work

As I was getting a haircut two days ago (it's too short!  it kinda makes me feel like a rocker.  I'll take a photo some time), it started to sink in how fast time is flying towards our real, big, serious departure from Ireland.  The movers are coming in on Tuesday to put everything in a 20-foot container and ship it over the seas, to be seen a month or two later (if we're lucky).  Thursday we have a professional cleaner coming in to strip away the accumulated dust and grime of the past 2 1/2 years.  There's a going-away party Thursday night, and then it's just anticipation until Sunday.  We took an inventory of everything insurable inside the house (it turns out that, using rough estimates, we've got about €24,000 worth of stuff in here.  Those estimates are guesses of how much it'd cost to replace in Ghana, which might run higher than the original price.)

I know we have to get things ready before the movers come.  I have to know exactly what they're not packing, so I don't set aside more stuff than will fit in our suitcases.  Also it will make me more psychologically ready to go, I think.  Say "moving" as many times as I may, on a deep level it's hard not to think of that Ghana trip as just a holiday that's over now.  Lease in Accra, what lease?  Sure, I could go back there for a while.  But isn't Dublin my primary home?  

I've decided to sell the bodhran I bought here so many years ago.  I haven't touched it since 2007 and won't use it in Ghana, either.  If I really find I miss drumming, I'll take up the kpanlogo.  I don't know if anyone will want it, but I'm offering it first on Facebook and then will ask Jens to ask around Google.  With such a huge community, surely there are trad enthusiasts out there.  

We're headed to Ikea tonight with a rented van to buy new slats for a bed frame, and tomorrow morning we'll drive the van to the recycling center in Ringsend to drop off all our old broken electronics, lightbulbs, rusty pots, and other big waste.  

Am I really going to love it in Accra?  For the first few months, probably not with all my heart.  I don't think I'll ever appreciate the stink of the open sewers flanking every paved road.  It's also nice in Dublin that I can be outside for more than 5 minutes without sweating.  And the number of beers available in Accra I think you can count on one hand.

However, in Ghana is the first time I've ever enjoyed a papaya, cut a pineapple, or guzzled water straight out of a green coconut.  I'll be able to wear dresses and skirts every day because it'll be so warm, and there will be sun guaranteed practically every day.  I'll be living a block from a gelateria and less than that from a smoothie shop; oh yes, and two blocks the other direction from the Irish pub.  I have a choir.  And did I mention, I already ran into a Jewish lady in Accra who wants me to help with Hebrew-schooling her kids?!?

Lindsay from TCD, who moved to South Africa 6 months ago, advised me early on that it's impossible to compare.  Experience them as two separate things.  Good advice- hard to do.

I'd like to pack a lot, but it doesn't feel real while the decorations and furniture are still there.  Without them around, I'd get to it easier because it'd feel less like home.  And I can't pack those without the movers, for insurance reasons.  Maybe I can at least put them into stacks in one place.