Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Curse of the Gypsy Blood (and Unpacking)


 FACT: Unpacking is almost, quite nearly, as bad as packing.

I have been peeking miserably into the bins in the basement that’s stored long lost treasures and at my desperate looking suitcase that has profusely regurgitated shoes and unmentionables all over my floor.

While I’ve been thinking about unpacking and making room for lovely new trinkets that I’m bound to find over the summer and in Berlin, I’ve also been pondering the most important things that I must do this summer. In case you didn’t know, I am the master of list-making (and also the master of list-losing).

Here’s what I have so far.

Summer To Do List:

1. Go through my closet/basement/unbelievable amounts of boxes hiding around the house. I’m greatly looking forward to all of the wonderful types of outfits that I’ll be able to wear in the coming months—Egypt really cramped my style.
2. Learn German. Easier said than done, right? Jaaaa!
3. Read (at least) one “leisurely” book per week. I’m excited by this one!
4. Finish my graduate thesis proposal (and a major chunk of the blasted thesis itself) regarding mainstream female activists and women’s empowerment programs in Egypt.
5. Purchase a new drivers license. Mine has been misplaced, somehow.
6. Go camping and hiking somewhere in the Great Smokey Mountains! Any takers?
7. Have my second Alice in Wonderland garden themed party. I LOVE hosting parties and planning parties. Friends, prepare yourselves!
8. Allow myself one cup of coffee per day. Seriously, I mean it.
9. Find a perfectly quaint little flat in Berlin.
9 ½. Talk myself out of purchasing the cutest Pug puppy in the world to take to abroad with me. I really, REALLY want one…
10. Strengthen my beliefs in God and my church.
*Some of you may be wondering why #10 is the last on my list, but I’m almost certain this will be the task that takes the longest to achieve. I’m not afraid of this, and I greatly enjoy a challenge—and it seems as if this challenge will be the greatest out of all this summer.*

So it seems that this minute list will help me to focus on the tasks at hand instead of my wanderlust and urges to travel, far and wide (preferably with my German boy, of course). That doesn't mean I can't have my own adventures here though. :) One of my dearest friends sent this poem to me the other day, she knows my heart and spirit so well. 

"There's a race of men that don't fit in,

A race that can't sit still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin, And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and rove the flood,
And they climb the mountain's crest; Their's is the curse of the gypsy blood,
And they don't know how to rest."
— Robert W. Service

Perhaps this is why I dislike unpacking so much, because it softens the spirit of excitement and hope of a new adventure begins to vanish with each item that is removed from my beaten parcels. Until August, this gypsy girl will have to make due with everything just south of the Mason-Dixon line!

Now, to find some clothes hangers and the Moscato wine my amazing Mother brought home yesterday...

2 comments:

  1. Whitney!!! Cannot wait to see you and lets have a mini knoxville adventure when I do Miss Gypsy!!
    Love you :)

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  2. Liv!!! It's happening!!! I'll call you tomorrow so we can discuss your plans. :) I am thinking dinner and drinks, then shisha at Cairo Cafe. What do you think? Ashley and I are trying to figure out where to stay in Knoxville, we miss you so much! Love you, and am counting the days!

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