I’m packed.  All my belongings safely stored: lunches and dinners and going-away parties properly acknowledged and enjoyed.  Commiserating and bonding, laughter and past happy events duly re-experienced; promises made to reconnect in the not too distant future.  For what is life but a continuum of interconnecting experiences and interactions.  The purpose of life is to nurture a love for life, to treasure family connections, maintain friendships … and to pursue personal growth.  Tomorrow I leave for Washington D.C. and ‘staging.’  Staging being a two-day experience designed to propel us greenbean PCVTs (Peace Corps Volunteer Trainees) into another culture.  Stifling a choking lump in my throat I stand poised to leap into a different world.