Thoughts...... Update..... Not sure if anyone is reading this ......

Preparing

So far I have sold my house of 15 years, sold the majority of my belongings, and have moved into temporary housing on the east side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Milwaukee is my home and will always be my home in the future.  I am in temporary housing in my permanent city and soon I will be in my temporary home in my temporary city.  Temporary seems to be the common word.

What goes into preparation for a move like this?

1. Changing addresses- We have had to change our address to my mother's house so that we will have a permanent adress in the United States.  Included with changing the address with the postal service, all of our personal accounts have had to be changed as well.  This a  long process because it seems like we keep remembering different places that we need to change that we forgot.  At this point we think we have them all.  
2. Packing- Action packers seem to be the ticket and so far it appears we will have 5 Action Packers, 4 suitcases and 2 carry ons.  We will bring it all with us on the plane and hopefully go through customs with no hassles in Lima.  When we land in Lima we will have to find Cargo City and drop our baggage off with LAN Cargo.  The baggage should fly with us on our  plane and meet us in Cajamarca.  Hopefully they send a van to pick us up in Cajamarca. 
3. Language Learning- I have been learning spanish since January, we have been using an awesome tutor, Lizbeth, who has some friends from Peru so she has been able to help us with some of the peruvian colloquialisms.  She comes to work with us once a week and in between I work on a program called Brainscape that does flash cards with us.  Kerry has also taken to watching Casa Cerrado with the signing judge on Telemundo.   I also try to keep up with the local paper and translate an article or two.  I think we will be in pretty good shape when we get there.  Once I am forced to use Spanish in my daily interactions I think I will make good progress toward Spanish Fluency. 
4. Phones- Phone service in Peru will be a bit difficult because calling from here to to peru can be expensive.  At this time I am planning on using a service called Talkatone on the Iphone which is a VOIP app that will use the internet and cell data rather than minutes to make calls.  If this works it will be rather sweet as our family and friends will have access to us over the phone as if we had a local phone number.  The next thing I am trying to accomplish is using Talkatone  for local Peru calls.  I think it can happen, but I haven't verified it yet.
5. Insurance- While we have insurance with work, it is only for when we are in Peru.  We are in the process as I type this of getting worldwide insurance for when we are not in Peru and traveling.  
6. Housing-  We will have some awesome housing while in Cajamarca and the big furnishings will be done by Davy.  We will have to purchase all the lamps, dishes, rugs, etc.., when we get there which will be fun to do again.  
7. Transportation- I will be buying a car in Cajamarca for transportation to school.  Mainly it will be for when we want to travel around the area so that we won't have to take those dangerous busses.  I currently watch the used car market to see what's available and how much.  
8. Work- I can't forget that I will also still be working while I am there.  I received a transition document from Shauna who is currently in my position which was a reminder to me that I will also be working while there so I will try to keep that in mind as well.  :) 
9. Saying goodbye- We have a lot of good friends and family who we are trying to meet with prior to our leaving.     

So that is all for now....  I think I covered most of it. Now I think it is time for my daily walk that I try to take along Lake Michigan.