It's begun

We're through security now, waiting in the terminal. I'm using my free year subscription to T-mobile hotspots that I got from my donation to the One Laptop Per Child Program to post this. (OLPC is a IT infrastructure designed to integrate low cost laptops (somewhere around $190 per laptop, formerly referred to as the Hundred Dollar Laptop) into third world schools.

I feel like I'm in a bit of a liminal state right now-- a world between. It helps that LA is foggy and has a bit of a mysterious look to the sky right now. It reminds me of that episode of Star Trek:TNG where Dr. Crusher gets stuck in some kind of subspace bubble that makes it seems like the universe is shrinking around the Enterprise. Outside the bubble is just void.

I realized that I haven't slept through the night all week. I keep waking up thinking about the team, thinking about the trip, a bit of worrying, a bit of wondering, a lot of desperate prayer. My stomach was upset too for a while, I'm thinking that might be related as well.

Yesterday the pre-trip last minute fires started cropping up, and all that nervousness was blasted away by adrenaline. But we're all here, and things are going well, everyone has their passports (and I really don't care if they forgot anything else-- I know how to travel light, we'll work it out).

It's pretty amazing how long it's taken to get here, and how short it seems that we'll be there. The last three weeks have flown by. I hope things slow way down and the trip drags on forever when we land. It's taken a ton of work to get here, but if the trip ended right now, I'd be content with my experience.

I am a little pissed about having to take off my shoes for security. I dunno who's more paranoid: the security guards of me, or me of the "man gettin' into my privacy".

They're calling our flight now, so I'll stop ranting about my constitutional rights.
Peace out.