a new chapter...

Exactly three weeks from today, to the hour, I will be boarding a plane headed home with my dog Mia. Our first stop will be in Miami, and then on to DC Reagan where my best friend Jen will be waiting to receive us, even though at that time she will be busy with her 3 week old baby Luke Alexander, who she just welcomed into the world (Congratulations Jen and Dave!!!) The other night as I was going to sleep I was reflecting on what changes have occurred in these last two years, and I was remembering back to a time when Honduras really was a foreign place to me. At that time Jen had just given birth to her first child and I was leaving for a place called Honduras. Neither of us knew quite how to prepare ourselves for what we were getting into, and all we were going to learn. I remember Jen was reading a book entitled something like “Raising a child is Similar to living in a Foreign Country”. I remember the conversations we shared as each of us was entering a world of unfamiliar territory, new language and a slightly modified way of life. Now after two years our worlds are not so unfamiliar or scary, but come quite naturally. As Jen begins mothering two children, I am on my way out of the place that has become “home” and back to a world that now seems a little unfamiliar all over again. It’s a bit overwhelming at times, and I am terrified of having to learn English all over again!!! These last three weeks will be full of goodbyes, or rather “Hasta Luegos,” and I am in the process of preparing my final documents with Peace Corps, finishing up work in town, and moving out of my house. The other night I sold my bed and TV, so life just became slightly more boring and a lot less comfortable. Mia is getting used to her travel crate and already has a shiny new dog tag with her home phone number in the USA (thanks mom and dad!). I am packing my backpack and preparing for my travel adventures through Central and South America with my friend Jerome that will begin once Mia gets settled in Virginia. The reality sets in and another chapter in life begins…