Leave Taking

Last evening we said goodbye to Susanna and her family. She prepared a lovely Indian dinner for us. Today, we will say goodbye to Mahroof and his daughter. He's been a friend from the moment we first met him last June at the Fulbright orientation in Washington. Slowly we are bidding farewell to this desert country that has been our home for almost 6 months and the people that have made it so memorable. We leave tomorrow for a 2 week trip to Southeast Asia and will be back here just long enough to wash our clothes and repack for our trip home. I really hate goodbyes. They seem so final somehow. I hope not. It's amazing how kind many of the people here have been during our short stay. They have enriched our lives. I am glad we took the opportunity, the chance... whatever this is. How easy it is to get comfortable in the routine in our lives. Sometimes it is the uncomfortable times when you just throw yourself into something as unfamiliar as life here is, that remind you of the big adventure life can be and surely is. With all it's "differentness", I will miss life here. I can honestly say that I never regretted the decision to live here or to interrupt my life for a change and a chance to see what else I could do, what people in this part of the world were like. Ten years ago, we took another break similar to this, in Cyprus. That experience was very different from this one. Perhaps I was better prepared this time --- or just older. This time I was more comfortable, less anxious. Perhaps even more grateful for what came along and what happened during the months away than the last time we were "gone" for so long. Life surely is an amazing adventure. What will happen next? I can't wait to find out!