on the verge of departure
I am making checklists and packing lists and hostel lists and counting currency exchanges in my head. I am making baking and cooking lists so that my parents have things to eat when I am gone. I am beginning to fret about what I will read on this next leg of my journey - and whether I'll get bored by myself.
So much to see in the next 32 days I can hardly imagine. (oh, and I have started a count down until I get to hug my finace again -because as much as I want to be present as I travel, I miss him dearly and want to be home too).
This is one my lasts - my last intern day - and that makes the ending seem more real. Before departures I often count my lasts, in a never ending effort to imbue meaning and farewells into what has become typically ordinary. My last half an hour waiting for my taxi. My last round of "good mornings" at the office. My last morning cup of Gahwa (Arabic coffee) while sitting at my desk.
And there are all the more from now on. Last Friday night. Last weekend adventure with the parents. Last Saturday evening pizza. Last time to wear the clothes I will leave with mom. Last load of laundry (which will take 2 days to dry, so I'll have to do the load soon if I don't want to pack wet clothes). Last episodes of Dr Who (who has become me my reluctant companion during the past 6 weeks). Last few scheduled power outages too I guess. I will have a scheduled last day of walking by the sea. I already said my goodbye to the mountains last weekend.
I am ready for this transition, but that does not mean it is not also a sad leaving. It has been wonderful to experience life at a different pace. To live with my parents for awhile. To struggle with an internship. To see the mountains in the background through the mist of smog. To look for the green in this city of cement. To walk in the mornings at the local park with my mother. To make dinner every night. To buy vegetables at the store where the man always flirts with me in Arabic and doesn't understand either my French or English. To teach my French educated Taxi driver some common phrases in English (such as: as usual, earlier, later, horrible traffic, etc). But I am also ready for the next stage of this adventure, for the sights and the bus trips and the tourism that comes next. Perhaps to carry some of this BEING I have been working on into a time of DOING. And hopefully for a more reliable internet connection at the hostels.
So much to see in the next 32 days I can hardly imagine. (oh, and I have started a count down until I get to hug my finace again -because as much as I want to be present as I travel, I miss him dearly and want to be home too).
This is one my lasts - my last intern day - and that makes the ending seem more real. Before departures I often count my lasts, in a never ending effort to imbue meaning and farewells into what has become typically ordinary. My last half an hour waiting for my taxi. My last round of "good mornings" at the office. My last morning cup of Gahwa (Arabic coffee) while sitting at my desk.
And there are all the more from now on. Last Friday night. Last weekend adventure with the parents. Last Saturday evening pizza. Last time to wear the clothes I will leave with mom. Last load of laundry (which will take 2 days to dry, so I'll have to do the load soon if I don't want to pack wet clothes). Last episodes of Dr Who (who has become me my reluctant companion during the past 6 weeks). Last few scheduled power outages too I guess. I will have a scheduled last day of walking by the sea. I already said my goodbye to the mountains last weekend.
I am ready for this transition, but that does not mean it is not also a sad leaving. It has been wonderful to experience life at a different pace. To live with my parents for awhile. To struggle with an internship. To see the mountains in the background through the mist of smog. To look for the green in this city of cement. To walk in the mornings at the local park with my mother. To make dinner every night. To buy vegetables at the store where the man always flirts with me in Arabic and doesn't understand either my French or English. To teach my French educated Taxi driver some common phrases in English (such as: as usual, earlier, later, horrible traffic, etc). But I am also ready for the next stage of this adventure, for the sights and the bus trips and the tourism that comes next. Perhaps to carry some of this BEING I have been working on into a time of DOING. And hopefully for a more reliable internet connection at the hostels.
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