Busy, Busy, Busy

I had originally planned on writing more often that every month, but things have been so crazy lately that I haven't had time. Once I get to Peru I'm sure I'll write more often because I'll be so excited to tell everyone what I'm doing. More frequent postings also means they won't be so long (hopefully).

Since I last wrote, I've been busy trying to get things organized for my official departure (which is now less than a month away - aaahhhhh!!!). Rather than avoiding the issue of what to pack, I decided I better start thinking seriously about it so I could gather, borrow, and/or purchase everything I think I might need. Otherwise it would be a week before my departure and I'd be running around like a mad woman trying to scrounge everything together. Luckily, I had the opportunity to talk to Julie, who did the Peace Corps in Peru a few years ago. Giff's cousin put me in touch with her because they used to work together. Julie must have thought I was crazy when I first emailed her because I asked her about a million questions. Rather than attempting to answer all of my questions over email, she suggested I call her. We talked for an hour and a half! She gave me a lot of great advice and relieved a lot of my concerns. I felt so much better after talking to her. She was so nice and said I could call her anytime.

Other than that, Giff and I have been trying to take advantage of our last few weeks together and do some fun things in the area. We went to a Spurs game (and sat in the very last row!), Oyster Bake and NIOSA during Fiesta (a week long celebration in San Antonio with lots of food, partying, and drinking), and best of all - FLYING! He took me flying at a little local airport. It was sooooo much fun! He even let me control the plane for a little bit, but I got nervous and let him take over again. I was glowing the whole time because I thought it was so cool!

I finished my job at USAA on Friday, May 5th. It was hard to say goodbye because I had so much fun working there, but I know I'll love it in the Peace Corps too. They were all so nice to me and taught me a lot while I was there. I can't believe how quickly the time went by. It was so nice to be welcomed into their unit and really feel like part of the team. Since Giff and I don't know many people in the area, it was nice for me to make friends at work. My last week was great because I got to have lunch with Carmen and meet Joe twice for break. I was glad to see them both again before I left since they had become good friends during my last assignment at USAA. My unit treated me like a queen on my last day. They decorated my desk, treated me to lunch, bought me cake and an apple pie, gave me lots of nice cards and a very generous gift certificate to an outdoor store (where I would buy the whole inventory for the Peace Corps if I could). Then a bunch of them met Giff and me out for Happy Hour after work. It was the best farewell I have ever had!

Amanda came down right after that so she could come with me to drive my car back to California. Before our trip, we visited Inaki and Maria in Houston (so much fun) and spent a few days in San Antonio. Of course we had a great time on our road trip together as we always do (despite our run away tent incident). We were able to visit Conn along the way in Tucson, meet Julie for coffee in Phoenix (where she goes to grad school), and spend a few days in LA. We stayed with Kate (and watched her debut role on Grey's Anatomy!), visited with Laura for a few hours, went to an Angel's baseball game, and went out in West Hollywood. It was lots of fun!

From California I flew to meet Giff in North Carolina so we could visit his family. His brothers were both home too so it was really fun to be with the whole family. We hung out around Charlotte and even went to the beach in Wilmington. We also saw Corey while we were there because his new girlfriend lives there. Neither of us had seen him in a year so it was really fun to get together. It was also nice to have a whole week together just to relax. I can't even remember the last time we were able to do that since we've both been so busy with work.

So now we're back in San Antonio for a few days trying not to think about the inevitable goodbye that is rapidly approaching.......