Goodbye Fiore

Sarah and I had our last meal tonight at our favorite restaurant Café Fiore (www.fiorerestaurant.net) in Ventura. The food and drinks were amazing as usual. Over dinner we couldn’t help but think about how amazing our five years here have been. We’ve both grown so much. And if you would have told us five years ago that in five years we’d both have completed out bachelor’s and master’s degrees and would be heading to the Kyrgyz Republic with the Peace Corps, we would’ve told you that we are flattered but you’re crazy. Yet, here we are. Tonight we realized just how much we’re going to miss here—the restaurants, the beach, and most of all the friends and relationships. We’ll probably never again see many of the friends we have met here. On the surface it’s easy to hope we’ll keep in touch with those we feel a special bond, but we know some of those bonds will grow, some will remain the same, and some will fade away. Sometimes we wish: if only we could take our friends and family wherever we go, or, more likely, if only the world revolved around us. But we are looking forward to developing new relationships and wonder what the next chapter of our lives will unveil. We know He has a plan, but sometimes we wish He would give us a peek.

In Peace Corps news, we received our staging kit today. It’s mostly informational paperwork, but we were excited to make our plane reservations, and we now have our itinerary. We leave Sacramento for Philadelphia on July 5th. We’ll spend the 6th and 7th there meeting the other volunteers and learning about Peace Corps policies. After that, we’ll be heading to New York by bus. On July 8th, we’ll depart New York for London, switch planes, and land in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on July 10th. Neither of us have ever been on a plane for that long, any tips?

On the home front, the offer we had on our home fell-through, so now we’re scrambling to find another buyer. Anyone looking for a place? We’ve reduced the price below the market and will hopefully pique someone’s interest soon. Right now, we are trying to keep the boxes we’ve packed out of sight from potential buyers, but by this weekend, it’ll be a disaster area. The U-haul truck will be arriving Sunday and so will some friends to help pack it(thanks guys). We’ll spend Sunday night on an air mattress, then wake-up early Monday morning, deflate the air mattress, and drive to Solano County. We’re sad to leave, but we’re looking forward to spending a couple of weeks with our family before heading-out. To our SoCal friends, we’ll miss you. To our NorCal family, we can’t wait to see you.