I just received my departure date a couple days ago. I am going to preface telling you the date by telling of an email I received near the beginning of the summer. The email had a list of dates that people interviewed for jobs and corresponding times that people would be flying out. Because of the day I interviewed, I was supposed to be leaving mid to late August. Therefore, with about a month to go before I left, my mom started planning a going away/birthday party for my dad's 50th. We figured we should play it safe and have the party the first weekend of August, so we decided to have the party on Saturday, August 6th. I spent days creating an amazing e-invite and preparing a list of people/email addresses that my dad and I were hoping to come to join us for a evening of fun and excitement in the great town of Dover, MN. (Note: for those of you not from south-east Minnesota, Dover has just over 500 people, two bars, a post office, a hair studio, and our very own fire station.) So, we got the e-mail addresses and sent out the invites. Thus I went up to visit friends in the Twin Cities this past Wednesday, fully confident in the fact that I had more then enough time to enjoy the company of friends and family before my departure. Thursday morning dawned bright and cheery, I looked forward to a night of theatre and good company. It was then, biting into my wonderfully delicious bagel at Bruegger's Bagels, that I put their glorious gift of free wi-fy to great use. I was sitting with my friend's cousin and his two friends, all of whom I had met the day before, as I began looking at my emails. Chatter ceased as I, dumbfounded, exclaimed, "No way, no no no!" as well as some other choice phrases that I will not repeat in this public forum. My three new buddies sat quietly waiting for me to explain. As I explained that I had received my departure date, they understood my excitement, but not my duel expression of dismay. It was then that I explained that my departure date was not mid-late August, as I expected, but August 4th, two weeks from that very day and two days before my dad's and mine much anticipated party! I felt as if my heart had stopped as the enormity of my situation crashed in on me. This weekend was the last that my family would all be home before I left, yet I wanted to make sure I saw all my friends before I left. Therefore, I decided to go home early, while still being able to see all my friends. I called my mom first, knowing the response I would get and hoping that I could make her feel somewhat better. My mom being my mom, got on re-emailing the invites to our invite list, getting together my paperwork, and making a list of things I still needed to get/do before departure. Needless to say it has been an interesting few days. Tomorrow I begin packing and putting my stuff into storage that I am not taking with me. We are also going to be cleaning to prepare for the party. With this sudden change in my plans of when I was leaving, and the amount of time I "lost" with friends and family, overwhelmed and stressed me. However, it was also a reminder of the new life I would be entering in which Insh'Allah (Allah willing) and shway shway (slowly/wait) would be my two new phrases to live by. I think I will learn to let things happen more at their own pace, which can't be a bad thing. I will keep you updated as the days get closer as to packing processes and actual leave time. If you want to have an idea of what my flight will be like you can follow the link to Etihad, UAE's Airline (http://www.etihadairways.com/sites/etihad/ae/en/experienceetihad/Pages/ourguestzones.aspx). The Economy class is as nice or nicer then most first class seats in U.S. flights, I am psyched! Until next time!
Kelby
