Staging

After waking up bright and early to see my Dad off (he was in town to pick up the mini-van), I checked my email and was quite delighted to realize that my Staging Kit had arrived in my inbox.  The Peace Corps sends out information about a month before departure that outlines specific details about where groups will be meeting before departing to their assigned country.  Turns out that I, along with forty or so other volunteers, will be attending staging in Arlington, Virginia.  I will be taking a flight from Ames to Arlington, and my staging begins at 12:30pm on the 11th of January.  Staging will end at 7pm that same day, and at 1:30am on January 12th, we are to check out of our hotel and board the shuttle to Washington Reagan Airport.  The flight to Nicaragua departs at 6:05am on January 12th.  It seems surreal!

The past few weeks have been a blur with trying to see all of my friends before I leave.  I'm going to be leaving for Pensacola, Florida this Sunday to spend about three weeks with my family.  My sister and I, along with her boyfriend, will be going to Orlando for New Years to fulfill a lifelong dream of visiting the Harry Potter theme park (!!!).  I also plan on making a short trip to New Orleans to visit one of my best friends who is traveling in the area.  Following my trip to Florida, I will be returning to Ames for five days.

Today marks my last day at Beaudelaire, and I'm quite sad to be leaving the place that I've spent more time at than anywhere else in the past couple years.  I've been connected to some amazing people through Beaudelaire, including my coworkers and customers.  A shout-out to some of my regulars (Table 16 {you guys were a legacy..  I have the twenty dollar bill framed.. no joke}, Paul, Larry, Chema y Carlos, Laurens, Chris, guy from Russia who always ordered a latte and a spanish burger {I never got your name, but you always made me smile}, Mike and Rahul, Mr. Bishop and Ed, Wednesday night Convivium crew, Stu and his arguments, Brazilinos!, Laura and Ann and your roommate stories, JIM, Nikki and Sarah {and your amazing cupcakes}, traveler from Kansas who would just randomly show up without telling me and cause the best surprise of my week {...you know who you are}, all of my Indian friends who slowly taught me Hindi phrases {namaste!}, and everyone else...).  Working at Cafe Beaudleiare taught me a lot about myself and gave me the opportunity to open up to people that I probably wouldn't have met anywhere else.  The international infusion and cultural diversity that is present in Beaudelaire is unmatched anywhere in the area, and I'll never forget going from table to table and hearing four or five different languages being spoken within a twenty-foot radius.