The beginning of an end for a beginning

Tonight (technically 12:06 am) I am chilling at my mom's place in what may be the last time for quite awhile : (   My time home has been bittersweet and full of awesome times with friends (still bummed I'm missing my bro Ricardo's wedding), family (seeing my kid brother for the first time in over a year), and food (goodness I think I ate pork in every variety I could find since it's readily not available Morocco). All in the all the time has been great and now I'm off to Philly to get ready to open the next chapter of my life, which is crazy exciting!!!!

Now Philly comes with it's own pros and cons. 

Pro: Get to see my girlfriend, Kristina again :). I love that girl and can't wait for one last hurrah 

Con: We are separating after two fun years together and who knows what life has in store for us next. However the cards may fall, I truly feel honored and grateful for the love and support she has shown me and truly teaching me how to be a better man and person in general. 

Pro:  Philly is one of my top 3 favorite U.S. city purely for history alone. 

Con: Freezing cold/Post snowmageddon. I'm not looking forward to my last time in a US city for awhile being a crappy weather one, but I'm sure I'll make the most of it along with all my fellow volunteers.

Pro: Get to meet all this new and exciting folks that will be apart of my Peace Corps Morocco group (96 strong, give or take a few). As a highly social person, I love meeting new people and I am excited about the prospect of leaving Morocco in two years with a plethora of good friends.

Con: What if all the new trainees that I will be with suck?! Lol kidding; they will all be awesome.

It's crazy how fast the time has flown since getting home and now leaving once more. This is the first time in 4 years that I have not been returning to my home/job at Penn State post break. This the first time in 4 years that I will not be supervising a staff of amazing RAs. This is the first time in 4 years that I have said goodbye to be people that I love and care about with no idea of when I will see them next. 

Wow! It's been such a strange feeling to have so much downtime to think about the random things like what I mentioned above, but those observations have really stood out for me over the last several weeks home (on top of selling out to the "man" and getting a northface bag, sobbing over all the cool movies I'll be missing, and how quickly I get things done when I'm are leaving the country).

As stated above this is the beginning of an end and my time in the US is slowly winding down. Though I've never considered myself overly patriotic, I find myself already missing the pleasures and greatness of being an American. In Morocco I still will be an American of course but there will not be the constant intentional or subliminal influences surrounding me, providing comfort and safety. I am hopeful that this cognitive dissonance will push and challenge me in ways I have yet to foresee and truly allow for me to explore a new beginning in Morocco. One that is full of mystery, growth, fun, and knowledge.