Time Flies

Just looked at our last post and realized it was nearly 3 months ago! How did THAT happen? We've been posting on Facebook I think instead of writing here. It is now officially "spring" here in our part of Armenia. The snow is slowly melting, and quickly being replaced with mud. Lots of it. Parts of our routes to our schools are paved, and others are a treacherous mix of puddles and really gooey mud. Which of course gets on our shoes, socks, pants, etc. You get the idea. But it does mean that the weather is getting warmer, for which we are very grateful.
We were in Spain over Christmas with Fred's mom and sister, which was a really lovely break from the winter cold. Spain was sunny and warm and beautiful. Barcelona is one of the places we might like to live, so part of our reason for going was to check it out and see a bit of the country. We toured Barcelona for 4 days and then drove down past Alicante. It was great. While there, I learned that I had to go to Bangkok on Peace Corps business. That 10-day trip started only a few days after getting back from Spain, so I missed the first two weeks of school. Bangkok was quite a change from Armenia, not only culture-wise, but also temperature-wise. But I got to meet some other Peace Corps volunteers, hang out, and eat Thai food every day. Not a bad way to spend 10 days.
So it is now March and we are about to have our "spring" school break. I have a countdown on my computer which tells me two things . . . first, it's only 20 more days until I am back in Massachusetts (only for 8 days). I'm heading home to bring things we won't be needing during our last few months here (books, winter clothes, etc.). Second, and more importantly, we have only 153 days until our Peace Corps service is over. In some ways it feels like we've just arrived, and in other ways that we've been here forever. In fact, we have been here for nearly 2 years. Hard to believe.
When we think about leaving, we both have very mixed emotions. While we are anxious to see where the next chapter of our lives will take us, we are finally getting comfortable with where we live, the language, customs, and all that is entailed in living in a developing country. Most of all, we hate to think of leaving the community we have built up here--especially the children. We have been in our classes for nearly two years, have learned most of the student's names, been invited to many homes, celebrated birthdays, special events, and so loved the joy that the laughter of a child brings. There is not a place in town where we don't hear echos of "Hello Mrs. Susan" or "Hello Mr. Linden"!! It is beyond sad to think about leaving these precious children.
We toy with the idea of staying for a 3rd year, but we are both ready to come home. Or we will be when August 3 rolls around. Until then, we will try to enjoy every opportunity that comes our way.
Right now, at least for me, that opportunity is to try and appreciate the four roosters who live beneath our bedroom window. This morning is was just before 3 a.m. when they started, and the noise was enough to make sleep (at least for me) impossible. I'm wondering how they feel about soup.