Beginning of the end

It’s week 1 of month 12 and the reality of what that means has started to set in. I’ve gone from last-minute carpe-diem mania to listlessness to bittersweet nostalgia and back several times in the last three days. If this is gonna keep up for thirty days it’s gonna be a hell of a time.

Mania

Oh no! Only thirty days left! Better get lunch with him, have that talk with her, get drinks with them! Oh and Lima is such a lively city! We should see some of the old architecture, get to the beach, learn how to surf! Oh and the nightlife! OK need to get a little work done now…hey you want to get lunch? I miss you already. Wait let me push one more commit then we can go for drinks.

Listlessness

Well, this is it. All done. Trials and tribulations, good times and bad. What’s there to show for it except a few funny stories, a few mementos that are on their own slow journey to a trash bin. Ugh, just so tired why am still doing this? It’s over anyway — I’m just counting down the days until I go home anyway. What’s the point? I’ll just let it pass by in peace.

Nostalgia

Just looking at your faces makes me smile — your voices are rich with memories, your behavior a sign of immense growth. Remember the times we’ve laughed together, fought each other, cried together. We’ve been around the world and it’s time to go back — how do you mark that occasion? What is there to do that can carry significance in the face of such a shared experience? It’s difficult even to reminisce unless you’ve got a whole day to spare.

But that’s the beauty of the whole thing. The emotional roller coaster I’m riding is no fun but it’s a sign. A sign that I made the right choice; if it weren’t difficult to leave why’d I even come? So it all makes sense, it’s all right and correct in the most painful way. Simply trying not to let it overshadow my day-to-day.