Ana and Peter

I was telling my bf Lauren the other day (on g-chat, our main form of communication) that this is a weird life. I mean, life is weird in general but this life that Ira and I are leading is particularly weird. Not because we live here but the way that we live here. Hmm...I'm not explaining myself well...probably because I'm trying to explain several things at once. And because it's 4am and I can't sleep. Anyway, let me try again. So the first thing that is strange about the way we live our lives is that we're always saying good bye to someone. Now up until tonight that meant "See you in 4 months!" If we were in the States. Or "See you in 2 months!" if we were in Egypt. I knew the good byes we said tonight would be different, and I've known since August that they were coming, but it didn't make it any easier.
Peter was the wise cracking European guy at orientation. He actually missed the first morning of orientation because, well, no one told him about it. He always had a funny remark or random question for the presenters, and kept all of our spirits up when we didn't think we could take one more presentation about health insurance or why we couldn't get mail here. And then there was Ana. Before we even moved here, Ira sent me some info on her. While he was in Miami he followed one of her pieces she wrote for the Miami Herald. She also wrote this and this and this. Anyway, she was here in Egypt as a Fullbright in the Journalism Department. I just adored her right away. She was so fun and laid back and easy to get along with. She had been all over the world and lived abroad many times, but she just seemed so down to earth. She and Peter were the romance of our "Freshman Class", as I like to call this year's newcomers. An unlikely couple (or so we thought at first) but they truly complimented each other and now it's hard to remember a time when they weren't together. Ana took my yoga classes and she was a great student, although I could never get her to try a headstand, grrr...They were always a lot of fun on our ill fated AUC trips and we still laugh about the long bus rides, day long dusty tours, bad hotels, and the "death marches" (as Ana called them) with no food. So I knew they were leaving at the "end of the year" but I guess it still hasn't hit me that that's what this is. We all knew that Peter, not being the biggest fan of Egypt, would be out on the first plane after his last class. But I was hoping that Ana would stick around a little longer. And she was planning to. Until a pot hole had better plans and caused her to break her foot last week. She couldn't get around by herself and had to make the decision to leave early. There was a little party at Peter's last weekend. But I knew that tonight would be the real good bye. "The Fuuls" were playing at the Maadi House and Ana and Peter were going to stop by before the car came to take them to the airport. It was just sad. And it's made me realize that sooner or later I'm going to have to say good bye to ALL the friends that I've made here. Whether they're leaving, or we're leaving, it's going to happen eventually. I guess you could make some sort of philosophical argument that we have to say good bye to everyone in our lives, but save it! It just makes it all feel temporary to me. So the best I can do is stay in the moment and enjoy the life that we have chosen and love the friends that we have made.
Good luck in Amsterdam, Ana and Peter! We'll miss you...