Saying Goodbye & Saying Hello

It’s really hard to believe that our two year assignment with MCC in Nepal is wrapping up. Heidi and I experienced a bit of a reality check last week when MCC booked our tickets home. As you can imagine, we’re full of mixed emotions…excited to hug our families and see how much our nieces and nephews have grown, happy to be able to reconnect with friends…but also quite sad to be leaving our friends in Nepal, anxious about jumping back in to the rat race life in the States, etc, etc. We are trying as much as possible to reflect on our time here- how have we changed? what do we value now that wasn’t so important before? We are also trying to enjoy every moment here, to breathe in all that makes life in Nepal wonderful.

Of course, we have also been forced to think about life after Nepal. With that in mind, we wanted to share our plans with you. Our two year assignment with MCC was scheduled to end in July. However, I will be starting a graduate program this fall. Since we wanted to have some time at home before packing up again, MCC is permitting us to end our term a bit early. We will arrive in PA on June 17 (just in time to hit the beach with Heidi’s family). We’ll spend about two months at home- eating amazing ice cream, hanging out with friends, taking long walks without hearing a million horns- you know, the usual stuff. Sometime in August, we’ll be moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I will begin graduates studies in the Community & Regional Planning Program at the University of New Mexico. Heidi will be looking for a job, and then after we settle in a bit, hopes to work on completing her Bachelor’s degree. This, of course, will mean another big change for us…and more time spent away from our friends and families in Lancaster. We’re comforted by the fact that we’ll only be a 30 hour drive from home, instead of a 20 hour flight. We both feel good about this decision. We have friends living in Albuquerque who have graciously answered our questions and will help us find housing, jobs, etc. And it’s hard to beat 310 days of sunshine a year!

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible over the summer.