They're Here!

Our new passports, reflecting our married names, have arrived!!!

Parting Parties

In her last week of employment, Sarah's colleagues banded together to have a game of "Sarah Jeopardy" before a happy hour attended by several colleagues and people with whom she has worked over the years. It's a powerful testament to how much people have appreciated Sarah's work over the years to see all the folks coming together to wish her all the best for the next adventure. I talked with one friend and colleague and said, "I feel like the bad guy of the party for taking Sarah away from you all." She replied with what were probably equal parts mirth and seriousness, "You feel that way because it's true." Anyway, we're doing a lot of pre-leaving parties these days, and this was a particularly nice one.

The storied and proud key bank building which will have one less business occupant at the end of the week 

the aftermath of a brutal and closely-fought game of Sarah Jeopardy

Party people celebrating/commemorating/comiserating Sarah's departure

First Post

Hi Friends!

Sarah and I are in the midst of preparing to move to Morocco in about a month or so. The apartment is full of boxes, and getting less full of furniture as I sell it on craigslist. The "for rent" sign just went up in the front yard. People are coming by to buy things, and our houseguests often find themselves leaving with "prizes" - whether they wanted them or not. Actually, I think our best "prize" in the pile is a complete Auda abu Tayi costume that I wore for Halloween a few years ago. Let me know if you're interested. :) The moving process has started very early for me. Generally, I enjoy waiting until a few days before I actually need to leave the apartment to start throwing things away and packing up in a frenzy. Sarah prefers a much more organized, spread-out transition process. I can definitely see the wisdom in this line of thinking, but I can't help wondering if only a couple days of crazy aren't better than a couple months of steady work...

Anyway, Sarah has been in this apartment for 8 years, and is finding a lot of things that she hasn't seen in a while, including a referee outfit that I bought for her several years ago. I'm in my ninth month here after we were married, and I made a point of moving every year prior to married life, so I'd like to think that I have a lot less stuff to go through. I'd like to think it, but that doesn't make it true. I think we're about tied, actually. We've already gone through our first role of yellow tape and have moved onto white and I've made my second box run to Lowe's. They must make a fortune around this time as everyone is moving in and out of apartments. As I'm looking at this picture of a stack of boxes, I'm reminded how much we'll miss out interior brick wall. 

In the midst of packing, we're also in the process of intentionally spending time with family and friends before we go. I was invited to Sarah's family vacation for the first time (because I'm family for the first time!) and we had a splendid time by the sea. Sarah and I enjoyed riding bikes all around, even on the boardwalk where bike riding was expressly forbidden. We're going to be hanging out with my folks a few times in the next several weeks as well. We have a "Thank you Columbus!" party in the works, thanks to some lovely friends, and that promises to be a nice way to appreciate Ohio and the folks who live here as we move back to North Africa. 

Sarah and I are both in our last weeks of work, and we are looking forward to being full time movers, and then full time travelers. We both have really enjoyed and grown a lot in our work experiences here in Ohio, and we're really looking forward to the next chapter of our lives. I'll be doing my Ph.D. ethnography research at various sites in Morocco while Sarah takes some time off from the grind to enjoy our beloved Maroc free from work responsibilities.

Anyway, that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by, and for joining us on our next adventure!