the long process of leaving

The end of my Peace Corps Service is very near. Earlier this week I took the GRE to get me on the path to grad school. And I have spent the rest of the week doing final medical and adminstrative what have you. I will be glad to be finished with all of my admin stuff, and the details of getting rid of my things, finishing projects. But leaving is very bittersweet. I am so excited to be getting back to my family and friends, to my country and getting more education. And I am ready to leave behind bumpy soviet buses, narrow food selection and real weather, but there is really no way to be ready to leave my host family, my friends (both Ukrainian and American), the people I work with and my students. I am lucky to have so much to get back to and to look forward to but I will always be looking back to this part of the world and these people who have been a very significant part of my life. But for now I am occupied with dismantling my life, putting it in a suit case that doesn't weigh too much, and putting it back together again.