Training Days or If You're Going to Spew, Spew into This!

Our pre-service training has already come to a close and I can hardly believe it. Things are really moving now!
We had a wonderful week in Atlanta with my family which included a tour of UGA, playing with puppies, and good old fashioned sitting around. I had not felt nervous at all until early Saturday morning when I woke up with quite a stomach-ach. Suddenly the reality of leaving and saying goodbye to my family had arrived. In the midst of this gastronomical stress, the face of Garth appeared before my eyes, unfolding a tiny paper cup. “If you’re going to spew, spew into this!” Well, that made me feel instantly better and became my mantra for the rest of the day! We arrived at the airport and went up the counter to check our bags. There is a limit of 50lbs per bag. One by one they went on the scale. 56lbs…52lbs…52lbs..52lbs…apparently our bathroom scale is off! The man at the counter kindly informed us there would be a $90 fee per bag. Immediately we pulled everything into the corner and began the purge. Pen lights? Jettisoned. Knitting manual? Out! Before long we reached perfection. All four bags, 50lbs exactly. And my lucky mom got to leave with 12 lbs of gifts and prizes!
Training was great and passed by quickly. I’ve mentioned to many of you that I really miss school and saw this as an opportunity to be in a learning environment again. Maybe I’m a dork, but just sitting with a pad of paper and taking notes was really fun. On top of that, everyone we have met has been amazing. We are a group of 61, the largest AZ group yet (I think!). There are three other married couples in our group, two of whom are retirees. Our hotel is also great. I don’t stay in hotels often so it’s all very exciting (Look! Tiny soap!)
Tonight we got to have dinner with my aunt and uncle and cousins which was really fun. My aunt made her world-famous brisket, a particular favorite of Mathias’s so we were well fed for our “last supper”! We were also fortunate enough yesterday to enjoy lunch with my Uncle at a great fifties-style diner.
Tomorrow we hop on a bus to New York, hang out in the airport most of the day and depart tomorrow night. We will have a stopover in Frankfurt and then on to Baku. I’m looking forward to checking out all the German shoes. Once we arrive in country, we won’t be in contact for about a week and half-which almost guarantees an interesting blog post next time. Until then I would just like to reiterate how grateful we are for you, our friends and family. I am not afraid of leaving, but I do know there will be moments that I will miss you terribly. Thank you to everyone who helped us move, made us meals, drove us around, simply were there to talk, and made us feel so loved and encouraged. We appreciate you so much!