Slept 11 hours last night, had some delicious turkish coffee... training is going well!

We'll see you later, Boston...

Last 7 days:
Many sad goodbyes (work, church, family)
200 lbs. of our stuff packed & airplane-ready
Both of our last days of work this side of the ocean
Filling up on as much Mexican food as we can
Last road trip (no more driving! yay!)
LOTS OF EXCITEMENT

Formula for this next week:
2 days in Virginia
+ 2 days in the Carolina's
+ 2 days in Philly/NY
+ 1 Lufthansa Flight
= Sofia, Bulgaria!

We'll miss you, Boston... until next time!

Randall: Top Reasons to do something like this

We are so close to leaving I can taste it! That is, if I knew what Bulgaria was going to taste like...

1. Exploring. Bulgaria is a place that most people can't name an associated food, city, or mountain. When we get there, we will be able to explore an amazing place.
2. Variety. America is nice and safe and boring. Everything is sterile and fake. This is a nice place to live, but not forever, not constantly. We are going to get so much of that famous spice of life.
3. Learning. Very similar to exploring. We get to learn a new way of thinking. A new way of looking at people. A new way of approaching relationships. What did you learn today?
4. Beauty. Part of variety is beauty. When you live somewhere it becomes less beautiful. When you go somewhere new, you see more beauty in ordinary things. I want to see (and photograph) that beauty.
5. Avoid the rats (at least the racing ones)! I hate sitting in traffic for 2 hours every day, let alone the bad days when I sit in twice that. I look forward to reading on a bus or walking or riding a bike to work. Exercise built into my day will make me healthier and wiser (hopefully)!
6. Making a difference. I know that that is a little nebulous, and is hard to measure, but I would love to help people live an abundant life.
7. Time with my wife. I hope that we will have more time together without the rat race.
8. Experience a different way of looking at Christianity. I'm excited about finding a church to participate in and I hope that it gives me another perspective on my faith that I'm missing out on. Jesus was a middle eastern person and Paul was from Tarsus. I would love to experience a little more of eastern Christianity.

There you have it, my top reasons for volunteering in free association order (not importance). What are your reasons for staying? You make that choice every day you stay and it's probably more to do with inertia than with the reasons. Think about them and stay for your reasons and not because of inertia. You may end up being a more thankful and happy person when you know why you are where you are.

Bulgaria's Independence Day

Here's to Bulgarian nationals today, their Independence Day.  

They were liberated from the Ottoman Empire by the Russian Army, with support from Bulgarian volunteer forces and the Romanian Army, and the Treaty of San Stefano on March 3rd, 1878.

The more we learn about this country, the more we respect so much of what they choose to implement and stand for.  Though Bulgaria has a long way to go (don't we all?), they have come a long way since their 3rd-Empire Independence in 1878, since their first free elections in 1990, and since 2007, when they joined the European Union.

Поздравления (Pozdravlenia), България (Bulgaria)!
We're proud to soon be a part of you!