Goodbye Miss Claudia!

The last few weeks have been spent preparing for my good friend Claudia's departure. I have known Claudia for about 7 years and her mother, Anita, was the kids first babysitter. Since the day I met Claudia she has always talked of joining the Peace Corp. Many years have passed and it looked as if she was never going to have her chance to take her journey. About 4 months ago she started her application process again hoping this time she wouldn't have anything holding her back. She finished all the paperwork, test, shots, and tutoring that was required. She was finally in!

She had requested Central Asia as a destination and was supposed to ship out near the end of September. She was thrilled and I was amazed! What courage it must take to leave everything you know and go to another country alone. She received a call asking if she would accept an earlier deployment because they had a spot open in Central Asia. She jumped at the chance and that was it. She had only a little over a month and she would be leaving for Kazakhstan. I was so happy for her yet so sad for me. I have really become close to Claudia over the past years and consider her one of my best friends. The kids love her and she was Ethan's first official crush!

I drowned myself in projects preparing for her going away party so I wouldn't think about her actually leaving. I hand made signs for the party and even designed Claudia an adventure book about Kazakhstan.
I originally was planning on hanging pictures of Kazakhstan around the party with inserts of information so people would have a better idea of where she was going. Once I viewed the house we were having the party at I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to hang much of anything. The house was fully decorated and didn't have much open wall space. I decided I would put the pictures in a small book and she could take it with her. As usual my projects always start small and end up huge. It ended up being a scrapbook with an entire story and pictures staring Claudia and the adventures that lie ahead of her. It was awesome if I do say so myself. I was working on completing it the morning of the party but it all came together well.

Sing it girl! Claudia playing rock band on the wii.
The party was Sunday, August 10th, at 2pm which was very odd for me. I rarely attend and never host parties on Sundays but most of Claudia's friends worked on Saturday so we had no other choice. It turned out to be wonderful. It was slow to get started as people trickled in but by 4:30 we had a house full of people grilling, playing wii, and having a good time. Claudia loved her Kazakhstan book, the food was tasty, and the company was amazing. I have heard Claudia talk about her friends for years but I have only met a few of them besides the mutual friends we share. I truly enjoyed getting to know some of the people I already knew so much about. My favorite thing of the entire evening was watching Claudia. She is one of those people who gives, gives, gives and never receives. She looked so ecstatic! All her friends in one place just for her. It was so special!

Toasting Claudia

I also organized a group gift for her. I researched a digital camera (thanks Dad) and picked out the best user friendly digital camera I could find. I also bought her a 2 gig memory card, lithium batteries, and a carrying case. She was using an ancient 35 mm camera and she was so embarrassed. She wanted to get a digital camera before she left but had to use what money she had to stock up on supplies she may no longer have access to. She was absolutely floored by the gift! She has been taking pictures like crazy and already figured out how to download them to her laptop. I expect to see many beautiful and interesting pictures from her adventures over seas.

Last Sunday morning I took Claudia to the airport. She spent Saturday night with us and we were up late weighing her bags, dropping off her car to her mother, and finishing all the final details. We went to bed around 1 am and had to get up at 4 am to get ready to go to the airport. It was definitely the earliest I had been up since the newborn days of old. Thanks to the terrorist I couldn't walk more than 10 feet with Claudia in the airport but we said our finally goodbyes and she was on her way. I had to leave quickly as tears welled up. I didn't want her to be sad that morning she was living her dream and I was so proud of her. The selfish side of me wanted my friend to stay but I know this is what is best for her and her future. I headed back home stopping at Albertsons to get strawberries and bananas for the baby's breakfast. Of course the Alberstons I picked wasn't 24 hrs and I had to go to Wal mart but I was back home by 6:30 and in bed by 7 am. I took half a benadryl so I could sleep and I didn't wake up until 11:40! Dallas was in charge of the kids and he did a great job letting me sleep. Thanks D!

I talked to Claudia the three days she was in orientation in Philly and everything was going great. There were 63 other people going to Kazakhstan with her and she had met some of them at the plane change in Memphis. She was already making friends and learning about the Peace Corp. They put her up in an upscale hotel and gave her $160 for food and such for the three days of orientation. She was so excited! It was good to know they are taking care of her.

On the third day she called me one last time to say a final farewell. We won't be able to contact each other for probably 3 months while she is in training. She has to learn Russian, Kazakh, and everything she needs to know to teach English to high school students. I cried like a baby when I hung up that morning knowing this was finally goodbye for two years. I already miss Claudia so much but I imagine with time I will be too busy to worry about it. Now all I can do is wait for the first email of her adventures. Until then good luck my friend and I will see you online...