Thursday was a big day for me and Sean as we both finalized our summer plans that have been in the works for a long time. I had my last interview at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and was granted temporary security clearance to intern at the U.S. Embassy in Maputo, Mozambique. I'll be working in the Public Affairs department mainly with language and culture education and international exchange programs. I'll be there from right after spring term ends at ICU (June 24) until right before the beginning of fall term (September 6). I'm beyond excited and relieved that things have fallen into place and now it's time to start a whole new set of hurdles such as obtaining a visa, finding accommodation and searching for flights.
Sean received his official contract to work for Adventure Treks this summer and was assigned to work with the "Colorado Explorer" program from the middle of June to the middle of August. He will be working with 7th and 8th graders hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park, mountain biking and climbing near Salida, rafting the Poudre and Arkansas Rivers and making summit attempts on Flattop Mountain. He will do three separate trips with twenty different teenagers each time. It's a dream summer job for him and it seems all he does lately is look at his packing list to make sure he has everything he needs.
Sean leaves on the last day of May and I'm dreading it. One might assume that it gets easier to spend time apart but for us it actually seems to be getting harder. Concerning proximity, our marriage has been one extreme or the other. Tokyo in June without Sean is going to be awful because we do everything together. We live in a tiny apartment the size of a shoebox, we run together in the mornings, eat practically every meal together and enjoy date nights on the weekend. He takes care of me listens to me and supports me when I feel anxious and stressed out. Being without him for June, July and August is not going to be fun or easy. The one thing that helps both of us is the busyness and newness of a different experience in the summer which also makes the time go fast.
To celebrate finalizing our summer plans we hung out at a craft beer market nearby and I enjoyed a delicious sparkling mango beer. It will be fun writing about what we learn this summer and I'm looking forward to actually seeing some pictures from Sean as this year he actually has his own camera. I'll keep you posted for the both of us. Thanks for reading!
You guys both ROCK! What wonderful adventures!