After a long hiatus, welcome back!
The last few weeks have been an assortment of craze, filled with sweat, tears and disease.
I've just returned from a week's trip to Egypt, having gone there to shake off the stress of exams and soak in the romance with Stouty. What an exciting adventure that was. Whilst there, I battled with goats and snakes, wrestled with sea critters, turned 28, fell further in love, and contracted some sort of life-threatening skin infection (minus the life-threatening bit). We also did tea with the beduins, rode camels in the desert (fine, we rode quad bikes) against the backdrop of the sunset, and wandered the ancient tombs of pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings.
On my birthday, the last day before we were set to leave Egypt, Stouty put together the most beautiful evening - a romantic dinner on the beach. Candles lined the sand to create a pathway, leading up to and encircling our table. The moonlight and its rippling reflection in the ocean were in the background. Two musicians played Arabic music and soothed us with their melodic sounds as we ate a succulent array of seafood and sipped on bubbly. At the first sight of what Stouty had planned for me, tears fell from my eyes. They were tears of genuine happiness, of utter contentment. I understood at that very moment what it meant to be happy in love. If he had asked me to marry him, I would have said yes.
But he didn't, so for the time being, I'll just have to make do with him moving to Canada with me. Yes, Stouty is really moving to Canada with me.
I've handed in my notice at work and my last day is 15th July. After that, Stouty and I will set off west and make a new future for ourselves in Toronto (at least for the next year). As excited as I am for this big change, and as comforted as I am that Stouty will be there with me, I am sad to be leaving this life behind. I'll miss the culture, the lifestyle, the memories, but most importantly, the friends I've made. I know there are still some weeks left, but the amount of effort my friends put in to make my birthday celebrations special has brought on an early onset of sentiment. I will miss them with all my heart.
Wait, there is nothing hedonistic about my blog anymore! Has anyone else noticed this?
Would "Love and au revoir" work as a title?
