Maya: This is just to catch you up

The semester came to a close and I tried my hardest not to cry when saying goodbye for the last time to my angelic little munchkins during our parent/teacher meetings. One student’s parent reported that he cried when he found out I was leaving. I, in turn, cried then and there. I miss them still.

Towards the end of the contract, I had a bit of a decision to make. The decision: to continue to teach kindergarten (which I’ve discovered that I really, really enjoy) at what seems to be a fabulous little international school just a short distance from our new, wonderful apartment or to get back on the NGO track that I had aimed for with a solid NGO doing really interesting work.

My first thought was, “Damn, I’m lucky to have the misfortune of having to decide between these two fantastic jobs.” I had interviewed at both places. I was immediately excited about the international school. The administration and the grounds were impressively warm and welcoming. They seemed psyched about me. I was psyched about them. There was some mutual psychedness all around.

Then, later that same day, I interviewed for a 6 month caseworker position for the International Rescue Commitee. It would be assisting Burmese refugees apply to the US resettlement program. The job sounded fascinating, meticulous, fun, exciting, scary, monotonous, and being constantly in flux, all at the same time. The catch: I would be traveling 3 weeks out of the month, mostly to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Now if I were an unattached, carefree gal, this would pose no issue. However, I am an attached, carefree gal. This would mean that I would spend 1 week in my new and wonderful apartment. 1 week out of a month with Brett… the same man with whom I’ve spent almost every waking moment for the past 6 months.

I mulled it over, and then mulled it over, alternating between decisions every 5 minutes. Poor Brett, who had to listen to me mull it over incessantly dragging a month out into an eternity. But ultimately, when the official job offer came from IRC with a really sweet compensation package, I couldn’t pass it up. Brett, being the fabulous and amazing person he is, is taking it very well. Only the occasional guilt trips about leaving him alone and his sure-to-be sudden change in diet come up now and then. I am still in contact with that fabulous little school, leaving the door open should, in the future, something might work out.

Ps. Having just reread this, I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for the overuse of the word “fabulous”. I blame it my recent viewing of “Sex and the City: the Movie”. This also serves as my public apology to Brett for having suggested we watch it together. I'm sorry, Brett.