"There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it." -- Charles Dudley Warner

It seems like I just got finished neatly stowing my suitcases and hanging up my clothes after my semester abroad in Spain. Well, if you know me at all, that situation truthfully involved throwing my bags on top of a treacherous pile of clothes and shutting the door to my closet. Same thing.

I'm filling my trusty red companions with Jack Link's beef jerky, Peet's coffee, Clif Bars and A-1 steak sauce to bring to my dad. I, on the other hand, cannot WAIT to taste my first bite of authentic Middle Eastern cuisine in four years. Baba ghanouj, labna, falafel and kunafi are calling my name. I don't think I'll have cravings for stateside junk food anytime soon.

I am mostly looking forward to hanging out with my dad, picking up some Arabic, working with a public health company on their website, meeting new people, and focusing on finding out what it is I am supposed to do after I graduate from college. I'm also excited that my mom, and hopefully my brother, will be following me to Beirut in a month.

My little Yorkie, Rusty, is trotting around my room in a nervous state of confusion. He gets anxious whenever one of us breaks out the suitcases, which happens quite often in my globe-trotting family. He just hopped right in...maybe I can stick him in my carry-on. No one will know!

Better go finish packing. It's already five o'clock! Keep coming back, and soon I'll have a much more exciting entry for you to read.

Ma'a salama (Goodbye) !