Bittersweet.

Part of my whole journey of going into the Peace Corps is made possible (by viewers like you) because of the other adventures that are coming to an end in my life. For example, this August was the first time that I didn't start a new year of school since I was about six years old. I will be starting a whole different type of school when I start teaching English in Azerbaijan, but until then, hearing all of my friends and co-workers talk about classes, quizzes, massive accruing debt, and activities, I feel a little sad over missing out on it all. Another big thing in my life coming to an end is my career as a Barista at Starbucks. Like the P.C., getting a job at Sbux was my sister's idea because her friend was the manager. After the first two weeks I probably would have told I wasn't going to last. Three years later, it's going to be one of the hardest things for me to say good bye to. What keeps me coming back to the smell of old syrup, stale coffee, and moldy milk?
1.) The customers. Some are awesome. Some provide me with entertainment on continuous basis. Some make me so made I want to scream (Instead I smile and "politely" tell them I would be happy to do whatever I can to make their visit better).
2.) My co-workers. Laughter, Tears, Getting accepted into college, getting rejected from college, deaths in the family, births, moving away, daily jokes.. really, I feel like I've been through it all.
3.)Applicable life skills. Being able to adequately wash a window (because coffee filters work waaaay better than paper towels). Making a dang good cup of coffee. Not having pizza burn my mouth anymore because I've worn it away with too much hot espresso. Being able to take apart a grinder, coffee machine, dishwasher, receipt machines, fridges, floor drains, freezers, etc (and most importantly, putting htem back together.)
4.) Making really awesome, but only funny to coffee shop workers, jokes. Like Raw Sugar being the popular kid school.
As you can, it is like one big, wonderful dysfunctional family. And while saying good bye is good because I am starting on such a great adventure, it is going to be really difficult.