Zürich

Waiting, waiting. The country outside reminds us both of the beginning scene of the French countryside in Inglorious Basterds and we want to go romp in the Fall colors. Flying over these little hamlets and gorgeous trees makes us feel lame for being stuck at an airport, waiting for our briefly-laid-over flight, by cappuccino machines instead of real, European coffeeshops.

The flight over is good enough, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince soothes our beginning-travel nerves. We sit next to Herbert, and ex-marine military contractor who just returned from sixteen months in Iraq, four days at home, and is now bound for Kenya, Sudan, and wherever the contract brings him. We bond over a Courvoisier the attendant brings us for free because our dinner took a while (even though it didn't), and he wonders what in the world I can do with a Religious Studies major.

Last-minute bank details and being on hold with our credit cards wrapped up our morning and kept us from calling several folks who would've liked a call. Dad, Rev, Kevin, Dixcy, Jenny, Sarah, Randall, Becca... sorry to have missed you guys and much love.

As for us it is good to finally set wheels on another continent, and we have done so with much blessing. Rachel was determined to send us off and has been in Washington since Thursday. The Sweetgreen crew wouldn't let me ay for my last salad and yogurt, even though I had amassed enough points for a free yogurt and then some; said Manuel: "Es su último día." Several friends joined us at the Brickskellar and had a few last drinks, and my manager gave us a beautiful, all-encompassing voltage converter as a going-away present. Amid the sentiment, a plate of Irish Car Bombs falls to the ground, which is why my sweatshirt, also on the ground, reeks of Guinness, Jameson's, and Bailey's.

Perhaps the biggest blessing - apart from the unfathomably full support of Rachel - is the hospitality of Andy and Tawny, who took us in and allowed us a home base with which to pack, repack, and repack again. In their apartment, Rachel cooks for us while we're on hold with Bank of America. She'll be on her own adventures this year, her own sabbatical, and she reminds me in a note I carry around: "We'll be so much cooler and grounded when we get back." And so we shall, God willing.