Big news! Lisa and I are about to return to the U.S. for good! After almost a year in Washington and nearly two in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, we’re heading home. Being a Foreign Service family has been an incredible experience, but we’ve decided to return to Austin and the private sector. One day I’ll do a more detailed post on our decision, but suffice it to say that it was not an easy one. We’ve made some amazing friends and it will be sad to say goodbye. On the other hand, we’re very much looking forward to seeing our families and friends soon.
Since it will take our stuff two to three months to reach Austin, we’ll be staying with family and friends in the meantime and spending some of our savings on travel so that we can visit friends around the globe. After that, it’s back to Austin where I hope to once again work with some of the talented folks in the video game industry while moving forward on some of the comic book projects I’ve been developing in Uzbekistan.
Aisle 3: Grocery Items, Drugstore Products, and Marvel Essential Collections
The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity. I organized all of our extra food and drugstore products into a basement shop along with other odds and ends. We only have a limited amount of weight we can ship back, so it’s great to lighten our load while earning a little cash for the things we’ll need upon our return. This kind of sale is different than a garage sale in the states in that many items can sell for close to their original prices because there are a lot of things that aren’t available on the local economy. Ten bucks for a pound of coffee is a steal when you compare that to the price of U.S. coffee brands in local stores from thirty to forty dollars!
Clothes, Bags, and Shoes, Oh My!
Of course, we’ll be donating many things as well. We have boxes of books for the Community Liaison Office in the embassy as well as for the Information Resource Center where Uzbek citizens can go to learn more about the U.S. There are clothes for local charities as well as any remaining food that will go to friends and neighbors rather than languishing for three months on the way home. Personally, I can’t wait to make a trip to Central Market once I have my own kitchen again!
