Farewells and goodbyes

The team I work with in Bangkok. Some of the nicest people I have ever has as colleagues

June is here. The last full calendar month for me while doing this deployment. The time of goodbyes, and saying farewells to people and places that are important to me has started for good. I am now discussing with my colleagues, when we will be gathering for our 'good-bye' encounters - together as a team, and also in various smaller combinations. I am very excited to be moving to Panama City, but I am also sad to be leaving these people behind.

Today I went to the city to do some shopping for boxes and packing materials that I will need to wrap my stuff to keep it safe, when it travels from here to Panama over the sea. There is still time to pack, I am not quite doing my suitcases yet, but I am definitely thinking about it. I will need to have my shipment boxes ready to be picked up on 28th June. It is just a little over 3 week away from today. Not a lot of time left, considering that I am travelling to Indonesia and the Philippines before that.

And exciting news is that I am going to have some visitors coming to see me here in Bangkok, just before I leave. My wonderful friend from my college time, Irene is coming to Thailand for meetings, and of course, we will be trying to spend sometime together!

Another piece of good news is that Tahir's refugee travel document is ready, and we have started the process of his Schengen visa application. It will take time, before he gets it, but we hope there will be no surprises and he will be able to visit Europe in July, so that we can spend time together before I get to go to Panama.



Finally, I am also in a full swing of arranging my trip to Panama City, and also looking at options, where I will live in the city. The first excitement is that I am travelling through Los Angeles, where I will have 9 hours free, in between the planes. Just wondering whether any of you had some ideas what to do in the city during this time. Ideas welcome!