Cha-cha-changes....

all of us at dinner in Dublin

Talking with Gordon and his new son!

The gang in Africa

In Malawi :)

In Malawi :)

A pint with Megan in Guinness

All of us at dinner

Megan and Maeve

The boys and I

Megan, Ryan, and I in front of Andy and Maeve's house

This weekend sure put things in perspective a bit for me. It was our 2 year African Reunion....as many of our Malawi volunteer gang that could make the trip came to Dublin. Here's the breakdown:

Present in Dublin:
Maeve and Andy (married Irish couple who were on their honeymoon in Malawi)
Megan and her finace Ryan (engaged American-Irish couple. Megan was a volunteer.)
Me

Missing:
Maggie (Irish volunteer who I spent Christmas with in Belfast)
Gordon (my old roomie in Malawi: Scotish)
Chelsey (Canadian wonderfulness)
Mike (Canadian who just returned for the second time this month)

The trip started as I was shocked at the airport when Meave greeted me with a plump belly, filled with the new Gacquin twins due in August! Ryan and Megan flew in Friday morning and the three of us hit up the Guinness factory together. As we drank our pints in the skybar atop the factory, we talked about their honeymoon plans: a glorious return to Malawi! Can you imagine it?!? Obviously they are a perfect couple to both be up for honeymooning in Mwaya Beach :)

Saturday we spent at a piping (bag pipes) contest in the north for Ryan and Megan. Afterwards we came back to Andy and Maeve's Dublin home for a wonderful last night together: a Malawi slideshow. We took everyone's pictures, ours and those who were absent, and watched and laughed over pizza and Guinness. We even made a Skype conference call to our friend Gordon, my old roomie, who just had his first son. After Africa, he decided it was time to settle down, moved to New Zealand to be with the love of his life, and is now the proud pop of Jake! It was so strange to have all of us together but with so many changes.....babies, weddings, new countries, etc. My life sure seems boring compared to that(don't worry, Mom, I'll keep it like that for a while!). It was wonderful to see where our lives have taken us and where they continue to go. The great thing is that no matter where we go, we'll always carry little bits of each other with us as we go on our own ways.

Anyways, it just makes me thankful that all of our paths crossed at one time in our lives and that we still cherish the bond we formed together no matter where life takes us.