in which ameera leaves & annie takes over.

this is a spontaneous guest post by annie! by which i (annie) mean, i am taking over ameera's blog. (she doesn't see it that way. and ps, who else is concerned by my speaking of myself in the third person in that first sentence?)

ANYWAY.

ameera is leaving for the uae today.

TODAY, Y'ALL.

ameera's passion for the middle east has impacted me greatly, most notably by her absence last summer while she was interning in oman, and most recently by a conversation she and i were having with L and her husband A at church last sunday.

let me just tell you about that last instance for a hot second.

L and A and ameera and i are all standing in one of the church hallways talking about the uae when all of a sudden, i remember, as L and A are mentioning, they grew up in dubai. and then the three of them proceed to have a conversation about arabic and the middle east, during which i am hopelessly lost and dazed and confused, a feeling to which i am not used, people; a feeling to which i am NOT. USED.

(awkward syntax much? kind of like the awkward feeling i had. <-- all of this is also awkward.)

to read things that are not awkward, you should head to samantha's blog to read more about what ameera will be doing in the uae.

in the meantime, ameera and me? we're taking a drive to the airport to kick off the beginning of ameera's million and a half hours of travel.

i'm still trying to figure out who roped me into enabling ameera to LEAVE ME.

after all, ameera and i have been good friends for about five years now. doesn't that friendship mean anything to her?!

i'll tell you something (i mean, i've told you a lot of somethings, but this is the last of them): our friendship sure means something - a lot of somethings, and less rambly in nature than the former somethings - to me. and that's why i can tell you, as ameera leaves for the uae today (TODAY, Y'ALL), i have never, ever been prouder of her, nor more blessed to call her friend.