Saying Goodbye

Somehow 2 years has flown by. I didn't see the end coming so quickly.

The past few months have been incredibly busy. Since our COS (Close of Service) conference in February I've been running around Senegal, hosting a good friend from the States,finishing up projects, co-directing our regional girls' leadership camp, and tying up the end of my time here. I apologize for the lack of blog posts, but I hope to post more pictures from all of these events once I make it home (my computer has finally given up after 2 years in the desert so I'm waiting to upload those).

I left village last Sunday and no other occasion in my life has really been so bittersweet. Despite the village, people and culture being so different from anything I'd ever experienced, I had really made a life for myself in Sedo Abass, and was truly sad to see it end; and because it was so different, it's end had a degree of finality I'd never experienced. No longer will I wake up outside, to the sound of the morning call to prayer and animals milling around my compound. No longer will I have to draw water from a spigot, and shower from a bucket. No longer will I eat lunch around one large lunch bowl with my host-family. No longer will I greet everyone in Pulaar, or really have any reason to speak Pulaar on a regular basis. My days will not be punctuated by the five calls to prayer. I will no longer have a mid-day siesta, where everyone is merely trying to escape the heat. These factors will soon become irrelevant. And to someone who's been encompassed by them for 2 years, it's going to be hard to return to a world where they mean nothing.

Saying goodbye to my village was one of the hardest parts of being in Senegal. I'm leaving some great friends here in Senegal, and an amazing family and community that took care of me for 2 years. I've grown to love some parts of Senegalese culture, and will miss the Senegalese hospitality that has welcomed me time and again during my time here. That being said, I am also excited to return home, reunite with family and friends, and meet the newest addition to my family, my nephew! Therefore, you can see how hard this time is for me, being pulled emotionally in two opposite directions. I will spend 6 weeks in Europe before coming home, traveling with friends to give myself some time to readjust to the Western world without the pressures of being home. I cannot wait to see all of you in the near future, and thank you so much for reading about my experiences here!

Outside Perspective

As my time here in Senegal is quickly approaching an end, it's hard to find fun things to write about, as everything seems so normal. The daily routine, my constant surroundings, the language I speak.. while 2 years ago I couldn't even imagine it, is now my norm. Therefore it's nice to have visitors to gain a little perspective on your situation; they notice and point out things that no longer strike you as different, and remind you that you're doing something that not many people do. While I haven't had any visitors (ahem, you guys only have 4 months left to make the trip over!) my friend Claire's mom and sister recently visited, and made it all the way to Claire's village in Matam. They wrote beautiful guest posts on Claire's blog that I just had to share: Mom, Sister (Annie).

Enjoy!