In Peace Corps life, the idea of "time" has an uncanny ability to constantly throw one for a loop. At the height of Ramadan, when the heat is so intense it physically prevents you from doing much of anything, and work is no where to be found - time could not possibly move slower. When you throw vacations and travel and busy days into the mix, time seems to vanish and all of a sudden it's practically May.
While I've been thinking (and dreaming) about my return to the Motherland for a long while, the reality of leaving didn't sink in until recently. When I returned from Cape Verde last week I turned in my official request to early COS to the Peace Corps office. Early COS (or early "close of service") basically means that I'm requesting to leave earlier than my scheduled departure date. Under normal circumstances, we would not be allowed to leave early without some sort of real excuse (job offer, proof of grad school acceptance, etc). However, the group of volunteers that will be replacing my group is arriving in country 2 months earlier than we did. They'll be here in June, and Peace Corps needs us out of our houses by the end of July so that they can fix them up and prepare them for the volunteers when they move in August. So, I heard word yesterday from the country director for Peace Corps Senegal that our requests are almost guaranteed to be accepted.
I am totally okay with that!
Don't get me wrong; leaving will be incredibly difficult. I've already started to get emotional about saying goodbye to my family, Yacinne, and my counterparts, not to mention all the PCVs I've become so close with. But I'm mentally prepared to start the process of letting go. I've only got 2 1/2 months left in Pout, which may seem like a lot of time, but in the grand scheme of things is nothing. I remember celebrating our first 100 days in country and thinking it was a monumental occasion; now 100 days seems like just a blip on the radar.
I suppose I should save the rambling on about leaving for a later date. I do still have some time, after all. For now, I've been starting the last of my projects and trying to create work that my replacement can jump into right off the bat. Yesterday I met with several members of the administration of Ecole 4, which is another elementary school in Pout near my counterpart's house. They loved the idea of Junior Achievement classes, so I'll be starting with both the 4th and 5th grades next week. I'm a bit disappointed that once I finish with this school I won't have time for the remaining elementary school in Pout, but 3 out of 4 ain't bad. Hopefully my replacement will take a liking to the idea and continue where I left off when school starts in the fall.
I'm also in the midst of starting the Michele Sylvester Scholarship program again with the middle school, but it's proving to be very difficult. The teachers have been striking on and off all semester and they are literally holding their students' grades hostage while the bargaining plays out. Without the actual grades, I can't choose the 9 girls who will be part of the program and thus it's impossible to begin any part of the process. The principal has no clue when he'll have the grades in hand; he claims next week, but I'm guessing that is entirely untrue. I had already started scheduling essays and home visits by this time last year, so I'm getting nervous that the school won't get its act together for me to accomplish this. Cross your fingers!
In other random news, my girlfriends and I are headed to the Gambia tomorrow for a quick 4 day trip. The Gambia is the country completely engulfed by Senegal, so we all figured we should actually see it before we jet off to America. We had submitted a vacation request before we left for Cape Verde, and honestly assumed it was going to be rejected. Peace Corps doesn't allow us to travel within the last 3 months of service, so we were attempting to squeeze in a trip and use all of our vacation days at the last minute. It was accepted somehow and now we're leaving tomorrow and basically flying by the seat of our pants since none of us have been there and don't have much to go on. The tentative plan is to leave super early tomorrow, cross the border into the Gambia at some point, and make our way to a chimpanzee rehabilitation center in the eastern half of the country (I am super stoked about this, and am praying we actually see chimps!). From there, it's back west to Banjul, the capital, for some famous Mexican food, exploring the city, and doing...we don't know yet. It's sure to be a good time regardless.
Random adorable picture:
kids at Yacinne's house eating Peeps on Easter Monday
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