JULY

I can officially say as of today that I leave this month!

I have all of these blog ideas swirling in my head. I imagine sitting down and actually writing an "emotional piece" on leaving Senegal and saying my goodbyes. I also picture writing a long list of things that I will miss coupled with things that I will definitely NOT miss. I find that the things in this list have a tendency of switching positions constantly; some days as I'm wandering around town I can't wait to get out of earshot of screaming African children and other days I find myself getting misty eyed at the thought of never seeing them again. Regardless, those posts will have to wait because I can't bring myself to write them quite yet.

This past week has gone by rather quickly. On Monday I headed to Thies and spent the majority of the day helping with various medical sessions with the Peace Corps medical staff. It's always hilarious to talk with trainees about case studies of various ailments and strange diseases that might occur during their two years because. I remember hearing about all these weird things with names like creeping eruption, Dengue fever, and schistosomiasis. They sounded made up but also terrifying at the same time. The trainees had their share of wide eyed moments and looks of sheer terror listening to the med staff, but the truth is only a few of them will ever deal with any of these scary happenings. On Monday night I attended a birthday dinner bash at Massa Massa, my all time favorite restaurant in Senegal; last time ever! I ate my weight in lasagna and it was glorious.

Shortly after dinner we received word from our Safety and Security Officer that a protest had spilled out of the market and rioting was beginning throughout Thies. As Katherine and I were hailing a cab we saw a truck full of gendarmes with riot shields and tear gun canisters speeding down the main thoroughfare. Upon reaching the Training Center we learned that the riots had grown violent and that we were no longer allowed to leave after dusk and would have a 7pm curfew the following night. Admittedly, I had no problem staying behind locked gates at the Training Center; rioting isn't exactly something I'd like to get involved in. The rioting has since died down, and as of writing this post our curfew has been lifted. I still won't be roaming any Senegalese streets after dark in the near future.

Tuesday was spent hunkering down and finishing my COS report and it feels wonderful to have completed it! It's a weight off my shoulders to finally have everything down on paper and exactly one week from today I'll be handing it to my replacement. I also took my final language test with a Peace Corps language instructor. While the test wasn't too intimidating, especially since I know the instructor well, I still felt like I fumbled with my French. I ended up with an advanced level though, so it's good to know I didn't backtrack after two years! Vive le francais.

Alyssa, Katherine, and I participated in one last session on Junior Achievement with the trainees on Wednesday morning. It will be interesting to see how quickly the trainees become acclimated to the program once they move to their permanent sites. According to unwritten Peace Corps law, at least one set of JA classes are now required of every volunteer in the SED program so I'm excited to see how that all turns out. I hope my replacement doesn't mind me stalking their blog and/or sending them sporadic emails about all the goings on.

The big event on Wednesday was the final "Ladies (and Gents) Who Lunch" luncheon at our favorite lunch spot, Pamandas. Loyal to the very end, we all showed up in our Thiest Region t-shirts. I feel so fortunate to have been placed in a region where I had the chance to become so close with a great group of people. Peace Corps placed 7 lovely ladies in this region and it seemed like kismet from the start. My best friends in Peace Corps have been the other Thies girls and it makes me wonder what my service would have been like if I had been placed elsewhere. In all honesty, I'm not sure I would have made it this long without them. Saying goodbye is going to be brutal. Hopefully the next batch of volunteers who take our places will keep keep the regional pride alive and enjoy afternoon beer breaks as much as we did!

The ladies and Brian

Tomorrow marks two weeks left in Pout, and in honor of our last free weekend, Tamar's birthday, and the 4th of July, we're headed to the beach. Maybe I'll magically end up tan after all? On the 5th I'll be in Dakar completing one of many Peace Corps appointments that need tackling before I head off into the sunset. I'll be back in Pout shortly thereafter...and then my replacement will be here at the end of next week! My how time flies.