Fallou Niang ponders the end of Ngaye

After almost two years here in Ngaye, it boggles my mind that my time is coming up. While most people in my group are leaving Senegal within the next month or so, I will be moving to Dakar until next March. I remember moving here in November 2008 and looking at my room, wondering "Is this really where I'm going to live for the next two years?" Having moved dorms every year in college, the idea of spending two years in this small nondescript town was intimidating to say the least. Yet, after 22 months here, my replacement is in Senegal and going through training (no clue as to who it is yet, but they're in Thies going through PST at the moment). Even though my service will go on until March, I feel that my true volunteer experience is ending. Working in the Peace Corps office in Dakar will be so different from my work here in Ngaye that I probably won't feel like a Peace Corps Volunteer at all anymore. I'd be lying if I said there weren't times I wish I could speed up my time here in Ngaye, and there have indeed been some tough moments, both with the family, work partners, and the community. But as my last month flies by, it's hard not to feel somewhat nostalgic already. Even my 8 year old host brother and namesake, Fallou, has started asking me when I will be coming back after my departure. While I'm looking forward to working in Dakar for a few months, when I look back on my Peace Corps service, the memories that will stick are those of riding my bike out to villages to inspect baskets and of the adventures I had with my fellow volunteers.

That brings me to another point, saying goodbye to friends. The morning I showed to staging in Philadelphia, I remember walking into the hotel thinking "This very moment will determine how happy I am as a volunteer". I was skeptical about what my fellow volunteers would be like. Truth be told, I was very nervous that it would be a bunch of rag tag hippies and that I would have a hard time fitting in. I figured I could tough it out in an African village for two years, but if the other volunteers weren't good friends of mine, things would be much harder. Having said that, I don't think I've ever fit into a social group better than I have here. I made numerous friends during my service, many of whom will remain good friends of mine for the rest of my life. Maybe some of it is due to the fact that we all went through this somewhat insane adventure here in Africa together, and maybe some of it is due to similar personalities. Either way, my service would have been so much more difficult if it weren't for the volunteer support network we are so lucky to have. One of the downsides of extending for even a short period of time is that I am slowly having to say goodbye to every one of these close friends. While at times it seemed like Peace Corps would never end, I spent last week wishing I could have another good 6 months to spend with my friends here and wishing they didn't have to leave. I'll definitely see many of them back home when I do finish my service, but it's still sad to see the end of an era.

Right after my group came back from Sierra Leone, we had our COS conference, which was great, mostly because our group had not been together since IST (in January 2009!). We went over all the required paperwork needed to be filled out in order to go home, and strategies for "re-integrating" back into the U.S. We got put up in a fancy hotel that had hot showers and air conditioning, which was glorious to say the least. It was definitely a great way for our group to have a sort of "communal" goodbye, and I'm happy I was able to attend. As for Sierra Leone, it was incredible. Beautiful beaches, wildlife reserves, diamonds, mountains, and a very cool Freetown were highlights of the trip. I won't bore everyone with the itinerary of our trip, but I am posting the 516 pictures I took on a Picasa album with a link here on the blog so everyone can see them. For the next few weeks, I'll be helping out with training in Thies as well as writing a grant proposal for my leather workers (they want a hydraulic press to make shoes faster) and also preparing things for my replacement. I'm off to write some of my COS report right now, but hope all is well back home and that people enjoy the Sierra Leone pictures!. Bunu nosee, temps bi dafa gao! (time flies when you're having fun!)