The vacation to end all vacations

After a lengthy and fantastic vacation, I have successfully returned to Senegal. I wasn't in desperate need for a vacation, but the opportunity to visit Eastern Europe (with someone who knows quite a bit about the area) is one I couldn't pass up. Ever since my brother moved out to Serbia in the fall of 2006, I have been trying to find time to visit him. Three years later, there I was, sitting on an Airbus A320, grinning from ear to ear as the jet rocketed down the runway of Leopold Senghor International Airport. Upon arrival in Serbia, our little trio (my mother, my brother and I) spent a few days walking around Belgrade and eating amazing food. Then, thanks to the support of both our parents, Elliott and I ventured off on a tour of the Balkans. In a 10 day span, we saw various parts of Montenegro (including the beautiful Durmitor National Park, where we camped), Bosnia (including Jahorina, the site of the 1984 Winter Olympics), Sarajevo, and Dubrovnik (Croatia).


Simply put, I could not have asked for a better vacation. Not only did I get to enjoy the thing I miss the most as a volunteer (Western food), but I also got to spend time with my family and have a crazy adventure to top it off. Now, having returned to my "real" life, I'm ready and excited for the upcoming year here in Senegal. Even though the timing of my trip was unfortunate in respect to our basket order, the first container of baskets was sent to Dakar and shipped off with no problems that we know of. We will, however, have to set up a 2nd container to send the remainder of the order. As far as my leather workers, we'll be working on making a full fledged catalog over the next few weeks, as well as hopefully editing their video footage into a movie. In exactly one month, my stage and I will celebrate the one year anniversary since we arrived in Senegal. The fact that we've almost finished one whole year here is very strange indeed, and I will probably spend quite a bit of time over the next few weeks pondering how fast time flies. Anyway, I'm putting up a Picasa album with pictures from the trip so people can see all of them. Hope everyone is doing well and I'm glad to hear you're doing better Grandma! Ba ci kanaam!