I suppose that I should get a new blog title since I am no longer a Burkinabe bebe...!
I have been free for exactly 25 days! No more worrying about Peace Corps rules, vacation days or having my professional and personal life too uncomfortably overlapping with each other! But, no more living life in Fulfulde and French, hanging out with my family in village or having the most flexible, unstructured job I will ever have. Ca va aller, as they say.

So, what did I do in my last few weeks? I finished up my last project, a girls camp for girls who were at the risk of failing their national primary school exam. (Check out pictures) I prepared myself for my many good-byes. I spent time with my family in village. Sincerely, I slept a lot, too. It's been an exhausting two years and the last few months were excessively tiring...thus, excessive sleeping. I think that I subconsciously decided to make up for all the sleep deprivation I've accrued since I was 11. School was over, all of my projects were finished and everyone was out in the fields planting during the day, so I'm took advantage of all this free time and slept like I won't be able to sleep again until I enter retirement. And, it was great!

I also started meditating regularly, working on focusing on the present moment and the things right in front of me. My living situation, as you all know, was the ideal place for such an endeavour. I had no distractions - at all, no electricity or anything to entertain myself but whatever came into my creative mind. You would think that such emptiness would make this practice that much easier, but it's surprising how the need to move, do and prove something is so persistent. Life in Burkina was so much slower and less stimulating than any situation I have ever experienced before. I've been a New Yorker since birth and have been on the move, setting goals and pursuing dreams since I was really young. It took great amounts of will and strength to overcome certain habits and ways of thinking and to give in to the pace of life.

When I did finally figure out how to slow down, I learned so much about myself - just from this one aspect of my life in Burkina. I learned to appreciate small accomplishments and to put some space in my mind between the reality around me and the incessant, internal commentary that shapes it. Well, at least, I'm trying to practice these things and hope that I can carry them with me wherever I go next in Life. In the end, I am grateful for my Peace Corps experience. It wasn't easy but if I really think back, it was what i asked Life to give me. I wanted a challenge, I wanted to be pushed and to be made into something new. I am sure that I can't see all the ways that it has affected me, changed me and re-created me from still-so close a distance.

I do know that the experience i gained in my village will forever shape so much of what i think about development - for better or for worse. More concretely, I was able to gain hands-on experience with public health issues on the rural village level. I had always been interested in international development/politics, but the interest was without a solid focus. From my perspective in village, the lack of control of their health was one of the greatest obstacles for my villagers to progress and shape their own lives. Also, the mentality that something as crucial as health is beyond their control cripples how they view their lives and the agency which they have to improve their situations. the lack of understanding regarding illness tranmission, treatment and prevention leaves them more vulnerable than just simply being sick. After my work in village, I am looking forward to seeing how much further I would like to pursue this new interest in public health. So, we'll see where this takes me...

But for now... all this Life-pondering is on hold. Right now, i'm in Senegal, enjoying the chance to travel without the worry of vacation days, living out of my backpack and just soaking up wherever I go with no better purpose than to just be there. and, it's great! I went from Burkina to Mali to Senegal by bus, so i have been slowly crawling up the development ladder. it has been an adventure. The place where I'm staying right now is the home of a friend's sister and has running water and wireless internet. oh, Life is good. I went to Dakar for a few days and it was so soothing and familiar to be back in a big city. The simple things make Life good. oh, Life is very good.

It's been great to have internet access and no longer be isolated and incommunicada in my little mud brick hut. (though, i must say it's odd not having a cell phone. i should probably relish this. when again in my life will a cell-phone-free life be possible or desirable?) I've been able to write emails and catch up on news, especially in regards to the American presidential race. Here's a little bit of presidential economics that I found quite interesting.

Ok, well, this entry was just to inform you all that i made it. I did the two years and I made it! it's an experience behind me now and I've got amazing travels and wonderful things ahead of me! So, i'll update again soon with details of these travels and hopefully some pictures, too.

And lastly, happy birthday to my beautiful sister!! XOXO