Somehow, the end of January has sneaked upon us. That August 2010 COS (Close-of-Service) date once seemed so far away is now in the not-so-distant future. Usually, people leave a bit earlier, especially those of us that are going on to graduate school.
With an end in sight, I’ve been thinking of the next step. With graduate school decisions slowly rolling in, I am faced with some important decisions and one that comes with a hefty price tag. Unless American institutions cough up some serious funding, my choices remain between schools in London and Paris. With acceptance from the LSE (London School of Economics) in hand, the other offers will need to be quite impressive to compete. Stay tuned to the battle of grad school!
I’ve been doing some research online between the different schools, accommodations, etc. One thing leads to another, and before you know it, I was looking at cell phone plans, home decor, grocery stores, gym memberships. And as I look at all these shiny websites, I realized just how far removed I am from the modern world. Everything seems incredibly foreign to me, and I had forgotten a good majority of things that even exists on the marketplace.
The re-integration process will be brutal. In roughly 7 months, gone will be the days of waking up without an alarm, and leisurely drinking coffee and easing into my mornings. Yikes, I best enjoy the remaining of quiet village life while I have it. It’s a tough balance between feeling very excited about the “real world” yet being sad that this part of my life is about to come to an end and I will never experience anything like it again.
But until next summer arrives, I have got some serious work to get done! Currently, I’m teaching the third series of business classes in village. The final count of students from this round is 31! I am quite pleased. Books For Cameroon project is progressing. 20,000+ books will arrive at the end of February. Crossing fingers that all well go somewhat smoothly and that maybe, just maybe, for once Cameroonian bureaucracy and corruption will not rain on our parade.
