It’s been pretty quiet around here au village these days. With my projects mostly wrapped up and not enough time to really do much else, I am relishing in these last 81 days of freedom and embracing every bit of boredom that I may feel. Chances are, my life will not move at such a leisurely pace ever again until my retirement.
Today, I received a call from Sally, the lovely travel planner for Peace Corps, to confirm my flight home. This is real now. On July 24th, I will finally be back on American soil. Confirming the flight means this is real. I am finally going to leave Cameroon. That song lyric, “Leaving on the jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again.” is going to become very real. My feelings are split between excitement and extreme freight.
81 days is still a little over two months, and I am filling my days with books, French magazines, a lot of TV Series (been on a serious West Wing kick), some movies, etc. Of course in between, I go out and hang out with my bar lady, neighborhood kids, and just passing time with people in village. Even so, my mind is pretty bored and I’m getting antsy. I’ve thus taken up learning Spanish and Russian and try to read some economics textbooks in an attempt to prep for grad school. However, that has made me realize that my attention span is very low now and I’m looking at a very grueling few months of adjustment in the fall…
Finding a way to preserve the present moments and striking a balance between the antsy feelings and looming sadness that accompanies with the upcoming departure is not easy, but I’m trying to stay grounded through the last 81 days, not rushing through the experience and taking it in for all its worth.
1 thought on “81 Days & Counting”