Wanderlust Wendy

In less than 3 hours, I’ll be on my way to the airport and begin the long journey back to the U.S.A.! This is the moment that I’ve waited for for two years, and as strange and sureal as it is, I am ready to begin the next chapter of my life!

This last week was wonderful. I spent it in Yaounde with the last group of the 2008-2010 SED/ED volunteers. As it stands, Laura and I are the last two still hanging around in the transit house. Last night, we said a big batch of goodbyes. The end of one’s Peace Corps service is one of the strangest moments in life. It’s incredibly difficult to describe, but I was glad to have 8 other wonderful loves here to experience the end of this journey.

David described our group as “never has there been a group of individuals assembled who has such insatiable appetite for enjoying themselves” during our final ceremony. And how right he was. We like to think of this group as a “work hard, party hard” group. Our APCD graciously said something nice about each one of us during this ceremony – the work we did in the community, the kind of volunteer we were, etc. All of us managed to do a good amount of work but also had a lot of fun! We later were presented with an amazing pin that we’ve all been waiting for: a pin that has the U.S. & Cameroonian flags and the Peace Corps logo.

Naturally, this week, we indulged in the finer things and frequented the fancy establishements in Yaounde to celebrate the end of our service. The indulgence included Happy Hour at the Hilton, lovely dinner at a fancy French restaurant, a visit to the artisanat market for last minute souvenirs, many many dance parties at the PC transit house and a big celebration for Ehab’s birthday! This week happened to also be mid-service week for the volunteers who came a year after us, and we were able to celebrate this ending with some great people. Time spent with Americans during this last week has helped me get into the correct mindset for returning. Two years since I’ve been on the American soil. I think I’m in for a shock!

I’m scared, excited, sad, nervous and all sorts of other emotions. For the coming weeks and even months, I will likely have crazy anedotes on my readjusment to the US and the “real world” in general. This experience will quickly fade into a dream, but I’m glad this blog was here to capture moments of this dream. Thank you all for following my service these past two years.

For now, I say: au revoir Cameroun! Hello U.S.A.!