Hard to come, harder to stay, hardest to leave...
That's how I would describe my 2 years in Dori, Burkina Faso. Yesterday I left for good the place that I have come to love. It was much harder than leaving America. Mostly because I have had some real genuine friendships (complete with fights, inside jokes, and all around good times) during my time here and now that it is time to leave I know that I'm leaving for good. When I left America and said goodbye to all my friends there I knew that I would be coming back and would see them again. When leaving Dori I realized that isn't the case for my friends here. So goodbye really meant goodbye. As the bus pulled out of my village and my friends waved goodbye I started to well up a bit. Of course I didn't cry, I'm a man after all...but it wasn't easy ;). A tear may have snuck it's way down my cheek if not for the fact that my heartfelt nostolgia got smashed by frustration as the bus broke down just 1K outside of town. So all in all it was a bittersweet experience. I was sad to go, but ready to leave. If you had told me I had to stay another 6 months I would not have been d'accord. So now the task at hand is to go through the obstable course necessary to transfer to Senegal and come home for Christmas. I've got about 4 tedious reports to do summing up all that I've done these past two years. On Sunday after all that stuff I fly out of Ouagadougou, BF and onto Dakar, Senegal. I'll be there for about 2 days then I'm coming home next Wednesday. For mes amis de Chicago I'll be in the "Chi" from the 16th to the 23rd of December. And as they sing "I'll be home for Christmas."

A Bientôt