A Fast Forward of Sorts... On the road again!

It has been some time since my last post and a lot has changed in the past 2 years.

For those of you who do not know, I stayed in Burkina Faso for a third year (yeeaaaa despite what I may have said in a previous post. WOMP) during which I worked as a monitoring and evaluation consultant for a couple of national ministries as well as the Peace Corps.  With this new role came a fancy “office”, a house in the “city” with plumbing & electricity, as well as a decent number of both great and terrifying stories.  I presented work directly to the minister of health, appeared on national television, and had a wonderful learning experience.  I also got the opportunity to travel through Ghana again (story to come in another post). At the end of my third year I was ready to return home and start grad school… but the Peace Corps and fate called with a proposition.  They wanted me to stay and offered me a position as a salaried technical trainer.  After some reflection I took the position and moved to yet a larger “city” where I lived with the country director in a building that can only be described as a mansion.  I stayed in the pool house and enjoyed gourmet meals every night.  I made more money as a short term consultant than I had over the entire 3 years as a PCV. Life was good; I was and continue to be incredibly humbled by the opportunity and am thankful for the adventure that the job turned into.  

After the expiration of this contract, I backpacked though Morocco and Turkey where I had an absolutely exquisite experience.  Turkey is by far my favorite country that I have had the pleasure of visiting.  Parasailing, beach, sailing, caving, and a plethora of ancient structures kept Kristine and I busy and in a state of constant astonishment.  

After the travels, I returned home to the USA and suffered my fair share of reverse culture shock moments.  I began grad school, moved to Minneapolis, and experienced a never before seen side of America; The Midwest.  Braving snow, howling gust of wind, skiing uphill, and what often seems like frozen personalities I made Minneapolis home.  (SideNote- I’ve eaten more red meat, potatoes, and corn in the past year than I have EVER in my life.  What a cool experience)

I now find myself between the first and last year of school with a rather nagging itch to explore India. After no less than 2 projects on health care in India, I decided to go see for myself what the Indian-subcontinent has to offer.  And dear read… if the first day is any indication… I am going to love it. 

Read on as I share new stories and also reflect on older experiences that I never wrote about here. 

Cheers,

The End

It has been entirely too long since I have last posted something on here. Year two has flown by and I find myself at the beginning of my "cos", or closing of service. A lot has happened in the past few months and for better or for worst, I find myself feeling both satisfied with my service up to today as well as ready to go home.

A Review:

1. My largest project, The Youth Conference, went off brilliantly and I am thankful for the donations from people back home as well as the number of other volunteers that leant me their support. Thank you again (see previous post). With this finished I can finally relax and "coast" through my last few weeks in country.

2. I'm writing this post while sitting on a beach...next to an old british castle...in Ghana. Stunning, if not magnificent! The people are amazing, the landscape is beautiful, the historical relevance is undeniable, and surfing... is a lot harder than it looks. I may be sporting some new head injuries when next you see me. Accra, Cape coast, Takarati, Butra, Busua, and then back to Burkina. Its amazing to me that one of Burkina's neighbors can be so completely different from Burkina itself. In comparison Ghana has a similar culture, better food, better scenery, and a better developed infrastructure. It may just be one of my favorite countries that I've had the chance to travel to --although Grenada is still a strong contender. Remarkable transport systems, cleanliness, fantastic food, general friendliness, and epic scenery set Ghana apart from neighboring countries.
The majority of the country's roads are in the process of being paved or are already paved (with actual traffic lines), traditional foods include fried chicken and fried rice, and the country's castles/forts add a touch of magic to the country. The short of the long, do I really have to go back to Burkina?

3. Our close of service(cos) conference came and passed without much incident. I am quite amazed at the rapidity in which the last two years have flown by and part of me almost feels like i could do another two years, but then my stomachs growls and I remember all of the food mishaps during my service. COS conference consisted of resume building workshops, job hunting workshops, and discussing what exactly "closing one's service" means. As we start thinking about life after Peace Corps, a certain amount of fear of the unknown begins to surface and manifests itself in the form of anxiety attacks and OCD job searches. We've dedicated years, arguably 2 of our best, to the development of a country that most people don't even know exists. How does that translate in America and more importantly, how do we share this experience on Resumes and in writing?

4. My final project in village will be a nutritional rehabilitation regime targeting moderately malnourished children between the ages of 6 and 59months. The two week course/regime/program will consist of sessions on nutrition, proper breast feeding techniques(led by yours truly), hygiene practices, and enriched porridge preparation.

5. Andddd I'm OUT! 60 days!

Friends back home have <started/finished> <medical/law/grad> school but still find themselves at a loss for ideas on what they want to do with their lives. I, unfortunately, will not be sharing their discomfort and have decided to pursue public policy with a focus on monitoring &evaluation. Although I will be eternally grateful for this experience, I'm ready to move on.
As one of the many authors whose book I've read during my service (82 books) put it, in more or less words:

I am not only going to miss this experience, but I am going to miss the person I am during this experience. Never again will I be this person and never again will I feel exactly as I do at this point in time.

Every new beginning starts from some other beginning's end.
See y'all soon!