Feverish

And I'm back in Bambey! It's good to be back, although I'm sick with a fever and after just one rain Bambey has sitting water. Why am I sick you ask? Seriously, my best answer is air conditioning for almost a week! Geez... what is going to happen to me when I move home this fall?

After I wrote that last entry, I went back to the airport and borded my flight from Togo to Cote d'Ivoire where I had a lay over. I soon found out that they weren't running on time. They said it would leave at 3am rather than 11pm. I was kind of upset since that shot the whole idea of sleeping but I would still make it to my conference. The company bought me dinner (burnt tuna sandwich, but better than nothing) And then 3am rolled around and no plane was in site. I couldn't sleep since the air conditioning was on full blast and the chairs were all metal. I paced back and forth the empty terminal until 5am when we heard the engines of the plane. We boarded shortly after and I saw sunrise from above the clouds.

I arrived in Dakar around 9am and walked into my conference to all my stage-mates clapping. "Yeah, Togo! You made it!" I was exhausted and zoning in and out but so glad to be there. The COS conference was overwhelming, to say the least. We discussed how to write a resume and all about job shaddowing and networking among ReturnedPCVs. Good news is they say PCVs don't have too much trouble finding a job if we are dedicated to searching. We also talked about the readjustment and how, it seems, all you people back home aren't going to understand me. Hmm. So I have a lot of adjusting to do but if you're patient, I swear I will learn how to be an American again!

Which will happen the end of September! I got an Early COS approved for Sept 23 and will fly home shortly after. (I have decided not to travel after I COS but simply come home to red, orange and yellow leaves rather than snow!) I have plenty to do before I can think about it: accouting and marketing trainings, outplanting of my trees, closing up of my compost project, and a possible start up of a city-wide collection system with the mayor. I will start it all when my body temperature is lower than the heat outside! I'm sure the fact that I'm on meds that lower my immune system, I'm a bit stressed about the future and that I didn't get as much sleep as I am used to also played into a cooler temperature that caused such a bad head cold. But I'll live. Nap time. :-)

PS Enjoy the new pictures I put up from my vacation!