There are funny things here that I use to keep tabs on how long I've been here... While I'm here, I have to take a malaria prophylaxis every day. I was advised to bring down enough pills for my whole six month contract, so I came down with about 175 pills. And as I watch my supply dwindle, it's like a visual representation of my time here. I also decided to leave my external hard drive at home, so every thirty days or so my MacBook will remind me how many days it's been since I last updated... another reminder of how long I've been away. At this point, it's been over four months and I have less than three left. My final day will be August 5 and I'll start orientation at Tulane on August 19. Just one more whirlwind transition with a cross-country move involved.
In reflecting on my experience so far, I find myself shocked at how transformative of an experience it's been. I think back on how I dealt with different situations in my first few weeks and how I deal with them now and it's hard to believe I'm the same person. Things that would have brought me to tears when I first arrived now barely even register. My obsessive need to be the smartest person in the room and my somewhat unhealthy level of ambition have both mellowed a bit. I've found that it's not so important to have the highest level position, but rather to have a position that allows you to have somewhat of a work-life balance and that you find interesting. And that's what I have now and I'm happy with it.
In my last post I wrote about how monotonous life can be here. The situation is still the same, but I decided to take the reins and make some changes. I'm working on organizing a pub quiz night at one of the local bars, I arranged a GOAL potluck this weekend, and I'm planning a karaoke night this week. Sometimes you just have to decide that you're going to get out of your rut and drag other people out with you.
Sadly, there are some changes coming that I'm not looking forward to. My French roommate got a job with another NGO and she's leaving at the end of the month. She'll still be in country, but not in Freetown. The dynamic that we have in our flat is one of my favourite things about my life here and it will be really hard to do without. It can be hard to trust people in an aid context because aside from drinking, gossip is probably the number one pastime. But I do trust my flatmates, and it will be really hard to watch her go. Our Assistant Country Director, who is absolutely fabulous, is also leaving at the end of the month... and then our Financial Controller at the end of June. One by one, my social circle is deserting. I realize that I'm deserting, too, but it doesn't make it much easier.
I know that it will be alright and that the time will fly by, even as I start to miss the people who have gone. It's just strange to realize that somehow, without me really noticing, my time here has started slipping away. However, I'm hoping that we're finally starting to get to the beginning of the end of Ebola. In order to be declared Ebola-free, a country has to pass 42 days (twice the incubation period of the disease) without any new cases. Although cases have been reducing steadily, we continue to have small surges of 4 or 5 cases at a time that have been stalling our progress. As of today, Sierra Leone has had 5 days with zero new cases. This is a big milestone for us and we're really hoping this could be the start of our 42 days. My big hope is that I'll be able to be here to see the end of Ebola, but it's hard to say whether or not that will happen. Ojala...
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