Moving On (Up?)

I left the village yesterday. All my bags are in a big pile in the Linguere office. Until we move to a bigger space later this month, I'm kind of homeless.

Moving was sadder than I expected, considering that in a lot of ways I haven't really left. I'll still be going back to Barkedji to celebrate holidays with the family and to work with my replacement on projects. But the hard part of goodbyes for me is always the realization that things will never quite be the same again. Of course, that's just the forward motion of life. Progress precludes stagnation.

The attachment definitely snuck up on me. I think that we volunteers spend so much time, especially at first, longing for the life we left, that we don't notice getting used to, and even genuinely loving, this new life, until its almost too late. Watching a bunch of my friends leave Senegal recently has made me realize that it'll be hard to leave in a year. After I witnessed my friend Dana tearfully say goodbye to her neighbors in the village after two years, we both wondered why we do this to ourselves. Why is our generation always moving? Leaving something behind for something bigger? Better? We decided that the hard goodbyes are important. They show that what we're leaving meant something.

So, one year down. One to go. I'm trying to make the most of the time I have left in Senegal. It'll go by quickly. I have some year two resolutions, including visiting more friends' sites, going on more bike trips and taking more video footage, but I'll spare you the majority of my self-reflection. I'm trying to see this move not as an end as much as a beginning, an opportunity for new adventures. New hilarity. New fodder for the blog.