Its all so final

Its going to be weird going home. I went for a long sunday night run and tried to take it all in. That never works. You can never really 'take it all in' like in the movies when the nostalgic music plays in the background and a slow motion camera pans your surroundings. Its just not like that here. But it still continues to be interesting, even to the bitter end. I spent several hours this morning at the bank to help Erica retrieve money wired to her from the states. I waited for an hour and then gave up. We were smushed (literally smooshed) against a bank teller's window for an hour with 20 of our closest Rwandan strangers staring at pile of moneygram orders. Thank god I brought a pack of Orbit to give out to the smooshers or I would have suffocated too. Six days until departure and we will spend a lot of it getting Erica and Lakshmy ready to go. I don't know how they will get all the things that they bought home in their luggage. I don't know how i will manage my departure either. Hope it goes off without a hitch.

Counting down

I started to blog the other day, but i got distracted. We are all leaving very soon. Ajanta left 2 weeks ago, Brandon leaves tomorrow, Erica on Tuesday, Lakshmy next friday, and then on Sunday, I'm off! I'll fly to Nairobi to meet my friend Julia. We will spend the night there and then hop on a train the next day to travel through the countryside to Mombasa where a beach house called Vila Pole Pole (kiswahili for 'take it easy') awaits us. Patti and Jason will join us there on the 15th for 5 days of sunny relaxing, tanning, eating, and lounging! How much fun can one girl have in a summer. Who knows, but I'm setting a new personal record every day! I've been doing lots of early evening running, enjoying the cool breeze and the night sky here. I will be sad to leave africa. My time here has changed my perspective and 'rocked my world' if you will. No pictures or souvenirs could possibly do this great continent justice. I want to write more, to tell you all everything, but there is not a lot left to say. I will say this, I'll be back. There is no doubt in my mind. If you ever need to remember how to be strong and sure of yourself, a trip here is more than enough.