I am no good at goodbyes. I am no good at goodbyes!

...Actually, I'm not too bad. I'm much worse about 72 hours later when I realize all the things I meant to say or the tears I meant to cry. Good or not, I must say goodbye to the US and hello to Senegal in less than 48 hours and I have to say I've been feeling pretty confident about the whole thing. This feeling of calm was, however, met with a bit of a blow this afternoon when I discovered that the Peace Corps Mauritania officially shut it's doors. My dearest friend Julie Ann, who has spent the last YEAR+ of her life serving in Mauritania will pass me, by way of Dakar, on her return to the US, just as I arrive to embark on my anticipated journey. I cannot understand what she and the other RIM (République Islamique de Mauritanie) volunteers are going through, but I hope that she knows what an inspiration she has been to me throughout this whole process. She is the kind of volunteer to which I can only aspire and I hope this message finds her well. If it does not, then I will relay to to her in a couple of days where I will bittersweetly meet her (in shallah) in the Dakar airport with a tooth-achingly sweet hug. Flexibility: Peace Corps has made clear the necessity of this trait since I began my application process almost 1 year ago...this is certainly another reminder.

I am no good at this

Dear all,
A word of warning...

Writing is not my greatest strength. I find it painful even when writing for a small audience comprised of my close family and friends. Writing and biking are two activities that cause me stress and anxiety and make me feel weak; however, pain helps us grow and makes us strong and writing this blog along with riding a bike (my primary source of transportation for the next two years) are two of the many painful and challenging activities that I will face during my Peace Corps service in Senegal. Perhaps the difficulty of other hurdles during this time will lessen the severity of the pain I feel while both biking and blogging. Perhaps these two B's will become enjoyable means of escape for me? Or perhaps I will do each of them, even when reluctant, because in the long run I would regret having not. In reality I want to document my Peace Corps journey for my friends, my family and myself...and if it is a little painful at times than just like with biking, I need to suck it up, cause I'm not going to get anywhere if I don't.