An Unexpected Ending

After three weeks of being evacuated in Mali, I am back in Boston. I arrived on Wednesday night to dinner with my old roommates and the reality that my Peace Corps service is done.

On October 20th, we were given the news that Peace Corps Guinea was being suspended; this meant that all 93 volunteers needed to make a decision given the options to close our service, or "COS," just as I would have in July, or transfer to a new country. After analyzing the choices and probably stressing myself out too much while focusing on the decision, I came to the conclusion that I was going to COS; as of October 25th, I was officially done with my service. I came to Peace Corps in hopes of understanding education in the developing world a little better; I definitely achieved that goal. I gained so much more than I imagined I would from the past 16 months and am grateful for all I experienced. Transferring to another country just was not for me at this point. Ten of my fellow education volunteers are all going to Liberia together in January and I am excited to hear their stories and adventures.

After making the decision, my travel companions and I planned a trip to Ghana. A few hours after dropping off my passport to the Ghana embassy, I learned about a job as a classroom teacher at a Catholic high school in Boston. I had been applying to non-teaching jobs and substitute teaching in Cleveland and Boston with the reality that finding a full-time classroom job in November was going to be nearly impossible. Throughout the past three weeks of question and stress, I kept asking God for a sign of what to do, and seeing the email with this teaching opportunity made everything fall into place for me. There were no more questions. The Ghana trip would have to wait, and before I knew it I was flying across the Atlantic once again. I begin teaching on November 4th.

Being a Peace Corps Volunteer has been a gift. In many ways, it was what I expected - teaching math to a group of students in a situation that couldn't be more different than life in Boston and living a simple life in the middle of nowhere are two of the elements that met my expectations. Learning a new language, starting to understand a new culture, living with a warm, kind family in a small African village has opened my eyes in ways no other experience possibly could have. I am so grateful for all of it. I do regret our abrupt departure from Guinea; I feel like I was just getting started in my work and used to the village life; my French was finally making some progress. However, I can only look forward to my next group of students and experiences as a teacher, and appreciate those past journeys that brought me here.

So this is my last "math in africa" blog post; I'm not in Africa anymore! Thank you, merci beaucoup, on jaaraama nani - for coming along with me on this adventure. Your support, prayers, letters, care packages, and phone calls have most certainly contributed to my success in Kourou. I am truly blessed to have students, friends, and family like you in my life. Please continue to pray for the people of Guinea as they continue to struggle and hope for leadership in their country.