the march trip to freetown (5 of 5)

>> a happier post, i promise, in that we're beginning to see the end of the race here. the discussions amongst us volunteers is beginning to be our plans afterward, beginning to be questions about whats next, about the stresses awaiting us, and our plans for our COS (close of service) trip. the plan for myself, for those that care, is to leave gbendembu on july 23rd, go through the final clearances and paperwork in freetown, officially COS on july 27th, and then depart on july 29th from freetown to paris for two weeks in france before returning home to america on august 12th. there's a sizeable party planned for august 17th, but ill give you more details about that later. the important thing i want to convey is that while weve had student deaths, fights, problems, heartaches, sorrow, depression, and even diarrhea, that now, with only about 137 days left, we're beginning to feel a lightness, that we can do this, that we're *so* close that now it's a piece of cake. we'll see if the feeling lasts, but for the past few weeks myself and at least three other volunteers have all expressed similar feelings, that our time is drawing to a close. i love and miss you all :)