my first true act as a Peace Corps volunteer

I very recently had a great visit with Odyssey Community School, my alma mater, the school that opened its doors for the very first time my very first year...what a trip! The Odyssey students and I are going to be keeping in touch with each other during my time in the Peace Corps, and this past Friday I was the guest speaker at their all-school meeting. A group of fifth graders put together an awesome power point presentation about Burkina Faso, Lia said some wonderful things about me, and then I was invited up to talk about myself, Burkina Faso, and the Peace Corps. I answered a lot of great questions and was filled with a renewed sense of excitement about the connection that I'll have with all those great Odyssey students. It's pretty cool to have had a chance to talk with the students with whom I'll be keeping in touch during these next two years.

After I visited OCS, I spent Friday up at Mount Holyoke cheering on the alum vs student rugby game. Thank goodness I purposely neglected to fill out the health form and bring cleats because I was eennnnnnnvvviiiiouuuusssssssssssss of everyone on that pitch kicking butt, and I know that playing rugby after such a long dry spell in physical activity SO CLOSE to my departure day would have been tempting fate severely. After going four years without a significant injury, it woulda been a crying shame to twistpoptearbreak anything that needs to be intact. ...but it was so great to see so many of my Moho peeps from so many different years. I love Mount Holyoke reunion time.

My mother and I were planning on taking a little trip to New York City this weekend but decided against it due to the loud and rainy weather forecast. We didn't really want to be walking around in the rain and thunder...we're such wimps! (...no no...just flexible see?) Instead, my mom and dad and I went shopping for some of the final things on my packing list. I actually can't believe how much time I was able to spend shopping, I'm usually quite terrible at that.

My final weeks are shaping up quite nicely. I have adopted a pretty stellar go-with-the-flow mentality, and I am loving the pace of my life as I am living riiight on the edge of something new and exciting.

Part of the free and awesome feeling I'm exuding these days probably has to do with the fact that I am not formally responsible for anything but myself right now...no job, no real commitments...I'm essentially on vacation right now. A very local, very shoestring budget vacation. I love it. It's great. I love how great it feels to say "yes" to adventures and social gatherings and spending time with friends. I love how flexible my plans are. I love that lots of the people in my life seem to be indulging this flexibility and jumping on for whatever part of the ride they can. And I am jumping on for whatever parts of THEIR rides that I can. Intersectionality. The way I am spending these days is very good for my soul.