This one is starting in an incredibly barren room. I've lived in this room for the past three years and always found it quite cozy. The walls had pictures, a variety of greenery added a bit of life, and it was otherwise filled with a richness that said it was cared for--or at least lived in. Now I'm left with a bed, a pile of clothes, and this computer.
Of course, I shouldn't complain. In fact, if I have described too dreary a life for you, you probably should just close this blog and be done with it. Soon there will be no computer, because there will be no power. That large comfy bed is going to turn into a cot (God willing with something better than a straw mattress, but even that might be a pipe dream). And this glorious A/C unit that fights off the heat from my monstrous floor to ceiling windows... well, a life without constantly streaming sweat is about to become a thing of the past.
I've joined the Peace Corps and I'm shipping off to Mali at the end of May. For 27 months of my life, I will be squinting under the African sun and trying to convince locals I'm competent enough to dig a well, build a latrine, or irrigate a field. Well, technically the first three months of the trip will be learning to do all those things, but you get the point.
Goodbye, DC. You've been good to me.
