so with 11 days left before the take off for staging, i'm flooded with so many emotions. I'm very anxious and excited to get back to africa. While in Guinea, I had made myself a home (my first time living alone besides the dorm life freshman year), connected with a family that treated me as one of their own, and made many, many friends. I'd lie if I said I don't think about Guinea often because I do. Especially lately, it's been on my mind most of the day. For those of you that don't know, all the volunteers in Guinea have been evacuated to Mali this week. There has been political turmoil in the capital and Peace Corps made the decision to evacuate. They are currently evaluating the situation and making the decision whether or not it's safe to send them back into country. I feel for the volunteers for many reasons. As far as I'm aware, they did get a couple days to gather their things and say good bye...not knowing if they'd return. Some if not most were in the middle of projects that will be left unfinished, and who knows if they will be continued without the volunteer present but I hope they all do. G-15, the group I was in, would have been done with their service in February 2010, so what I have heard from some of them is that if they don't return to Guinea, they are going to COS (close of service) 4 months early. There is a mixture of emotions within the group. Some are excited that they may be able to go home for the holidays, others had plans to take the GRE within the next few months in the capital, and a handful were planning to do third years in Guinea and in different countries in West Africa. My heart goes out to them all and I hope everything works out for the best.It's hard for me not to think that if I had stayed in Guinea, my service will have been done in February-just when I'll be at IST (inservice training). This occurs three months after being at site. But I don't let it get me down. I was having mixed feelings about going back to Africa after I got my invitation, but if you look at what I've went through not only in the past 15 months but the time before I left for Guinea, I've invested A LOT of my time and energy in this and it is something I want to do. I have met a lot of people that are in my group going to Niger on facebook and it is a relief. We discuss our hopes and fears, which we share many. It's calming to know, even though I've already gone through it, that I'm not the only one feeling the way I do. I feel good that I know what to expect, to some extent. It's going to be harder, I think, for me to leave this time around for personal reasons but I know that if I don't go, I'll always feel a hole in my life. I feel fortunate enough to have had a family reunion with all the family in the midwest, including both my sisters with one coming from oregon and the other coming from New York not too long ago. It has been awhile since that has happened and probably will be awhile until it happens again. I also am so happy that I have been able to spend many of my last weeks with friends that have been a big part of my life and influenced the person I have become. I am grateful for each and every one of you. I feel lucky to have you all in my life. I will leave you with a picture of my maternal grandmother with all her grandchildren. Until next time....