The light at the end of the tunnel...

Not that this has been a tunnel, by any stretch of the imagination, but, like the rest of the people here, my mind is beginning to focus more and more on what is ahead...

And I'm starting to get excited. Tomorrow is our last day of classes. Monday is the final assesment. That in itself is going to be great - We have given each small-group a role-play through-which they will solve a problem and demonstrate what they have learned about a particular topic to the group. Each role-play calls into question 2-3 different topics and numerous principles than are to be invoked. Since they have had written tests at the end of every week, this is a great way to prove their ability to apply the learning to a complex reality. They are actually REALLY hard questions, but the quality of the participants is so good that I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Tuesday is wrap-up stuff and Wednesday is the closing ceremony. By Thursday, everything will be done and I'll be free to go. It will be sad to say goodbye to the participants, many of whom I have developed a very deep relationship, with. But on the other hand, another adventure awaits.

This afternoon, after staff-meeting, I rode my bike across town to pick up my passport with a "Regional Visa" It gives me 60 days to go into any country in francophone West-Africa as many times as I like, as long as I don't leave the region. I probably won't use it in every country, but it only cost me about $60 - that's less than what I paid for my original entry visa for this country!!

On my way back, I stopped at the "Institute Geographique" and picked up a couple of road-maps to get me started. Now it is really hard to concentrate on the jobs that I have left. (There is actually quite a lot of administrative stuff that needs to be finished up so that I can leave next Friday).

This evening was the "Staff Dinner" where Cathy, our course-director took us all (there are 7 of us including herself) out for dinner. It was nice to spend the evening in an air-conditioned, fancy restaurant, enjoying yummy French cuisine. I shared a meat platter with a colleague and it came with french-fries and spinach as side-dishes. Yep. The French do have good cuisine, but sometimes it is just weird.