see the first, second, third, and fourth.

today is my last full day in Africa. in this little corner of Zambia. in Livingstone. and with African Impact. i know i won’t be able to write a complete “in review” post yet because most things haven’t settled enough for me to reflect on them. but i can paint a picture of my last day.

i woke up early as usual this morning and spent an hour lying in bed looking at the ceiling and the brightening window. i didn’t sleep very well last night and i’m sure it’s because my brain has already moved ahead to tomorrow. to packing. to leaving. to London. to home. to responsibilities. to real life. i tried to pull my mind back to the present and meditated on the water stains on the ceiling while reminding myself i only have 30 hours left on this continent. and who knows when i’ll be back.

as on most mornings, a text message from Jonathan pinged me out of my reverie. he’s so sweetly attentive and knows exactly when i’m waking up and always remembers to wish me good-night with almost perfect timing. the balance on my Zambian SIM card is dwindling and i’m trying to stretch it over these last two days without having to top up again. i’m sure his cell phone bill this month will be ridiculously high.

i was eating cinnamon toast and drinking tea in the kitchen downstairs by 730am. there is quite a large group of African Impact volunteers leaving today and an even larger group leaving tomorrow. i know at least two other girls on the same British Airways flight as me from Jo’burg to Heathrow.

so there are a lot of farewells happening this weekend. tearful goodbyes between volunteers and students, volunteers and orphans, volunteers and nurses, volunteers and volunteers. email addresses and good intentions to “keep in touch” are flying all around. and a whole new batch of volunteers are excitedly arriving in droves over the next week.

Monday is Hero’s Day and Tuesday is Unity Day, so it’s a very long holiday weekend in Zambia. which means today is pretty laid back, but most things are operating on at least half day hours. doesn’t affect me though. i had already decided to spend a relaxing day split between Zig Zag’s and the pool at the house. i have no more shopping or sight-seeing to do. stretching my last few kwachas as far as my last few SIM credits so i don’t need to change any more money.

and here i am tapping away while sitting cross-legged on a couch at Zig Zag’s. savoring my last vanilla nut coffee while it’s still hot and looking forward to breakfast in a few minutes. my only significant priorities for today are to check-in online for my flight (seat selection!) and coordinate with Tiffany regarding my London arrival.

tonight i will pack my things and hopefully find a clean t-shirt to wear on the plane home. my bag wasn’t overflowing when i arrived and i haven’t added many souvenirs since i’ve been here, so i’m not too worried about fitting it all in. then tomorrow we head to the airport around 11am. the plane will be filled with African Impact from Livingstone to Jo’burg and i’m sure we’ll spend our layover together, eating and buying last minute trinkets at the airport.

and that’s it. a slow day brings a slow week to a close. i apologize for putting you through my slow writing this week. i think it’s time for a little break. : ))

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