Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

On April 5th I said goodbye to my friends and family and made the two kilometer walk out of my village for the last time. The word Bittersweet was made for situations like this; the excitement of finally going home after two long years mixed with the pain of leaving the people I love. In the past two years I've become a part of this community. I've played with the children, danced with the women and drank tea with the men.  Every day I shared the rope with the women to pull water. I've spent countless hours helping my neighbors process peanuts, weed their fields and harvest their crops. My family has truly become my family. My mom took care of me when I was sick, cooked me my favorite foods, and yelled at me to clean my room and wash my sheets. My brothers and sisters drove me crazy, like all little siblings do, but they also put the joy in my day. I helped them study, played games with them, walked them to school, spoiled them with candy and teased and terrified them with frogs.

My momma and me

One thing that is almost universal about Senegalese people, is that they have amazing control over their emotions. No matter what they're feeling inside, they are able to maintain unbelievable composure, because for an adult to cry is absolutely unthinkable. So as I walked out of my village for the last time this morning holding hands with my mom and my best friend Bass for the entire two kilometers, it broke my heart to see tears in their eyes. When I left America to come to Senegal, I knew I would be coming home again in two years. But after two years, Sambande has also become my home, and this time I'm leaving it for good. Between the sadness of leaving one home and the anticipation of returning to another, I felt as though my heart was being torn in two. But as difficult as it was to leave, I know it is time to move on, and I took comfort in Frodo's advice to Sam at the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy when they were parting for the last time.

"You cannot always be torn in two. You have to be one and whole for many years. You have so much enjoy and to be and to do. Your part in the story will go on."

Trying to fit my sisters twins, Ousseynou and Assane, into
my luggage to take them home.