So I haven’t done the best job at keeping up with my blog. I’m sorry about that. I wish I had taken more time to share stories about my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo. But no regrets…there is always time once I get home to tell you all about it, that is if you’ll give me the time of day!

I am coming up on the end of my service and it feels…indescribable actually, surreal. I can’t believe that is has been just over 2 years and that I am headed home. I wanted to write one last entry as a way of reflecting on an experience that has truly changed my life and in the best way. You know how they say people go places and do thing to ‘find’ themselves’? Well I believe you have to create yourself and I’m walking away from this experience with a better sense of who I am because of who I want to be. There’s still lots to experience, learn and work on but I am feeling great about me! So thank you, PC for this once in a lifetime experience!!

I know it is totally cliché to say it but I really do feel that I am taking away more than I will leave. These people, this journey has done more for me than I think I have done for anyone else. I can only hope that one day in the future one of my Togolese friends, students or colleagues says ‘oh, that’s what Jillian was saying, I see now. What a difference that makes for my life’. One can only hope huh?!

We often get caught up in our work and become results driven but you know it’s the process that’s important. Even if I can’t see a difference after all the work I put in, I have faith that I made one. That’s the mentality you have to have as a development worker. It is a process and we are only agents for change.

If I helped raise a young Togolese girls’ self esteem, increased one persons knowledge on gender equity, introduced a new idea that made someone see things differently, made one life better, then it has all been worth it!


Ah life in Togo…..

I will miss:
- Being greeted by name at all the various places around town
- 12:00 – 3:00 for lunch and rest
- Sharing a big bowl of Pate with friends as if I am one of their family members
- Togolese Hospitality
- Fou fou, wache, beans and gari, bouillie, beignets, mangos, soja!, fried plantains,
- Paying less than a dollar for a huge plate of food
- Getting my news from BBC World Service and all the other great programs on BBC radio
- A Togolese smile
- Dinner at Francais’ with Rashala and Rayana
- Watching Rayana grow, well I guess all the little ones in my life here, I’ll miss watching them grow up
- Seeing the silly side of serious Flora
- The crazy cloths that I actually go out in public in, not caring about appearance
- Outdoor bucket baths under the stars, the moon light
- My small carbon footprint
- Nana and I trying to communicate, neither of us speak the others language but some how we get it
- Nana
- Beesap


I won’t miss:
- The morning cock screeching outside my window
- Daily marriage proposals and cat calls, the way Togolese men can be so chauvinistic!
- Assumptions that I have lots of money and will give it to you if you just ask
- Children chanting and sometimes screaming the ‘Anasara Song’
- Being shoved into a taxi with 20 other people, children, goats and chickens
- Chauffeurs!!!
- Being ripped off, taken advantage of
- Bush Taxis
- cold showers
- Sweating all the time

Lessons and aptitudes I will bring home to my life post Peace Corps:
- Taking interest in the public good, investing in my community, giving my time
- Reading more, and diversifying my reading list
- Writing friends cards and letters just to say hi
- Living more simply, a less is more attitude
- Riding my bike whenever it’s feasible
- Patience for difficult situations that I can’t change/have any control over
- Taking time….to read, to work out, to rest, to reflect, to learn, to understand, to try
- Wearing sunscreen
- Drinking lots of water

Ah life in America…

I am excited for:
- Chips and salsa
- Krista’s wedding
- The smells of Home
- Daily calls with my Mom even if it’s to talk about grocery’s
- Being cold! The ski season, Snow!
- Getting a job that is a part of my career path
- Cooking with Davey
- Movies
- Yoga class
- Catching up with all my friends
- New music and concerts
- Hanging out with PCV friends outside of Togo
- Fresh brewed coffee, beer and wine, milk!


I am not excited for:
- The pressures of being an adult
- Consumerism
- The Go go go fast pace lifestyle
- Vanity
- Traffic
- Getting caught up in TV

So here’s the plan…. For this week I am in Lome for my last check out. I have to turn in my bike, water filter, books etc. and have all my final interviews with the director and my program manager. I will sign my papers and be officially a RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) on Friday November 20th. WOW!

Then it is bye bye Togo on Saturday when I head to Ghana for a short weekend visit with a fellow RPCV that is living in Accra. From there I will be flying to Tanzania for one last grand adventure. I am hiking Mount Kilimanjaro!! I start my 8 day 7 night trek on Thanksgiving day and I am totally pumped because I worked it out so that I summit on December 2nd, a full moon! Should be awesome! I will definitely post pictures for you all. AH I am so excited!
After my climb I have a long 25 hour trip home and I will be in Colorado on December 5th. Ah HOME!!! Get ready cause here I come!

There is so much to be excited for that it has made the goodbyes a little easier and puts me at peace with the fact that this part of my life is coming to an end. I only wish my Namé was around to share it all with! I miss her so much right now! But I know she’s watching over me, I can feel it!

So I guess I will be seeing you all soon! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers! You are always in mine.

Peace and Love

Jillian