... And Moving Forward

As fond as I’ve become of Kibondo and as much as I’m sure I’ll miss Tanzania, I have to admit that I’ve been getting pretty excited about what comes next …

First, a close friend from Princeton’s coming to visit me! He’ll be arriving in Kibondo in exactly 12 days and then a day or two after that, we’ll start heading back to the States. Start is the operative word there since I decided to opt for the scenic route when planning my exit strategy awhile back, so we’ll go from Kibondo to Kigoma (with a quick day trip to Gombe to see Jane Goodhall’s chimps) to Dar … and then by plane, train, and/or automobile down through Zambia, past Victoria Falls, and into South Africa. There will be tons of pictures, I promise!

Second, I’m coming home!!! My flight arrives in New York on July 17, and I’ll be spending the following month spending as much time as I can catching up with everybody and reveling in the joys of paved roads, 24/7 electricity, and fast internet connections :-D

Third, I’ll be starting another Princeton in Africa fellowship in late August – this time in Southern Sudan. I’ll be based out of Juba and am absolutely thrilled that I’ve been given this opportunity. After spending a year working with a project that is gradually closing down, I’m really looking forward to being on the opposite end of things and discovering all the challenges and issues that come into play when a program is expanding. Plus, this means that I’ll get to visit parts of Africa that I haven’t been to yet – in other words, lots more fodder for the blog :-)