Sunday, July 29, 2007 I'm leaving for Japan 1 week from today. That means I've been home from Benin for exactly 3 weeks. It's scary how quickly the time has passed. It's also astonishing how little I've accomplished. It's been great!

Now that isn't to say that I haven't been busy. Visiting friends, getting accounts and affairs in order all takes time. So actually when I say I haven't accomplished anything, it's not really true. It's a strange process simultaneously adjusting to life back in the US while preparing to leave it again.

People have been asking me if I'm ready to go, and my canned response has been "I still can't believe it's happening, it's weird to think that the next plane I get on isn't going to take me back to Benin". That still rings true, although the signs of my imminent depart are all about me. I bought a suitcase today, tomorrow I'm going to buy suits. I had to go through all my shoes and find the ones to take with me. I bought socks.

I bought socks.

It's funny how out of every preparation I've made thus far to head off, it's the act of buying socks that is the most relevant and jarring. Throughout college I had an off again, on again relationship with shoes. Most of the time I wore sandals, and there was a period of several months where I didn't wear shoes at all (that poor, poor dorm room carpet). In Benin I don't think I ever wore shoes. I might have one time to one of our GAD fund raisers, and possibly on the plane home at Christmas. I honestly cannot remember the last time I bought, or had need to buy socks.

Do I miss Benin? There are certainly things that I miss about Benin. The Beninese would probably be high on the list. The last few weeks I spent in Parakou were amazing. I thought the culture was warm and hospitable before. Saying goodbye really drove the point home. I miss chicken from my chicken man, eating said chicken with my post mates, and $1 beers. I really miss zemidjans.

But, in any case it's time to say that I'm no longer lost in Benin. It's time to be JET-7*.




* JET-7 is actually a pun... in French. 7, while pronounced 'seven' in English is 'sept' in French. JET Sept... jet set. So the proper way to read the URL would be 'jet sept dot net'. Don't worry, I won't get mad if you say 'jet dash seven dot net'.