in the blink of an eye

Oh hey end of February! You got here fast.

February has been a pretty monumental month. I mean, you've seen the pictures of the world map and the re-opening of the library where I volunteer a few times a week, and even though we didn't know it was going to be such a celebration at the Oscars this year, we're right on trend with our delve into the world of James Bond.

But February was also the month wherein I received 37 mosquito bites while sleeping at a fellow Volunteer's house one night.  Hilarious, only because the other two people sharing the bed received two each, at most.  I did successfully kill one of the mosquitoes right after she bit me (all the blood sucking mosquitoes are female, did you know?) (no, but for real), which was a sweet vengeance, though the other 36 did outsmart me, awakening me hourly as I felt the bites growing in number.

February also marked a full three day barrage of weddings, including the big day for one of my co-teachers and for our Khmer teacher (our in-training teacher and cultural facilitator.)  As we rode our bikes the 30 kilometers (18 miles) to our Khmer teacher's wedding, I realized how very quickly our time here is slipping away.  In the blink of an eye, we'll be back in America, settling and likely settled into our familiar routines, wondering how could have ever complained about it being so warm.



Because February was also the month in which we learned when we will officially close our service as Peace Corps Volunteers.  Though Volunteers sign up for a 27 month commitment (3 months of in-country training, then 24 months living and working at our respective sites), a number of factors have gone into Chris' and my actual service working out to (what feels like now) a very brief 23 months and 8 days.

We will close our service on Wednesday, July 3rd.

Ostensibly, this means that we could be on a plane, flying into our home airport the late evening of July 4th, perhaps to the sights of hundreds of fireworks across America.

And February was the month wherein I edited our respective resumes into one page oblivion as the first step in the arduous process that is finding a place to use our passions and experience back home.

And that's where we land at the end of this delightfully short month.  With a small, progressively clearer picture of our future.  A picture that comes ever so much closer each day, slowly taking over the vivid colors of our current heat and mango season saturated life in the wilds of this small southeast Asian country.