Yesterday we were informed that the Peace Corps program in Guinea is officially suspended, but we were asked not to tell anyone until today so they could make an official announcement. So here is the plan:

Yesterday we were given cups and vials to do the necessary stool and urine samples. Today they took blood. Those of us who have not had a positive TB test took another one, those of us with a positive test will have a chest x-ray. Our transfer conference officially starts at 10:30 today, when we will be assigned into seven groups and then cycle through a number of different sessions including medical, what options we have, a counseling session, and some other stuff. We should all receive some kind of information on posts that are available today. The staff seem exremely busy (I have been getting emails at 4 am) and the volunteers are all madly preparing or trying to occupy time until they must begin madly preparing.

Tomorrow we finish whatever sessions we didn’t do today, and that is it for the transfer conference. We have until roughly the weekend to find a new site, with the hope that everyone will be closed out by Monday. The schedule is flexible because some people may not leave for their transfer posts until after that, but that is the target date.

I have already written my description of service (a letter that each volunteer must write that describes what they have done), and my resume and personal statements for law school are basically done. My Peace Corps recommendation for law school is also ready to be mailed. So there isn’t a lot I can do right now. I am sure later today I will be trying to write a bunch of aspiration statements.

We have an official party tonight, and then on Friday a party organized by us. The next several days should be very weird. I am trying to plan a hike to a nearby bluff to watch the sunrise, and find some cigars. We are all trying to ceremonialize the finish of our program in the best way possible.

And as for what I am going to do, it changes almost by the minute. I think it is going to depend a lot on what posts are available. I am not really interested in doing something that will be essentially the same as what I was doing in Guinea, but I am also not ready to go back to the states yet… And wrapped up in all of that is trying to balance conflicting career and life desires.