And so it ends ..... for now.

In thirty one hours I will board Brussels Airways to Entebbe-Brussels and then on to Dublin. The last week or so have been really hectic so my apologies to all for the lack of communication. Much of my time has been taken up with the gorilla statue the district presented me with as a going-away present (see photo in previous blog entry) - eventually I had to DHL it at enormous expense (along with a bunch of other stuff). Now I have said goodbye to pretty much everyone, packed my things, given away the stuff I can't fit in (Alfred: Hmmm, tomorrow morning he does the final packing so I suspect there may be some more items being 'donated' to people whether they want them or not), am going this afternoon to collect my police clearance which they assured me would be signed and ready for collection by 1300 (Alfred: any comment here by me would be superfluous).

So, how am I feeling? Actually, OK to be honest. Earlier in the week and a lot of last week I was feeling a bit emotional and stressed but a lot of that was the hassle of packing and all the other arrangements that had to be made. Now that the decks are cleared, the baggage stowed and the sails ready to be raised (Alfred: Oh pleeeeeze! And nautical metaphors are so unRwandan!) I have time to sit back and think about things and what I am mostly thinking is how nice it is going to be to see people again. Email and Facebook are all very well - brilliant, actually, when you are living thousands of miles from almost everyone you know - but I am only now beginning to realise how much I have been missing people (Alfred: with any luck, some of them may even have reciprocated the feeling).

People keep on asking me what I will miss about Rwanda. It's a long list - avocados, moto rides, brochettes, the beer, accompanying people on the road home, wandering down the main street of Butare in my Chelsea shirt and being greeted as 'Joe Cole', the cheesy pop music videos (Alfred: he has loaded 3.7GB of Rwandan music and videos on his laptop so that one is OK), the tranquil calm atmosphere of Gisagara village and so on. But above all else I will miss my friends, both Rwandan and muzungu. My colleagues at work who were so supportive and friendly, the VSO Program Office staff and all the volunteers I have met, worked with and with whom I have become such close friends. Of course many of them have already left and, if I were to stay, they would all eventually leave as well but the time we have spent and worked together has been amazing.

And most of all I will miss my friend Enock, who I think of as a brother rather than a friend. Enock was the first friend I made in Gisagara - he translated for me, advised me, drank beers with me every week, was there every time I needed someone. Without him it is hard to imagine my time here would have been anything as positive and enjoyable as it turned out to be. Goodbye, my brother, until we meet again.