Not en route to Africa

The good news:

1) I didn't cry constantly this whole past week.

2) I didn't stress about re-packing my bags.

3) I have a couple more months to practice my French.

4) I am able to better organize all the junk I'm leaving in the states.

5) I will be able to go to another Broadwater County Fair and Rodeo.

6) I will get to attend my niece, Quincy's, 5th birthday party.

7) I will (most likely) get to see Kirchhoff's when they come up to MT to visit.

8) I will get to enjoy another MT summer.

9) I will get to watch Harry Potter in the theaters!!

10) I have a little more time to save a bit more money.

The bad news:

1) I will have to say a 2nd round of good-byes.

2) I have to unpack my bags.

3) I have to keep studying Rosetta Stone. (I think I'll punch my computer some day!)

4) I need to look at the stuff I'd hoped to not look at for the next 2 years.

5) I have to explain to people why I am still in the States.

6) When I come home from Mauritania, it will be October 2011.  Going from Mauritania October to MT October will be a HUGE shock to my system!!

7) I have to find/start/end a job in less than 2 months.

8) I will have to repack my bags.

9) I have a couple more months of student loan payments.

10) I found all this out exactly 1 week ago.  Exactly 1 week before I was to have boarded a flight to Philadelphia for staging.

So.

What happened?

The Mauritanian government has decided to not issue any new visas until after their presidential elections.  (Their elections were initially scheduled for early June and have been rescheduled for July 18th.)  I appreciate their foresight (after all, it would NOT be fun to have just gotten there while there are riots, slightly unstable government, etc).  The Peace Corps did try to pull every single string they had and call out every old favor.  But ambassadors, etc could not create a miracle.

Peace Corps is confident that our visas will be issued promptly after the election.  They figure we will be headed out mid-August.  

And.

What am I going to do now?

Well, preferably, a whole lot of nothing! I figure I need to pin down a part-time job somewhere. I am pretty flexible on the location...Kalispell, Townsend, Billings, Durango, maybe even Great Falls! But I plan on trying to make myself relax a bit.  If I stay in Townsend, I will likely spend the time breaking my (not-quite-so-young) fillies (well, maybe they qualify as mares by now) and helping out my parents.  If I go up to Kalispell, I will likely find a job in a nursery and have fun with my nieces.  If I go to Billings, I will house-sit for my aunt while she is out of the country, and maybe go to Guatemala with her.  If I went to Durango, I would find a job...and probably have to do a fair bit of dog-sitting...and Esther might make me run.  If I went to Great Falls, my life would be similar to life in Kalispell.

I made myself not stress about all of this last week.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Oregon with my sisters and my time in Seattle with Cas and Amanda.  

So, uh, keep posted...Mauritania has been delayed...but I am trying to not be too discouraged about it.