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So as of Wednesday morning, I have officially been sworn in as a volunteer. From there I packed up my things, and on Thursday headed out to post. It was a little sad leaving my homestay family, I really grew to enjoy my time there, and I'm sad to leave them. But I'm definitely ready to be sleeping in my own house, doing things at my pace, and cooking my own food. And I'll be going back to visit the family on Christmas day, and I'll stay there the next day for the "Fete des moutons", the Muslim holiday of the Feast of the Lamb.

So on Thursday there were three of us volunteers heading in the direction of my village, so we rented a van for ourselves and loaded all of our crap into it. When we arrived in village, I found my counterpart, and threw all of my crap into the house. It was completely empty (and still is...). My counterpart served us some not-so-appealing fish, and we got ourselves a beverage. The electricity was not yet hooked up at my house, so I returned to my empty house and slept on the floor. Not the most compfortable experience yet, but I've had worse, and surprisingly slept through the night.

The next day was market day in the village, so we headed over to the market with a mission. I got some pots, plates, etc., but really without furniture, no amount of crap could fill my house to feel quite homey. So I'm going to find a carpenter this week to make me some furniture. I was also lucky enough to have a neighbor who makes bamboo beds, so he put one together for me and that will be my bed until further notice.

I came back into Garoua on Saturday to get a mini-stove and propane tank, as well as some other essentials, and I'm heading back this afternoon until Christmas. So, in short, arrival at post hasn't been as overwhelming or scary as I was expecting, but I have definitely realized that it's going to take some time before I can really make my house, and my village my home.