6 months

Back in training, when things were a bit rough, I set a date for myself. I told myself that there was nothing within my power that could make me go home before 6 months in country. It was a sanity thing. Looking ahead 27 months was far too overwhelming at that point, so I just set it mentally for 6 months. I remember sitting on my bed in my tiny little room at my host family's house, under my mosquito net, and almost being completely blown away by the thought of 27 months here. I told myself at that point I was allowed to reflect after 6 months and if I was completely miserable, I could go home. I'm extremely pleased to find that the 6 month mark came and went without my notice! Woo! I was afraid that I'd be counting down the days. Not so. I can safely say that I'm pretty happy here right now. I put a "right now" on that because I still don't know where I'm going to end up and how that will be. However, I'm pretty determined to make it the full two years.

I'm trying to stay busy in the city right now, doing small projects. I'm working on a write-up about a force feeding practice in the interior. It's a pretty dangerous practice that can cause aspiration of the lungs. So, that's been going pretty well and I'll see where that'll go in the future.

By the way, I was a pterodactyl for Halloween. It was awesome.