Materially... left with nothing but Personally and whole heartedly... left with all I truly need.

This past week has been quite overwhelming. Through a span of 7 short days I have probably gone through the largest range of emotions I have ever gone through in my life.

The story:

Last wednesday... I had gotten all of my material items stolen. That includes my back pack with my computer, passport, wallet, identification, cellphone, work material, USB key and umbrella. Basicallly all of my technological and identification belongings were stolen. Now how exactly did this happen... it wasnt by force but by manipulation. Yes I can say that I got scammed and it is true that I am a bit angry that this happened but I have learned to move on and grow from this experience. It was a nice afternoon last wednesday and I decided to take a 20 minute walk from Carre Four La vie to Socece. During this walk I started to talk to a local as he had asked me where this pharmacy was. And seeing that I have been here the last two months with no serious problems talking to people on the street and just being very friendly I of course offered to help him ask someone else where this pharmacy was. But what I didnt know then was the man that we had asked ended up being his accomplis. Long story short he was talking to me about god and sorcerers and how I need to take a rock and sand and put it in my hand, give him my sac and walk a bit forward and all of my "malheur" will be gone. Of course at first when my head was clear and correct I had refused him many times as it really is a ridiculous thing to do. But as we got to talking further and further my mind seemed to drift off into another reality and I think I got so engaged in the conversation that after 20 minutes of insisting and insisting I ended up doing exactly what he said. The weird thing is that once I stopped... my head cleared and I turned around and realized that both of the men were gone. Then came the tears... I realized that I am in a foreign country without my passport, without my money and literally do not know what to do. Thankfully I met someone who spoke english and gave me money to take a taxi home. Of course once I got home I burst in tears talking to my Maman and we went straight away to the police station to declare my things stolen. A proccess that in itself is another story to tell. But Apparently this kind of theft is common in Abidjan and almost every person has gone through a similar ordeal.

AIESEC:

Through this whole ordeal. The AIESECers have been nothing but a wonderful support network. Not only my local AIESEC Cocody but the other locals as well especially AIESEC Bouake. They provided words of encouragement, hugs and help in finances (I am so lucky to have a great support network of not only AIESEC locals but of amazing Interns in Abidjan).

African Family:

I have realized how much of a support network I need to get through situations and I especially need that family feeling. One that I definitely get from my host family in Abidjan. I absolutely love them and grateful for them.

Embassy:

I am absoutely grateful to be a canadian citizen. The Embassy has been a wonderful help in this whole ordeal. Although there is not many people that speak English... I think that if you absolutely only speak English they will find someone to help you. Otherwise they will talk to you in French. However I do feel like that once I payed the fee things sped up a bit more.

Parents and sisters:
Through this I have realized that I am still young and that I do still need my real family to be there for me. Without the help from my sisters and parents I would of probably not gotten things sorten out. They give me a strength that I do not even know I have in me.

I find myself reflecting on my whole internship here and now need to focus back on my purpose. What do I want to do in the last 2 weeks in this absolutely overwhelming but amazing country? I am trying to think of what I can do back home and what I need to bring back. I just cannot believe how much my feelings have changed in the past week. I find myself a different person in the sense that I know my capabilities and my strength. It is amazing how we can adapt in the most difficult situations. And that is when you know how strong you are. I am so grateful that my parents brought me up with a straight head... yes a head that can sometimes be careless or naive but a strong head when needed.

Life and its lessons.... You know through this all I go back to god and think yes he wanted me to go through this. I do not know why but he did.

Less then a month for "reality" to start again

I officially have less then a month until I leave to go back home to Calgary. And at this point my feelings are all over the place. I constantly have thoughts of... am I ready to go home? How is life going to be when I return? My Canadian sister left last week and it is just so strange not being with her anymore. I am surviving on my own and am not full out depressed but I guess it just takes a while to get use to it.

I have figured out who I can really count on here and the people I would really love to get to know more.

I am trying my best to cherish these last few weeks in Abidjan and know that it will be difficult for me to come back. Just to go back to the comfortabilities will be strange. But then at the same time I am so excited to go back to school, gain knowledge and make more of an impact with what I have learned. Plus I cannot wait to share my stories with everyone.

Oh mon dieu, les personnes en Abidjan sont tellement fou mais je t'aime avec tous mon coeur. Je ne sais pas comment je peut dire aux enfants en travaille: "Oh non, pas la semaine prochaine... c'est mon dernier journee au travaille". I have just gotten so use to always telling them... yes I will see you next wednesday or "Semaine prochaine (avec les bissoux)".

This is the extremely difficult part... "leaving".

Canada day... in cote d'Ivoire

To tell you the truth... I have never celebrated Canada day. Really it is not a big deal in Calgary, or maybe it is because I am foreign.

But I did get to celebrate it in Cote d'Ivoire. It just so happens that July 1 landed on a Wednesday (that only day the kids come to work)... so of course I had to celebrate our national holiday with them. How do you ask? By the ingenious idea of making paper birthday hats. I placed pictures of "Canada" on paper and we made them into cones and attached string to make a lovely "chapeau". It was an exhausting but amazing day! They were just so thrilled.

Things at work right now are a bit slow and I really do not do very much except for on Wednesdays with the kids. They really are the only reason why I am staying... I can't say that I am leaving earlier then before because not only would they be heart broken but I would be heart broken as well. I think I am just going through the typical roller coaster of emotions you go through when you are working abroad. The ASK program with AIESEC also has come to a small halt as they are trying to organize the second part of the program. So I really do not have much to do... but we are taking some trips out of the city this week, hopefully this will wake me up and take me out of this slum.

Oh mon dieu... the kids at work play with my heart too much, hopefully they will enjoy the other activities I have planned for the upcoming weeks.