Lady Gaga and Other Updates

Last Friday we went to see Lady Gaga in Johannesburg.  Not exactly a concert we would jump at back in the States, but big acts rarely make their way down here and when a group of our friends wanted to go, we were game.  Unfortunately, she was on the opposite side of the (huge) stadium.  But all in all, we had a lot of fun and it was a great experience just going to the stadium that hosted the final match of the World Cup. 

Now we are back at site and find ourselves with a lot of time on our hands.  School is not officially finished until the end of this week when report cards are handed out, but none of the students show up.  Actually, two students came today because they were so bored at home.  They ended up getting to watch Mamma Mia on our laptop, so not a terrible day for them. 

This Saturday we are leaving once again to make the long trip back to Pretoria.  (Pretoria is only about 30 miles away from Johannesburg and we stayed in Pretoria after the concert.)  This time we are going for a Peace Corps event – our final official conference.  It’s exciting and surreal that we’ve already made it this far.  When we first began, the idea of our Close of Service conference seemed too far in the future to even think about.  But here we are, about to come together with what remains of our training class (35 out of 46 still here) for the last time.  The reason the conference is now is because some people will begin leaving at the end of December.  We, however, will be sticking it out until the beginning of April for the full two years of service after swearing in as volunteers (plus a couple of weeks because we want to finish the school term).  For those marking their calendars at home, April 4^th will be our last official day as Peace Corps volunteers, and April 5^th we will join the distinguished ranks of the unemployed.  So we still have a good amount of time left, but considering how quickly our final conference snuck up on us, April will be here before we know it.  Yikes!