First things first, a recap of life these past few years.

WOW.

To think the last time I wrote in this blog was in 2011. Here we are in 2015, nearly 4 years after my last blog post.  Since then, a number of significant things happened that have led me to this current point in my life (get ready for my typical long and detailed posts):

• 2011-2012: I worked a number of jobs in education to see if this was truly my passion. 
• St. Joachim School (my old elementary school) as an Instructional Assistant for 4th Grade.  It was wonderful working with my old teachers and being back to what I considered 'home' for so long!

Halloween 2011 with these crazy kids and Mrs. Bristol, the head 4th Grade Teacher (who coincidentally was my science teacher when I was a student back in the day!). 

• Sylvan Learning Center as a Remedial Math Instructor for students in various public elementary schools in Hayward. 
• Boys Moving Forward as a Lead Tutor & Mentor at Melrose Leadership Academy in Oakland; specifically in a weekly, after school reading and mentorship program. 
• IES Language Foundation as an after school French Teacher at Warm Springs Elementary School in Fremont. 

• 2012-2014: Was accepted into the University of Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) dual teaching/Master of Education (M.Ed.) program.  Over the summer, I took classes at Notre Dame with those in my cohort (ACE 19!).  During the school year, we were each sent to our respective schools throughout the country and lived in communities with 1st and 2nd year teachers in our program. 

With two of my favorites, Maria and Miguel. An inseparable trio! 

ACE Summer wasn't all work.  Lots of fun was had.  This was when some of the ACE 19 guys decided to be cheerleaders during our annual PowderPuff football game.  Miss the crazy shenanigans with these folks! 

The people I'd be living with in my community down in Biloxi (technically, Pascagoula), Mississippi.  A good mix of 1st and 2nd year teachers!  This was during my first year of teaching. 

My community members for my second year of teaching.  So different from my first year, but loved them just as much! 

• I was sent to St. Patrick Catholic High School in Biloxi, Mississippi, having taught French I, II & III as well as a quarter-long enrichment course titled Introduction to World Languages.  I also served as the Assistant Girls' Volleyball Coach, Assistant Junior High Boys' Soccer Coach, moderator for the Junior Class/Prom Committee, moderator for Youth Legislature/Junior Youth Assembly, and moderator for the French Club as well as the French Honor Society. 

First home football game at my school.  Beautiful field! 

Fr. Ubald, survivor of the Rwandan Genocide, spoke to my first group of French III students about his experience surviving the tragedy, losing a majority of his family, and ultimately growing from this to help heal himself and others. Very touching experience. 

With my second group of French III students.   They were a riot.  Had so much fun with them, and all of them were such hard workers that wanted to learn the French language.  What a blessing! 

Mardi Gras in the South is unlike any other experience. So appreciative to have been a part of this for the past couple of years! 

For a Spirit Week, there was one day where students were asked to dress up like a teacher.   Naturally, a few of us teachers decided to dress like the students! 

In addition to teaching, it's almost an expectation that you'd be involved in other extracurricular activities.  I was very fortunate to be involved as Assistant Head Coach for the Girls' Volleyball team.  Granted, I knew very little about volleyball but it was great watching them grow, win some games, and ultimately -- laugh a ton!  

• In July 2014, I graduated with my Master of Education (M.Ed.) from the University of Notre Dame.  It was particularly special because my immediate family made it out to Notre Dame and were able to witness the beauty and specialness of this place.   And to celebrate with those in my cohort (ACE 19!) for one last time before we all went our separate ways. 

At the end of our second summer, each second year teacher has to create a visual display of a specific unit we've done during our first year.  A lot of time was spent on this -- detailing all the lesson plans, discussing the context of the unit, assessments, how we took differentiation into account of our planning, educational psychology, etc.  

Special thanks to Maria's Tita for taking the above two pictures! Captures the weekend so well. 

• 2014-2015: I stayed for another year at St. Patrick Catholic High School in Biloxi, Mississippi, having taught French II and French III, as well as a couple of upper division English elective classes (World Literature, Creative Writing & Speech).  I was also able to mentor the new ACE French teacher, Leo!  

• As well, for the summers of 2014 and 2015, I worked as a summer teaching fellow at Ensemble Scolaire Père Basile Moreau in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  Notre Dame has had a strong partnership with the school after the 2010 earthquake, providing infrastructure and monetary support to rebuild the school (which was badly damaged, and luckily, the kids were out of the building as the earthquake was happening).  After, the school identified needs to improve their English curriculum and incorporate more technology into the classroom.  

• For my first summer (2014), I was the first fellow and conducted the primary, secondary, and teachers' English classes in a summer camp-type setting, as well as trained the first primary school English teacher at this school.  

For my primary school kids, on July 4th, they learned a little about the U.S. and create American flags in celebration of this great holiday.  =)

Throughout the summer, I had a little help from people that would visit for a week or two.  In this picture, there were two American high school students that accompanied their mother (who works for Notre Dame) and helped me out for a day. 

• For my second summer (2015), things changed a bit.  I helped coordinate the fellowship program and now had 2 American fellows and 2 Irish fellows -- all teachers back in their respective countries.  Not only did we conduct the English classes, but we had two other projects: use the tablets at the school and the Library For All eBook database to further reading comprehension skills for primary students; and use Khan Academy to better improve the math skills of students, all the while collaborating with math teachers to ensure that they could use this resource in their classes to track individual student progress and provide more individualized help.  Lots of trial and error, but a great learning experience!  We were able to meet a variety of people -- Haitians and expats alike -- who were here to make some positive changes in Haiti (orphanages, USAID, different NGOs, etc.).  And unlike last summer, we were able to visit many places (Jacmel, Cap-Haiïtien, around Port-au-Prince, and hiking in Kenscoff/Furcy) as well as meet various organizations, orphanages, and NGO workers in Haiti. 

The top photo is with students from our literacy class. This year, I was a little more focused on the English class for the teachers. A must smaller class but definitely dedicated, hilarious, and we just had a great time. 

We also had many opportunities for weekend excursions.  Of course, one of my favorites being Cormier Plage in Cap-Haitien! 

• Of course, I can forget to mention a few important events that happened along the way to some of the most impactful people in my life: 

August 2012: Our LMU FamBam gets a little bigger. Pam is the first to get married and it was such a beautiful celebration! 

September 2012: My cousin Michelle gets married. Not only was it so personal and emotional, but it was beyond elaborate and elegant. Wedding ceremony at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco, followed by their reception at the Gold Room in the Fairmont Hotel. They even had a second reception (Vietnamese) the following evening! 

December 2014: Our St. Mary's College High School 10-Year Class Reunion! No wonder our class left such an impact on the school -- what an incredible group of individuals. Looking forward to the next reunion! 

December 2014: A onesie de Leon Christmas. I post this because as much as we're all growing up, I love that we can still start new traditions. 

May 2015: David's graduation from San Jose State. Another engineer in the family! 

September 2015: Grandma's 89th Birthday. Four generations (Olivia Isla!) in one picture, and I couldn't be any happier. Looking forward to Grandma's 90th Birthday Celebration next year! 

Every amazing adventure must come to an end. Or so they say...

The subject line says it all. While this probably won't be my last blog entry, this will definitely be my last blog entry as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso. Words can't even express what the experience has been or how this has affected me. Reading this blog is probably one of the best ways to capture how I've felt. I know that the effects the Peace Corps has had on my life will be evident in the months and years to come when I'm back home in the U.S. I'll be somewhere and something will instantly remind me of Burkina Faso. Or I'll strike up a conversation with a random stranger or friend, and conjure up images of life abroad.

Luba and I. Luba is in the newest group of Peace Corps trainees here in Burkina Faso and is my replacement! We were fortunate to meet up because we were in Ouaga at the same time (funny how things work out in life). She was there to meet her community counterpart (who is coincidentally my friend, Nazaire) and I was there to complete my service in Ouaga.

Some of the Peace Corps Burkina Faso staff during our COS (Close of Service) ceremony.

The five of us that were COSing: myself, Colette, Julie, Marita and Rachel.

Colette and I. In it together and finishing strong together!

With Mariam, one of my favorite people in the Peace Corps Burkina Faso office! She's so hilarious.

With Brenda, one of my Peace Corps faves (and fellow Californian)!

With Emily at the Transit House. Loves!!

With Armande, another favorite. Such a great resource at the office!

With Paré, one of the drivers.

And with Shannon, our Country Director. Such a dynamic and experienced woman! What an inspiration -- she's worked all over the world, doing humanitarian and development work. I hope to do some of the work that she's done.

Getting my Peace Corps ID Card cut...it's official! I'm a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV)!

With Diallo, perhaps the nicest, most genuine man in Burkina Faso! He trained as us Peace Corps trainees in 2009 and now works at the Peace Corps Burkina Faso office full-time.

The outside of the Peace Corps Burkina Faso office in Ouagadougou.

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs)! Two years and three months, done.Au revoir, Burkina Faso! Bonjour, Paris!

I think the one thing that will always stay is the quote from LMU that I've made into my life's mantra of sorts (and coincidentally, the title of this blog): "Go forth and set the world on fire." It can be interpreted in many ways but I see it as this: use the skills that you've gained in all of your life's experiences (school and otherwise) to make the world a better place. Build relationships. Strengthen communities. Learn about new cultures. Share your insights with everyone. Because at the end of the day, that's what we're all here for as humans, right?

Thank you Peace Corps for providing me with the opportunity to serve. Thank you Burkina Faso for the hospitality you've given me these past years. And thank you God for leading me through this crazy, grand adventure called life.

So what's next?!

Leaving a lasting impression: a map of Burkina Faso!

Technically speaking, my last activity at site was my big Girls' Camp with all of the other Peace Corps Volunteers in my region helping out. But I've been wanting to do this one activity for quite some time. The Volunteer before me did a World Map, so I figured why not do a map of Burkina Faso to help people better understand the geography of their own country (many times, I feel like I know the geography of the world better than the geography of the U.S....true and sad story).

It really started in February 2011 when Ali and I started to trace out a huge square on the primary school wall to make a Burkina Faso map. Since everything was coming out of my pocket, I didn't have the money to pay someone to cement the wall and flatten it out. So Ali and I used a daba (farming tool used by hand to till the soil) to scrap the wall until it resembled something flat and easy to paint on...then days passed, followed by weeks, which turned into months. Everyday, I'd pass by and think to myself, "Man, I really need to get this started. Ehh, maybe tomorrow when it's not so hot (or some other excuse)."

Ali and Hercules chilling by the now-scraped wall at the side of the school.

June and July quickly approached and my neighbors would keep asking when I would finish it. I told them I would never, ever leave and not to finish it. A promise is a promise, right? But also, I knew that I needed to just do it and stop procrastinating. Also, I had such a limited time frame to paint it. I could only paint in the mornings until 12:00pm because the sun would hit the wall after that time, making it unbearable to paint with the African sun beating on you. Also, rainy season was approaching, making it virtually unpredictable to guess what the weather would be that day.

Needless to say, procrastination/time moving rapidly toward my departure got the best of me and within less than two weeks, I was able to complete this (of course, with the help of Ali and his friend Franck)!

Ali and I painting the surface white first.

Perhaps one of the hardest parts of creating a grid to properly draw the map -- partially because I'm a perfectionist and wanted all the lines to be as straight as possible. I already had a drawing on a piece of paper with the grid, so it was much easier to draw (and a lot of fun, actually)!

Franck, Ali's friend, has a knack for drawing, so I made him do the Peace Corps logo at the corner.

Then I outlined Burkina Faso itself in paint to ensure less mess when painting.

This picture is so indicative of how many people came to watch. At first, it was kind of annoying because I just wanted to work without a dozen people staring at my every move from behind. But in the end, I actually started to appreciate it. I could see students (and adults even) start to see the map start to take form and I could start to see little lightbulbs turning on. Amazing!

Because the map was so close to my house, Grace would walk over all the time, mumble something and tried to keep touching the map. Loves it!

He's so good at drawing!

Almost done! I'd just like to note how unstable that ladder was. While I wanted to get this map done, I also didn't want to break any bones before leaving.

Peace Corps! With the names of the people who created it below.

The finished product with my two helpers, Ali and Franck. Couldn't have done this without them!!

Pointing to where I live in Burkina Faso.

I hope this map stays for years to come. I figure teachers in the schools around Kampti can use it as a guide for their students when it comes to geography lessons. And it's pretty huge: 8' x 11'! It also initiated a lot of good dialogue between community members, students and myself. It was also a great way of saying farewell to Kampti and to the many people that have made my experience in Burkina Faso so pleasant. Until next time!