I recently came back from our groups' mid service training, feeling reconnected
to my fellow peace corps volunteers and a deep sense of pride for all we've
been through together and separately. There was a sense of connectedness that nothing
but time and similar experiences could provide, as well as a stellar collection
of tired faces with expressions of learned acquiescence. The last time we were
brought together in a formal training was in January of this year, when we thought we knew things.
Now 9 months
later, we've all hit a bottom, we've all seen success and failure, and we've all adopted tico-isms for better or worse. There are few
words that can express what it is like to hear that not only have your peers stared at walls for countless hours, been crushed by the weight of real life development work, and spent entire days in bed, binge watching whatever they had on their computers to cope, but that they have also done really great and wonderful things, integrating and making friends, doing cool
projects in their sites and actually making a difference in the lives they've been a part of for a whole year. And, it gets even better when they are interested in the
stuff you've done and say what a good job you’re doing! Imagine my surprise.
It may have happened
apart, but we have gone through a lot together in just one year. I can’t speak for others but I walk away
from that training with a fuller heart, a sense of accomplishment and a returned sense of adventure. What is left of our small part here as pcvs ticks away faster and faster. Now that we've set up our routines and comfort zones in places
once uncomfortable and new, we try to make the rest count as we count down the
time left in this once in a lifetime adventure.
