Sorry for taking so long to post on my blog. As you could probably tell from the last post, I've been busy contemplating the next stage of my life. After much consideration, I have decided to and have received approval to end my service (COS) on July 18th. Yes, July 18th! That's next month! Oh, so you want to know why? I guess the simple answer is that I'm just ready to go home. Keep in mind, however, that there are no simple answers, or at least not this one. I've certainly had my fair share of fun in Peace Corps- from my first few months of service living in Bhoek (as it is affectionately called)with my host family and their pit latrine, working at LifeLine, trips to Sun City and else where, the Rusty Dusty, meeting people and doing things that I will never forget, experiencing many "firsts", falling down and picking myself up again, making life long friends amongst my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers and local community members, working at and loving SOS Children's Village Rustenburg, and many, many other things that I cannot possibly fit into this blog. Having said all of that, I have had a "full" experience, nothing that I could have imagined as a 3rd grader looking at Peace Corps brochures. Now that time is winding down, you may be (secretly) wondering if my experience has lived up to the title of this blog...Yes! My Peace Corps Dreams have been realized. I was able to hold on to a dream of serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer for nearly 16 years. I studied, volunteered, worked, etc. along the way, preparing myself for turning my dream into a reality. Now, I am nearly at the end of that dream, or rather, just the beginning. Peace Corps Service might be nearing the end for me, but the lessons I've learned and adventures that I've had have forever shaped my perspective on life: change is not always immediate; people (cultures, societies, outlooks on life, experiences, etc.) are different, but for as much as we are different, we are all of the same...we all want the same thing: to be accepted, to be loved and to love, and to be successful (the definition changes with the individual).
I know that my reflections seem to be incomplete, but I'll continue to work on this rough draft for your sake and mine!
So what does my schedule look like until the 18th?
Pending the travel restrictions to Lesotho are lifted, I'll head there for a couple of days- pony trekking in the cold!
The day before my Close of Service Conference, me and my fellow Setswana-2-Setswana (plus 1) members will get together for our final meeting- almost the entire crew will be ending service early.
The COS Conference- where volunteers get together to talk about...what else...ending service and tying up loose ends.
My last day at work will be the 14th of July, and I'll head to Pretoria the next day in preparation for leaving the country.
Yes, there will be plenty of "goodbye" parties in between. I'm still trying to figure out how you say goodbye to a place that has become home...to people who have become family...plus packing up 2 years worth of memories into 2 bags (weighing under 60 lbs of course). I'm working on it, but the process is challenging...
In my next post, I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures...
Working on it...
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1 comment:
I am a PC nominee( I think for South Africa but we will see) and occasionally, (more often then I will admitt) read journals from peacecorpsjournals.com. Tonight I happened upon yours and read it from the start to end! I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed it, not only your fantastic writting but also the way you made it come alive and breath. So many PC journals are nothing about complaints, doom, and "look at me I'm a PCV I am so special and above everyone else everywhere else" Yours was differnet! I seriously think you need to turn it into a book!
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