So one day when I was writing all of these thoughts for our 6 month review I blinked, life got busy, and next thing I know we have now been here for 7 months in-country. Wow.
Final Thoughts: Another thing about being a Peace Corps Volunteer (I guess with life in general) is that sometimes things change in an instant. Being connected to the internet during the work week has been a blessing and a curse. I get to see all the amazing things happening back at home with friends and family. Of course, I’m also reminded of all the things I am missing out on. Already in six months good friends have been married, new babies are being born, best friends have moved across the country, etc…Life is still going on. It’s the same on island too.
We have become very family-like with the other volunteers. Though I guess technically close to each other because we live on an island, we are all spread apart and going through our own struggles and victories. Some of us want to face all the ups and downs together like we did in training, but often can’t. Thank God for cellphones. Don’t know how other volunteers use to do it before (especially those doing PC around the world without a solid communication system).
I am especially thinking about those volunteers that have already said goodbye and/or are thinking about parting. I had always hoped that the 36 of us that came to the island would leave together after two years. Realistically I knew this wouldn’t be the case. No matter what the circumstances though, regardless of whether or not a volunteer is no longer here, I have learned an important lesson from everyone – we have already achieved much for trying.
A guest speaker at our recent conference said, “You cannot fail if you tried. You can only fail if you don’t try.” I hold on to this on a daily basis, it’s what makes me value the little victories and not worry so much about the time left. I don’t have to worry about finishing, because for me the goal was to just try, to be here and I’ve already done that. Anything from that point when I first arrived on the island is icing on the cake. Don’t believe me? Check out some of the posts that explain how we got here starting with this one.
My Choice: So 6 7 months have come and gone and 20 months left to go and all of my musings and thoughts comes down to this – It’s about a daily choice. I tried to share this thought with another volunteer recently and think I failed miserably, hopefully this time I’ll do better.
Everyday when I wake up, I make the conscious decision to be here as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I remind myself that I have this power to choose that if, for whatever reason, I decide this isn’t right for me/us, we can conclude our service, hold our heads up high and move to the next part of our lives. So far I have enjoyed most of my Peace Corps experience but Peace Corps is not my life. Though I am a Peace Corps Volunteer I am more than that, and thus I am more than this experience. I don’t have to let any of the frustrations or lows get to me to such a degree that I feel trapped to be here. That being said, I do feel in a strange, wild hope, vocational sort of way, that we are right where we are supposed to be…..at least for now.
So here’s to 21 more months of this adventure. I don’t know what’s up ahead but I do know it’s been an amazing, life altering experience so far, full of great and frustrating experiences. I can only imagine what’s to come, but I guess I don’t have to worry about it. “It will happen, when it happens.”
-J
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These are some pics of our experience so far….more to come….soon. 🙂
Simply Intentional 