In case any of you are wondering, yes, I am still in Africa with the Peace Corps. I actually just came back from spending three days at the Sheraton hotel for my closure of service conference. I fully enjoyed the pool, hot showers, and all you can eat breakfast buffet that had bacon, sausage, and real cheese. It was a relaxing few days where we received tips on finishing our service (tie up the loose ends), preparing ourselves for going home. Apparently it is difficult for Peace Corps volunteers to adjust back to America. We also received resume tips, career advice, and provided feedback to Peace Corps staff.
I am coming to the end of my service. The official date is in November, but I may extend my time to help with training the new group of volunteers. Whether I extend it or not, I only have a little over two months at site which is hard to believe. The past year has flown by. I have not been good about writing, but the past year has been a busy year for me. The first year I had a lot of frustrations not finding work and adjusting to the culture. During this past year I still have a lot of frustrations but I now know how to navigate the system better. While some volunteers look back at their service as a negative experience, I feel that I taught people new techniques, and had accomplishments. I found good people with whom to work planting over 6000 trees. Another aspect of the past year has been the cultural aspect of Peace Corps, which tends to be a larger part of our experience such as working in the fields, sitting and talking, and brewing green tea (Gambia's national past time). Now that I know the language, I have had some interesting conversations about why men have multiple wives, and how America and The Gambia are different.
Out of my group of 25 environment volunteers, 9 have left the country early and 2 have extended for a third year to other countries (Jordan and China) that leaves 14 of us in country. I have debated with myself extending my service for another year, but I am ready to come home. As I said I may extend for training so I will probably be home mid January.
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2 comments:
Hi Alex:
I saw your new post today and then decided to go back and read some of the early ones. It was fun for me to read about your Gele experiences having had some of my own on my recent visit, which was great, by the way! You should write a book about your adventures.
You have had the experience of a lifetime and we are very proud of you. Looking forward to seeing you back home in January!
Papai
Hey Alex!
I can't believe you are almost done this journey! I definitely enjoyed reading the few emails/blog posts about it. It isn't hard to believe that Corps members have some trouble adjusting back to life in the US. I'd be interested to know what you think when you get back!
Meg
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