Chapter Seven: Coming Home

During my move to my new house, I discovered all sorts of stuff I never really realized I had. One such item was a booklet about the adjustments volunteers may have to make during their service. I vaguely remember having received the booklet in my invitation packet months before I even left America. It wasn’t one that really stood out or that I particularly even read that much. However this time, when I opened it up and began reading (and began with chapter seven as that’s the stage I’m at in my service) I couldn’t believe how much the content applied to me. Not to be cheesey, but it was like finding a friend who completely understood all the thoughts going on in my head. So in my last month here, rather than splashing personal random thoughts in an attempt to express everything going on, I am going to just share the entries of this last chapter (with possibly a few comments of my own in between in blue) as I feel they come about as close as possible to capturing all the thoughts going on right now. So let’s begin reading…. (this first part is short, just the intro)*

“As frustrating and challenging as it is to be a Peace Corps Volunteer, many Volunteers will tell you it’s even harder to be a former Peace Corps Volunteer. It can be as hard to leave the Peace Corps, it seems, as it is to be in it (or harder I think…). As one returned Volunteer from South America wrote, ‘My problem is I’m 23 years old and I’ve already had the experience of a lifetime’” 


*A few minor adjustments is the title of the booklet I am pulling passages from for the next month.