I have been procrastinating on writing this post
for weeks, however, I can’t imagine a better time to sit, reflect and write
than today – exactly two years after I swore in as a PCV alongside people whom
I didn't know would change my lives forever. Today I said “see you later” to
the last one of my friends who has chosen to close their service and move on to
bigger and better things (not to negate nor minimize my decision to stay as a
PCV). At times I feel like I am “being left behind” although I realize that I
myself and moving on to bigger and better. And that is part of what I want to
share – how as a PCVL I have changed, grown and developed more than expected,
and learned about what I want out of life. I also want to share how the process
of seeing said friends leave has helped me reflect on lessons learned, growth
had and incredible, long lasting relationships made.
To give you an idea of my life in the past 2
months:
- - After several calculations, I traveled at
least 2,300 miles on Dominican Public Transport just in the month of
September.
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I was traveling
to prepare 17 communities around the entire country to receive new volunteers
at the end of October.
o
On these
travels I saw:
§ A Christmas tree Farm (YES on a Caribbean Island)
§ An Aloe Plantation (miles of Aloe plants!)
§ An Ostrich Farm
§ Miles of Rice fields
§ Stayed in many strangers’ homes but got new family
out of it!
§ Visited sites of some of my closest friends whom I
hadn't visited
- - While
traveling I was also in training about 3 days per week to help give a PCVs
perspective on technical training to the new group
- - I was also in the office weekly to make sure
all programmatic stuff with current PCVs was going according to plan.
-
ALL of this while
juggling the end of service for many of my dearest and closest friends - this
meant making sure I spent quality, in the moment, time with them and being
there with them during their last days in country.
-
To top it all
off - making sure I was spending QT with my boyfriend to make sure our
relationship didn't fall by the way-side throughout ALL of this craziness. -
Thankfully, Leo's patience, understanding and compassion are in his nature and
not anything he needs to work at to have. He always helped me with scheduling
friends/work/me/us time and put himself out of the picture until the chaos
ended.
How did I manage all of this? With patience, a journal, and accepting
the realities of my personality that I did not necessarily like. I learned a
lot about myself, my priorities, my need for balance, and my limits. I learned
that in order to stretch myself thin, I have to be physically, mentally and
emotional strong. This period of 7 weeks called for a lot of internal motivation,
self-validation and on my own cheer leading. In the end I learned that I was
more capable than I ever gave myself credit for and that I have incredibly
understanding and patient friends in my life!
Being a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader has proven to be a difficult line
to walk. You are a volunteer yet you are involved in all the staff and
bureaucratic aspects of Peace Corps. You are involved in Programming AND
training. You are a peer support yet a person whose responsibility is to ensure
that programmatic goals are being met and rules aren’t being broken. All this being
said, I finally feel like I am good at something and it has given me a lot to
think about for my future. I strongly believe in the mission of Peace Corps –
now more than ever because I have had to talk about the Core Expectations, the
history and philosophy of it to communities, new volunteers and follow it
daily! I have found that keeping within this philosophy, mission and vision of
Peace Corps comes naturally to me. This is also the first office-type job in
which Sunday nights I am not complaining or dreading about going to work on Monday.
Thankfully I have a boss who confides and trusts in my ability to do the job
well and has given me the independence to create new initiatives and make
changes to the Health Sector. The Health Sector team is a wonderful group of
people to work alongside in the Peace Corps office and it feels great!
"We know we are in Dharma when we cannot think of anything else we would rather be doing with our life." —
David Simon
This quote really reflects how I am feeling about what I have my for myself in life so far - especially with new job, new found empowerment and all of my relationships.
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| The only Dam I have seen in this country - On the way to prepare a site in the MIDDLE of THOSE mountains - it was an adventure getting there. |
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| Aprovechared my site development visit to spend some QT with this munchkin! the other Laura - Love you |
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| Laura's Casita in Sabaneta |
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| Drying Corn in San Juan |
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| a tiny campo that will be receiving a new volunteer - another adventure to get here |
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| RICE FIELD E"RWHERE! Northwest - MonteCristi region doing more site development |
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| Could have made this thing a permanent fixture for those 5 weeks |
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| En route to prep a community - had to take a moto through a cactus forest for about 45 minutes ot get to this very isolated site in Monte Cristi |
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| Amongst the chaos - got to visit my sister in Consuelo! |
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| The New trainees on their way to Community Based Training |
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| My host siblings during Community Based Training - where I spent about 3 days/week |
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| Group work during CBT |
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| Alex's map-filled casita - I was doing site development and got to stay with the one and only! |
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| ALEX! |
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| A ceremony for those who completed the 27 months of service |
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Jugo & Empanadas :)
On living in the capital!
The past few weeks
I have become more and more appreciative of the country I have the opportunity
to live in. I live on a Caribbean Island!! Yes I am currently living in the
capital city, which is slowly having more and more to offer me as I get to know
it. But most importantly I am only a couple of hours away from any type of Caribbean
vacation I want. I am an hour from a beautiful clear water beach with fine
white sand. I am a couple of hours from mountains, rainforests and jungles. I
have lakes and rivers at my disposal. All in all – I am loving living in such a
rich, eco-diverse country! It definitely caters to my wandering, adventurous
personality that frequently needs a change of scenery!
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On Saying “see
ya later”
As my groups’
service came to a close I had a lot of reflecting to do. On friendships made,
growth had, feelings of “being left behind” in a way and how I was going to
make it this year without some of my strongest supports. Knowing that my
friends are going off to touch people’s lives the way they did mine (all in
different ways of course) was what made saying “goodbye” easier. I focused on
how our lives became richer due to this friendship rather than any sort of
loss. Focusing on the negative aspect was not going to serve me any function so
for the past few weeks it has all been “let’s not celebrate then end of
something but rather let’s celebrate the times and memories had and what fuller
lives we have because of the friendship”. Forcing myself to see it this way has
encouraged me to see many things in a positive light which has helped me a lot
throughout this transition. I am happy to say that in my upcoming trip home I
will have the pleasure of re-connecting with many friends who have left –
whether it is through seeing them in person again or skyping and seeing their
beautiful pixilated faces through the computer!
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| Never did we expect to become life-changers for each other |
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| Katie's Despedida |
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| A very influential person in my life |
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| A friend who ALWAYS knew how to put it in perspective - a big influencer |
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the two Laura's!
A SHOUTOUT TO ROSIE (ERIN KESSLER) WHOM APPARENTLY I HAVE 0 PICTURES WITH.
Upon leaving , I was reminded by my friends of how strong I really am. I have faced many personal struggles in my time here and my friends here have been my biggest support system. They are rooting for me in life and in my successes, and will always remind me of that. A theme they all left me with was "Live for you and no one else" ,"to Never give up", and to "fight for what I believe because only I will know what makes me happy"
Thank you to all for believing in me and giving me the strength and inner courage to live for me! You have all been there in my times of need and I don't know what I would have done in my time of struggles without your support.
They left me with these - to look at everyday! |
On what’s next
I have a training
coming up for the volunteers who have been here for a year then it is off to
Punta Cana with Leo for some R&R of our own. After a whirlwind few months
(for us both work wise) we decided to have some QT away from the chaos. On November 21st I get to see my
family and travel to Colombia for 10 days, after which I will head to the
states for almost a month. It will be nice to be home for the holidays, see
family and friends and have a solid 5 weeks of not sweating 24/7! Upon my
return to the DR, work ramps up again with visits to all the volunteers around
the country, changes in the sector and decisions to be made about my future. I
am confident in saying that after this year I would like to work for Peace
Corps – I feel pride in being part of such a movement and want to continue it.
I am getting comfortable here in DR so a change to the states would be
difficult AND refreshing at the same time….but who knows, no one can predict
the future – I like the challenge of living abroad!
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| I live here! |
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| THE ultimate Suitcase Struggle! |
