The Peace Corps Experience

After a 24 hour journey, I am finally home for good! It feels excellent to have finished two years of service, excellent to see family and friends again, and, so far, excellent to be once again anonymous within the general population. It might be hard to believe I'm speaking of Philadelphia when I say that everything here is so nice, ordered, and beautiful. The most striking thing is the lack of trees in the city, and lack of soil visible in general.

Was it Worth It?
I was told recently, by incoming Peace Corps Volunteers, that many people read blogs before deciding to join. While I'm still gaining perspective on the experience, I thought it might be helpful to state some general ways I feel these two years abroad have changed me, for better or for worse.

On the brighter side of things, I'm definitely a more patient, flexible, and assertive individual. I can eat pretty much anything, wash clothes by hand, navigate woods in the dark, and wash dishes without any water. I feel ok with dealing with the possibility of having intestinal worms, whereas before you would have to sedate me to even talk about that, and can hold a minority opinion strongly. I can speak Swahili, cook for 15 people, make brownies from scratch, and hike in heals. How useful this is in the U.S. I don't know. I can also communicate across language and cultural borders and somewhat better control my temper. I am more patriotic and proud of being an American.

But with the good come the bad and the ugly. My feet will never look the same. I'm a huge hypochondriac and, what's worse, enjoy talking about it. Cynicism has yet to turn into realism in some areas, and I have no problem telling people not to speak to me that way and if they keep on doing that where they can go immediately. I don't know how to use an iphone or what to say when people ask "how was Africa", and suppressing the urge to bargain with the cashier while shopping at Target is going to be difficult.

So there it is. Hopefully the readjustment back home won’t be as painful as everyone tells me it’s going to be. Thankfully I have a beautiful family and group of friends, who have been incredibly supportive these past two years and very open-armed now that I am returning. THANK YOU to everyone who kept in touch, you have no idea how many times it cheered me up and gave me the motivation to stay when times got tough.

Peace.