Each
group of Peace Corps volunteers gets together four times during their two years
of service: for pre-serving training, early in-service training, mid-service
training and close of service. My Close
of Service Conference took place the last week of February and although there
are some people that I will definitely see again, there are some
others that I probably won't.
The official close of service date for my group is May 26th but a lot of us will be leaving at different points before then, so last week was a little emotional and a lot of fun!
Peace Corps Mexico Group 18!
And a pic with the office staff. That's our super awesome country director laying on the ground on the left. Jaime is the best!!!
Despite having to
run the gauntlet of medical appointment, including daily lab visits with
specimens in paper bags, we had a great last week together.
I started with a visit to my host family who
always fills my heart with love and my stomach with delicious chilaquiles. The next night a group of us went to see the
Black Panther – my first ever visit to a movie theater in Mexico! The movie was highly entertaining and the
theater was the most comfortable one I have ever visited with reclining
seats and two arm rests with two cup holders.
So fancy!
We each shared a 5-minute summary of our service which yielded a full day of laughter and heart-warming
stories. Sometimes as a volunteer it
doesn’t feel like you really do much, but hearing a short snippet of everyone’s
story really helped put the collective effort into perspective.
Fun times at our group dinner!
How could you not love these people?!!
Several
volunteers found love, in the form of a human partner or a new pet (or both), and everyone experienced at least one horrific illness. Some people got zika, mono, E. Coli AND
poisonous spider bites over the last two years. Some of us got some really
weird results from our final medical tests, like unexpectedly testing positive
for tuberculosis or having a deviated septum with no history of a traumatic nose event.
Some people thought about going home during their service but received
support from their Mexican family, friends and fellow volunteers and are now
planning to stay in Mexico post-service.
Some people are planning to go to grad school when their service ends,
while others are planning to travel around the world, retire or start looking
for a job.
Had it not been for Jaime serving us, I might have been one of the few people super excited to eat more Costco pizza at a Peace Corps training event.
Eating tacos al pastor in the plaza.
One final gathering of the Natural Resource Management volunteer group :)
Every person has a different Peace Corps service, but we all have this shared experience that forms a bond as strong as family. If
you had told me two years ago that my new best friends would be 23-30 year olds, and a lovely retired woman from Chicago, and that they would bring me some
of the best laughs and memories of my life, I might have been dubious. However, I cannot sufficiently put into words
how much I love my fellow volunteers and how grateful I am for their support and
companionship and how much I look forward to reconnecting with them again in
the future. Our service may be coming to an end, but the memories will last a lifetime. Ok, that is uber cheesy, but really, I've got all the feels these days!
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