I’m at the year mark. I’ve officially been in the Peace Corps for one year. I have three months to go, before I’m at my year mark for having been sworn-in as a volunteer, but I think a year in-country was one of the first major hurdles.
And while a year has flown past me, relatively quickly, it’s a good time to think of all that passed in one year. In the last year, I have…
…said goodbye to friends and family at home, unsure when our next reunion would be.
…learned Spanish for the second time and used it to communicate, rather than complete a worksheet in high school.
…learned how to live on my own in a new world.
…intercepted four different families and lived with each for varied periods.
…eaten at least half my weight in tortillas and tamales.
…become an elementary school teacher of sorts.
…kept in contact with friends and family through emails, letters and phone calls, and come to know who is among my closest support network.
…seen two friends and a sister get married.
…said goodbye to my first Guatemalan host-mom who passed away in November.
…climbed to the highest point in Central America.
…ridden on public transportation day-in-and-day-out, ranging from large vans, pick-ups, trucks, and converted school buses (or otherwise known as the infamous camioneta or chicken bus).
…waited…and waited…and employed, as one fellow volunteer coined, “Zen levels of patience and cultural sensitivity.”
It’s been an enlivening, exhausting, thrilling, challenging, thought-provoking experience with about 100 different adjectives at the same time. I hope the next year continues to force acceptance, awareness, goals, justice, appreciation, humility, solidarity, values and progress.
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Victory Climb - the summit of the Volcán Tajumulco. One year down.
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