As of November 23rd, I officially completed my first full year of service as a PCV and it was crazy hard! I mean, I knew it was going to be hard when I applied to be a volunteer two and a half years ago but I guess I'm struggling in different ways than I thought I would. The past few months have been emotionally draining and I felt the need to come home. Luckily, my parents were down with the idea and brought me home to spend Thanksgiving with the family. It was one of the best weeks of my life!
I was dubbed "Queen of the Week" and enjoyed american treats, two winning 49er games, mom's cooking and dad's french toast, kayaking with my cousins, the beautiful scenery of Pacifica (which I never fully appreciated until now), running in the park with my mom, walking the dogs with my dad, watching my sister get her driver's license, shopping sprees, hot showers, safe tap water, refrigerators, the annual House Quake gig at Bimbo's, chats with my niece who didn't even know my name before I left, a night on the town with my old roomies, visits with aunts/uncles/cousins/gram and so much more.
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| My favorite humans |
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| And, of course, the pups! |
It was amazing but it was almost like a tease. Saying goodbye was just as hard as before and, to be honest, I really didn't want to get on that plane. It was a long journey back to Peru and I called my parents crying during every layover I had. When I landed in Lima, I gathered my things together, made it surprisingly quickly through customs and headed toward the eager line of taxis still teary-eyed. Then I heard people calling my name. I looked to the mass of families waiting for their loved ones and saw two of my closest friends, Taylor and Olga, pushing through the crowd, slipping under the ropes and running over to hug me! They had signs and balloons and as I looked to the crowd again I saw more balloons bouncing over the heads of strangers and out popped two more friends, Annika and Dave! I couldn't believe it!
Olga had sneakily messaged my sister asking for my flight info so that they could pick me up and surprise me at the airport. Marlee gave out the info with the warning "Don't be offended if she cries," but, of course, my friends know me just as well as my family and they all knew that tears were inevitable.
The rest of the week was spent in Lima for our WASH 20 medical checks and mid-service training. We got our teeth cleaned, checked in with the doctors and pooped in cups to check for parasites, you know, the usual. Then we shared the past year's experiences and enjoyed our reunion. During the week I also received a letter from myself. It was written the day before we were officially sworn in as PCVs last year. For some reason it surprised me. My past self seemed so much more confident even though I had no clue what this first year was going to bring. In this slump I've found myself stuck in the past few months, it was refreshing to be reminded of how hopeful and excited I was to start this journey. It reminded me why I'm here, why I chose to challenge myself in the first place. So here it is:
11/22/12
Dear Future Jamie,
Wow, wow, wow, how the year has flown by, right? Here I am sitting in the kitchen of the training center unable to imagine what it will be like once I arrive in site for good in just a few short days and there you are with a year of incredible experiences under your belt. Through the highs and lows of a PCV, you persevere, and you will continue to do so.
Think about how much more future future Jamie will have experienced by COS [Close of Service]! It's incredible, RIDIC! I know I joke about being the first to go home or not being able to complete these two years of service, but you can do it. Anyone can do it, the difference is you can and will do it with a smile on your face and an openness to experience more.
Don't change who you are but let the experience amplify those beautiful qualities you've always loved. Sappy stuff, I know. Hey, maybe you'll have just met the trainees from Peru 22 at FBT! If you did, I know you pumped them up about their service and kept them motivated.
Don't lose yourself. Cuidate!
Jamie
Who is that girl? Right? I read that and was surprised about how certain I was of myself when I had no idea what was in store for me. Now that I've found myself in this mid-service slump, I'm gonna take past Jamie's advice and turn this second year around.
It's gonna take time but I just keep trying to remind myself of how much I've survived this past year: speaking spanish daily, working in a different language often not understanding what the hell is going on but trying my best to get by, living 4200 miles away from my family and integrating into a totally different culture, running three 10k races when just a few years ago I could barely run a mile without feeling like death, designing/planning/managing my own projects that can really make a difference in the community, running with (mostly from) the bulls during Semana Santa, paddling down the Amazon on a handmade raft for three days, my first serious relationship and the heartbreak that followed, hiking to the top of Machu Picchu and pushing it even further by hiking up to Huayna Picchu (my dad can explain the horrors of that hike later), making friendships with people from all over the world.
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| Integrating |
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| Running with the host mom |
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| Running and representing Taiwan |
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| Celebrating handwashing |
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| And making handwashing fun |
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| Rafting like a boss |
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| Project managing |
Entonces, my goal for the next year is to recapture that motivation and excitement for adventure that I had this time last year, to remind myself why I chose to be here and to make sure this second year is something to be proud of.
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| Now it's time to recapture the energy of these crazy fools! |
Hi Honey,
ReplyDeleteanother great post. Sounds like listening to "past" Jamie will serve you well.
Love you bunches!
Daddy
oh not sure if my comments posted - love you - great post sweetheart and always good to see you and hear your voice
ReplyDeleteGood morning, how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because trough them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are very small countries with very few population, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this, I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Peru? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Peru in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Avenida Juan de la Cierva, 44
28902 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally, I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez