Bittersweet

The past couple of months have been riddled with goodbyes.

It all started with COS (Close of Service) Conference in May in Dar.
At every COS Conference, Peace Corps always takes the time and opportunity to “repay” us for our hard work, so they put us up in a beachside resort with free wi-fi, all-you-can-eat buffets, and air-conditioned rooms.  It is also when we do our final LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) so we know how our Swahili has progressed, recognize and thank the PC staff for their help through our service, do a quick “heads up” on what we will need to do when we actually close our service, pick our COS dates, and most importantly, figure out how to adjust back to America and say goodbye to our friends.

Although it’s not the final goodbye to everyone, it is the last time our whole class is together in one place.  Unfortunately, there may be a few people that I might not see again, not even when we are back in America (or wherever people end up).  :(

No matter how close or not so close you are to people in your Peace Corps class, you love all of them because you were in it together, for two years!  And it’s true – I will miss everyone so much!

One thing PC recruiters don’t really talk about during interviews is about the bonds you create with the widest variety of people.  I can definitely say that there are some people in my class that I do not think I would have been close friends with otherwise, but Peace Corps changed that.  And I love it!  Everyone comes from such a different background and has such different personalities, you all all have something in common – you served in Tanzania with the Peace Corps together.  I guess that’s also why PCVs tend to gravitate towards one another regardless of the country you served in – you can relate!  :)

At COS Conference, Kristine, my awesome twin, revealed our finished class T-shirts!  IT WAS WICKED!  (Many PC classes will design a T-shirt exclusive to their class and she was the designer of ours.)  She took everyone, including those who were no longer in country, and made a personalized stick figure to represent each person!  It was hilarious trying to figure out who was whom.  :D  We also did an awards show with nominees and different categories of superlatives like “Best Male Dancer” or “Site Rat” or “Most Likely to be Country Director” haha.  I was an announcer, which was pretty fun, but the best were Ben and Kyle as the MCs.  Fantastic!  :]

We even Skyped-in some of our “lost brothers” during the awards show!  Ethan got “Best Dressed” so I was happy to get to give him his award via Skype!  :P

As for the choosing of COS dates, which was the most anticipated thing all week, I bypassed the chaos of trying to COS first because I wasn’t in a rush, so I took the last possible date to COS.  (You can COS between 30 days before and 30 days after your swearing-in date.)  Since we swore-in on August 15 and it is required to have three consecutive week days for COS-ing to do medical appointments, I chose September 12th.  I wanted to stay a little later to give myself time to leave my site, stay long enough to see the new PCVs that just arrived in country on July 8th [HUZZAH!], be able to COS with Steve, and give myself time to travel after PC (on a slight budget).  Therefore, I will be the last person in my class to COS, excluding extendees.  Most of my class is actually leaving this month!

I’ve bid farewell to SO many people this month, including my twin, Ryan, and pretty much all of Mbeya…  I still can’t believe it!  (Luckily Ben isn’t leaving until the first week of September!)  I just wished Steph “happy trails” earlier last week (and her cat, “Parachichi” [avocado]).  Crazy how quickly everything wraps up.

Our time here really does go by fast.  It’s just like what Tanzanians like to say, “Time is running!”  It is too true, and before I know it, September will be upon me like an avalanche, and then I’ll be off traveling for two and a half months!  I’m super excited to get to travel with Steve, but at the same time, I don’t know if I’m ready to leave my students, my school, my home…

It really is my home and I think I am a little afraid to leave it and a little afraid to go back to how my life was before Peace Corps.  I don’t want it to go back to how it exactly was though, so I don’t think it will be.

I am sure I’ll bounce back and forth the next few months between the bitter and the sweet, but all in all, I will never forget these past two years.