So much has gone on in my service lately and a lot of those events have caused me to have writer’s block. Nevertheless, I’ll talk about the new chapter of my service- my third year!
As you may have guessed, my entire cohort has completed their service. They finished their projects in the community while I have been busy as ever. I have been sitting in five-hour staff meetings while some of my friends are backpacking around Europe. When I told my Peace Corps Program Manager that I wanted to extend, she said that a big change and challenge is completing my third year without my cohort. I never doubted her. She is correct and so were my suspensions.
Last week, I was in a neighboring town for a town council meeting. Normally, I would go next door to the library and say hi to my friend, another PCV, Ryan. However, he just closed his service. While I was translating Georgian to English in my head during the meeting, he was taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower. It felt odd not going next door to say hi to Ryan.
Then, yesterday evening, Justin and I visited our host family. Each summer, our host mom’s grandson comes and visits from New Jersey for the entire summer. When we lived with our host family two years ago, he was a short fifth grader. The past two summers, he has grown over a foot. In fact, he is even taller than me now (not that hard to accomplish). Seeing how much he has grown reminded me how long I’ve been living in Georgia. At that moment, I thought to myself, “wow, this is my THIRD summer in Georgia.” Sometimes, I forgot how fast time passes by until a moment like yesterday’s reminds me how long that I have been here.
After we visited our host family, we went to a bar to watch the World Cup Final Game with other Peace Corps Volunteers. We drank beer, ate food, and watched the game. Justin and I arrived several minutes late. Upon our arrival, we noticed that we knew less than half of the people there. Many of the Peace Corps Volunteers in attendance were the G18s (two cohorts after mine). I looked at my G17 sitemate, Erin, and said, “Well, I guess this is really the start of my third year. No one from my year is here, except Justin and me. No one knows who we are and this is weird.” Justin and I did not have that many opportunities to meet the new cohort. This is their second weekend since they became full-fledged Peace Corps Volunteers. So, in time, we will get to spend more time with them.
So, in essence, during this time period, I’m having mixed feelings. I’m excited about my third year of service while concurrently feeling homesick. I have different projects lined up with my organization and they will be interesting to see them through. However, I had mentally prepared for 27 months and 27 months is what I served. I haven’t been to my parents’ house and in my town during my entire service thus far. This is the longest time I’ve gone without seeing my parents and sisters. So, as you can imagine, seeing my friends’ pictures on Facebook reuniting with their friends and family back home gets me homesick. It also makes me miss my Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) friends since I know they won’t be with me in my third year.
I’m also homesick because my friends and family back home have entered new chapters of their lives. I have had friends who had gotten pregnant and delivered. They are now moms with toddlers. I have friends who have gotten engaged and married. My middle sister, for instance, will be starting her career as a teacher in August. There are a lot of milestones that I have missed. Seeing pictures of those milestones on Facebook is another reminder that I have been gone a long time.
When I have a hard day, I sometimes call my parents. My dad always reminds me, “Rawan, you signed up for this. This is your choice.” He is 100% right. Serving is a choice and a wonderful one. I serve with pleasure. I wake up every day and I still choose to finish my service- and even extend for that matter, regardless of how hard my days can be.