Peace Corps emotional swings

I've been visiting with some of my best Peace Corps friends during their last days in country.

As the one in the group who would be going back for more work at site, I expressed the feeling that always accompanies time away from site.

I told my friends that when I leave, I feel guilty for being away and become eager to go back. When it's time to go back, I dread it a bit, savoring the running water, company and electricity. When I finally get on the road, I'm excited to get back to my friends in the village. When I'm in Bormase, I love it and wonder why I dreaded my return. When the time comes for me to leave site for any reason, I'm eager to leave.

I thought that this process would stop after a few months but it's lasted the full time. When I expressed it aloud, it was received with emphatic nods and wholehearted agreement. It's hard to understand the emotional swings but they come with the territory.

Seeing my friends leave is sad. I don't know when I'll see them again and most of them have no idea what they'll do when they get home. We've all spent time talking about how long a Peace Corps service is. We counted down months and now it's time to go. Each experience is fully unique and unexplainable. Here's to two years and a lifetime of failing to explain what it was like.

Love to all.
Ira