The title feels like an appropriate one for how I’m feeling,
as well as some of my other Peace Corps volunteers. There’s only about seven
months left in my service here in the Philippines. It’s still a lot of time left, yet at the
same time it’s not very much. Especially compared to the amount of time I’ve
already been here.
It’s been awhile since my last post in this blog though and
to be honest it’s mostly because I’m lazy. But it’s also because most of the
time I’m just living and not sure if it’s very interesting to others.
Now here, this is my new normal. I no longer feel home sick
like I did when I first arrived and through my first year of service. I have work, which lately involves more independent
paperwork, office time, and a project here and there if they don’t get canceled
or postponed.
Then in my free time I
hang out with friends, read, and binge watch TV shows or movies. Of course
there’s traveling too. I have been doing a lot more traveling since my time in the Philippines is growing short now. I want to see as much of this amazing country as I can....
I had an amazing time on a trip that I got to share with my family to Bohol last month!!!
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| Most Recent trip to Cantanduanes, passed by the gorgeous Mt. Mayon (active volcano) |
That's my normal
Being a volunteer gives you more independence and free time
versus a regular job, which can be a blessing or a curse depending who you are.
I’m adaptable but I do miss having a really routine schedule…. Well sometimes,
but mostly I enjoy my relaxed and laid back lifestyle. When I do have
productive work I try to work really hard and appreciate it while I’m doing it.
My most recent project was a capacity building training for
the beneficiary parent leaders in the organization I work in. The project idea was developed by my main
counterpart (the coworker I’ve been working with most since I’ve been here) and
I last March. I submitted a grant for it last April and due to weather (you may
have heard a little about typhoons) it had to be postponed from its original
date in July all the way to December and then again to January.
It’s a really good example of project progress can go here
in the Peace Corps. But thankfully it finally happened and everyone here was
really excited about it.
But otherwise work is indeed stagnant at the moment and on
my really boring days sometimes it can be hard to remember why I wanted to do
this to be here. I’m not always sure about my productivity level and I
definitely feel like I’m getting more out of this experience than I’m putting
into it. Maybe, I’m hoping, later more towards the end of service I get a
glimpse of the impact I’m actually making.
Just like anywhere, in life, in meeting and interacting with
other people, a person really has no idea what kind of influence that is being made.
In the back of my mind I try to remember that as I talk to my neighbors, as I
bond with my coworkers, and as I practice language with my host family and
boyfriend.
The only hope I can really have, the most
important part about being here I think isn’t about the amount of productive work I do
(no matter how much I get frustrated with the pace of work sometimes), it’s
about the positive relationships I develop. Which includes after leaving here, in my future and in anyone’s
life everywhere, not just in Peace Corps.
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