Closing Time

When I joined the Peace Corps, I expected to spend the next 27 months with the Tree Hugging Granola types but I was instantly proven wrong when we all met for the first time in Philadelphia two days before departing for Romania. There were people from all walks of life; from 21 to 70 years old, recent college grads to retired lawyers, as well as liberals and conservatives. It was a grand mixture of characters, each of us a misfit in our own way. I mean how could we not be...you gotta be a little quirky in the head to do something like this! So there we were, on our own little Misfit Island…all searching for new red lights to guide the way. It was strange how fast we all gelled and got to know each other; it was and has been like no other experience. Truthfully, I’ve become friends with people that I would have never been friends with at home. Strange situations bring strange people together, and I’m so very grateful for such an opportunity to see into the minds of so many unique people. Akin to my situation at site, not having many people my age in Cȃmpulung, I have generally befriended mostly much older and even some younger Romanians. However, I wouldn’t trade them or the opportunity for anything else! I fancy that the majority of the social norms that I grew up developing were so easily pitched out the window. There is an indescribable greatness that comes from the unexpected…even if it is simply for the pure ridiculousness that the expected cannot foresee.

Ironically, during the last two months I wanted to go home more than any other time since I’ve been here. So needless to say, I was really looking forward to going to the COS (Close of Overseas Service) Conference; and even more so for the opportunity to take a long hot shower and finally shave my legs in a heated bathroom (much to our surprise the ritzy hotel had swanky bathrooms with frosted glass walls and showers that didn’t exactly “frost” your unmentionables.) Any who…we all (minus the 10 fallen ones, and by “fallen ones” I mean they’re still alive they just went home early) met again one last time for our COS Conference. All of us changed by our own experiences here; some physically and some mentally (including maturely, intellectually & emotionally), most for the better but even some for the worse. We had our final language test, sang a little Kumbaya, celebrated making it to the end and said goodbye one last time.

However, now that it’s over and I’m in the homestretch, I don’t want it to end. As difficult as it may be, I love how many people can come in and out of your life, leaving irreversible impacts along the way. It seems like the good ones always get away but I know that’s not always true for I suppose the good ones are the ones who have stuck with you through it all. Nevertheless, it just seems that there is always a new beginning that never flourishes because it comes at an end. For the time being, I’m riding the train back to Camp Mo and I can only hope that life continues to be as bright as the hot pink Hello Kitty T-shirt being sported by a fellow passenger.