Early Reflections

I'm in the home stretch - it’s a matter of weeks now with December 14 being my last official day as a volunteer. I expect I'll be leaving my site around December 6 for some travel and then closing stuff in Manila. It has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. How I will describe and integrate this experience still remains a mystery to me, as it has been so filled with emotions and challenges. I am glad I stuck with it and on good days I am grateful for this once in a lifetime experience – living and working immersed in another culture for 6 months. I continue to struggle with quantifying my contributions and expect mostly I will summarize them as elusive and much less than I had hoped – but maybe not – we’ll see.

So as I reflect I know for sure - what I have loved is the tropical weather, waking up every day to see Mayon Volcano in her many splendid forms, the incredibly hospitable and kind Filipinos, living simpler than I might have imagined I could live- on less money than you might believe, having time to read and write a lot, fresh pineapple, mangos and avocados, the way Filipinos love to dance and sing and have a good time, the voices and smiles of children wishing me well and asking my name as I pass, a sense of being part of a community of people that emphasize the collective good vs. individuality, family as the central organizing construct of daily life, the way Filipinos respect their elders, realizing privacy may be a little over-rated (ok just a little) and that relationships matter, learning how many ways you can make something out of rice or coconut including things purple and mysterious looking, and how often people can eat and still remain small and maybe just maybe that our tendency as Americans to use achievements and accomplishments as a measure of a person’s worth isn't such a great idea and joy is in the little things, it’s just waiting for me to discover it. And I have loved being part of this quirky thing called Peace Corps – even with all my ups and downs, I feel proud to be associated with its history and its intention of building world peace and friendship by connecting people worldwide as we share our daily lives and learn to understand and appreciate each others culture. So I now figure maybe the cultural exchange part is a good and noble thing.