Today I officially submitted for my final close of service (COS) date: July 12th 2011! It was just in time too. I realized that if I get the paperwork soon that two days from now (Thursday) I would have ceased to be a volunteer. I guess that's why I only received half my months stipend. Whoops and thanks in advance to the PC staff for processing my paperwork late.
Having a final date is a really awesome feeling. Last week I sat down with my counterparts and asked them to come up with a timeline by which they can finish all of the work so I can go home. The program they came up with would have everything finished by the end of April. I don't think that it will possibly be done that early so I planned on them finishing it a month later. Then, knowing how things go here, I added the whole month of June just to be sure. Add the 4th of July party, which I won't get in France, and a week to finish up paperwork stuff and I end up with July 12th.
Immediately after COSing I'll travel to Mauritania (don't worry, just the safe bits) to say goodbye to my old host family there. Even now I still get a call from someone in Bababe about once a week. This is a really good example of a cultural difference between Americans and West Africans. I have friends and family in America that I have known my whole life who have never called or emailed nor have I called or emailed them. It is much cheaper for my American friends, family, and I to stay in touch with each other than it is for my Mauritanian friends and host family and I to stay in touch. However, even though they have only known me for a year as opposed to years and years they call me every couple of weeks. Staying in contact with your friends and family, even if it is just to greet them is of huge cultural importance here. While sometimes I groan when they call, yet again, just to say hello I have to say that I really like it. When I left Mauritania I put on a bracelet that was supposed to go to one of the girls attending the summer environmental camp I was going to be running and I promised my host family that I would not take it off until I came back to see them. When I go back in July it will probably be for the last time.
On this same sad note, I had pangs of what it would feel like to leave Segou for the first time the other day. Just thinking about it as I was biking to Kedougou filled me with much more emotion than I expected. I cried when I was told we were being pulled out of Mauritania and my relationships were not nearly as developed there. In Segou I really feel like I have thrown in my lot with the future of the village. While I cannot say that I live exactly like a villager and am stuck with the same limited opportunities as a villager I feel like I care about the future of the people of Segou just as much as anyone and have done the most that I was capable of to increase their opportunities. Leaving a place when I feel like that is going to be hard.
Another interesting feeling that is arising from having a COS date is the sense that the rest of my life is beginning. I didn't have this feeling when I graduated from college because even before I started going to Clarkson I knew I wanted to join the Peace Corps after. I also only had one month of transition time in between. Now, I'm leaving the Peace Corps and I feel like a world of opportunities are open to me. My first move will be to go to France for a month to actually learn to speak the language correctly. After that my plan is to hang around online forums and ship yards in the Canary Islands to try to get a ride/work on a sail boat going back to the Americas. I can't think of a better time in life to cross the Atlantic by boat so why not now? When I finally do make it back to the US I plan on traveling the country visiting with friends and family until I can find a job, hopefully in DC. I'll be looking for something in the environmental sector (govt., NGO, or business) but for the first time in my life the next step is not entirely clear. I have to say I quite like it.
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6 comments:
Zach,
Doors of perception
doors of opportunity
when we are genuine
we find the community.
It is easy
it is hard
grow in the garden
chickens in the yard.
Wow...July 12th, it must be very different with that date in thought. I know you'll do an amazing job overseeing the completion of the eco lodge!
Your travel plans after sound great too. I look forward to hearing the updates and dropping big Colorado mountain snowboard lines when you visit next winter!
Speaking as a mother, letting go of something you have nurtured and watch grow is very difficult. It is also very rewarding when you have given it your all and trust that it doesn't need you any more, but will have benefited from your love and efforts and will become more than you dream! I am so proud of you, love Mom
Have you begun to think about what comes next for you? Get us back in the loop so we can prepare letters of recommendation and so on. As this amazing experience comes to a close, reflection should turn on how to build upon it. All best my friend!
Well said, Sue. I echo your sentiments.
Zach,
What a fantastic ride you have been on. Tom will be jealous if you do the sailboat trek. He's conquering Chautauqua Lake on his 15 1/2 foot snipe now.
Take care,
Rose
I found your blog a few days ago because Clarkson mentioned it in their alumni news letter. Congratulations on everything you have achieved. I wish I had known about it from the beginning, or at least when you were asking for money because I would have given.
I occasionally get emails about "environmental" job openings, if you want me to forward them. I know your not quite there yet, but 350.org has an opening in DC right now. http://www.350.org/en/jobs
Best,
Niall
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