11/9 All candidates offered a post in Peace Corps receive a booklet describing their potential assigment before they decide whether to go forward, accept the placement. Lots of good info and it ends with short letters from volunteers mid-service. My group has been offered the chance to contribute updates to this portion. Here's what I submitted (no guarantee it'll be used):
My watch alarm goes off at 6am; I shut it up, stretch, lift up the mosquito net, roll from pandanus mat to concrete floor in my one room ply wood and tin roof house. All this I do less begrudgingly than the average school day, because it's graduation today.
I'll be seeing the seniors of Neighboring Islands Central High School, the first students I've ever taught, receive their diplomas, and what's more, shake the hand of their nation's president-- Mr. Manny Mori. There'll also be some tasty food for lunch (char pig, BBQ turtle, pounded sweet taro, cooked bananas), absolutely amazing local dances by the students and a great chance for the crowd to laugh as I bungle through a 'good work, good luck and good-bye' speech to my students, in Woleaian.
It's the end of my first school year, and there have been ups and downs, pleasant surprises and awkward moments, feelings of isolation and of being a legit member in my village community. There were times I'd have like to be almost anywhere other than Falalap, Woleai but as of a few months ago, I've completely fallen in love with my site. The food, in spite of the usual monotony (fish and taro anyone?), has really grown on me; my host family is just family; I hit my stride in the classroom, have some great projects lined up for the summer, and my Woleaian has finally reached 'conversational' status. The physical beauty of the island never fails to give me pause while I take it in. I feel home.
Fast forward two months: I'm on my way to a new site. Woleai has been closed because emergency transportation is just too sketchy. It's heart-break, plain and simple. Then there are all the job aspects being reset: community rapport, language skills, position at school and relationship with co-teachers and supervisor.
It's been three months since I moved from Woleai to Houk, Yap to Chuuk, the three most difficult and challenging months of my service. But I'm still here, and I can see some major positives that have come from the move: better understanding of the differences and similarities between outer islands in the FSM, closer relationships with more of my fellow PCVs, the chance to set a better tone with my counterparts and a real possibility to work with them towards long-lasting improvement at the school. The list goes on, and none of it would have been possible without the transfer.
That's Peace Corps, from my experience: unexpected opportunities. Sometimes they crop up entirely painlessly, sometimes... well, the cost is higher sometimes. An open mind, flexible expectations and an ability to laugh, especially when the joke's on you and not overly funny, are clutch for the rough patches-- which almost certainly, you will hit. Here at the middle of my service, I can already say the experience has been incalculably beneficial, I'm confident it'll keep on in that fashion and I know it can be for you too.
-Eric Porter M76 Woleai, Yap and Houk, Chuuk
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