One Down, One To Go

So I’m just over the halfway mark of being in Guyana with the Peace Corps, with one more year to serve. My cousins wedding was a good excuse to come home at the halfway point to see family and friends; and I did not mind one bit catching up on craft beer, hot showers, fast/clean laundry machines, and some food I can’t get here. But alas, here I am back in the heat and humidity of the tropics getting ready for my next year – with Camp GLOW coming up all too soon.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading recently; it’s strange how I’ve come to like something I’ve hated being forced to do for the last decade or so. One article I came across talked about the differences between "communities and networks" I couldn’t have read this at a more opportune time, as it was perfect in my reflection of what I'm doing here in Guyana and the relationships I've made. You're more than welcome to read the article yourself, I liked it, but the main thesis is that networks are an anonymous group that connect with only one aspect of a person, and communities are a tight knit group with giving and receiving an integral part of membership. With this lens, it gave me a new perspective in looking at my life now in the Peace Corps.

We use the term “community” quite often in the Peace Corps so it was nice to look at the article’s criteria in seeing the different communities I belong to. “Community” is more than just the village I live in, but also the staff I’m part of, and the group of volunteers I belong to, or even my host family; people often have more than one community. Though right now I'm missing showering with two hands and choosing what to watch on TV, it was so nice to be welcomed back by so many people as soon as I got off the plane (running into friends who work at the airport). Taking my afternoon “breeze out” I passed by various students who shouted “Sir” as they rode by on their bikes, or people at the hospital welcoming me back to work.

My CU alumni newsletters, though sometimes entertaining to read, never mention anything if I click “delete” before I open it, but the relationships I've made here over the past year seem to really point out how I'm part of a community rather than a network. Here in Guyana, in various circles I now realize I've been built into a system where I not only benefit and receive, but others depend on my input as well. It’s been nice to step away at this halfway mark to be able to come back and evaluate what I'm doing here in Guyana.

Is what I'm doing “hard”? At times yes. But other times it’s so enjoyable. I really do appreciate this opportunity I've embarked on and am truly looking forward to my next year to see what lies ahead of me. I'm not sure I’ll ever really be able to do something like this again and I try my best to remember that and to take advantage of every minute of it. I'm learning so much but I'm not sure I’ll even realize just how much until it’s all over.

Well, the sun is starting to set and it hasn’t rained that much today, so if you’ll excuse me, there’s music playing in the air, I’m going out on a walk.