A Gringa No Brasil

Two years is a long time. A lot can happen. There were 51 people in the group that I started Peace Corps training with. By the time we made it to the Swearing-In Ceremony, we were down to 48. Since then, we’ve lost 12 more, bringing my training class to 36 volunteers.

Everyone has their reasons. Some get here and decide that Peace Corps life is not for them. Others have family problems back home to deal with, medical issues that can’t be taken care of in Honduras, or security problems that make it unsafe to stay in their site. Or they may have trouble with work, like community counterparts that don’t put in any effort. And then there are those unfortunate few that get caught breaking one of the many PC rules, and get sent home. We recently had a new Country Director take over, but the last one was notorious for her lack of mercy when it came to rule-breaking and discipline.

The most recent volunteer to leave from my training group was in a site just a half hour away from me, and we were also in the same project (Municipal Development). Needless to say, we spent a lot of time together, and I’m really bummed to see him go. He was my closest volunteer friend (not just talking physical distance) and kind of like a sitemate. He had recurring medical problems since he arrived in country. After being sick on and off for a year, he finally got tired of it, and the PC doctors got tired of taking care of him so they mutually agreed that a medical separation would be best (also known as getting “med sepped”). Hopefully the bacteria and parasites will stop pestering him back in the US.

On the upside, I inherited his couch and refrigerator.