I’ve been enjoying a quiet week mostly at home. It’s nice to not have to do anything or go anywhere and the weather has been fairly sunny although slightly cold. I’ve spent most of the days getting caught up with my reading and doing some writing.
Yesterday I baked and made macaroni salad for our New Year’s festivities later tonight. People are getting the party started early and have been setting off firecrackers and fireworks since this morning. It doesn’t seem to make much sense since the sun is out, but the party atmosphere is already starting. I can still hear the turkeys outside making noise – but their time is extremely, extremely limited. Later this evening they’ll be another impressive civilian display of fireworks. I was talking to a friend yesterday and telling him that both “children and inner children alike enjoy seeing things get blown up.” I’m 26 and I still do, and the amount and size of the fireworks here is incredible. I don’t think most of them would be legal in the US but that’s what makes celebrating New Years abroad so much fun!
Service is winding down very quickly. In less than two months, we’ll have our final conference. I’m one of the conference's planners and we are discussing potential locations now. Then we’ll put the schedule together and pull teeth to get people to present. It’s been great to get conference planning / schedule planning / and session development experience. But it’s often very stressful to make sure everything lines up logistically and it’s difficult to get everyone to pull their weight. Luckily, we’ve got some new American staff at Peace Corps that should make the organizing a lot easier. The Albanian training manager is an absolute godsend. At the conference, I’ll be able to secure my COS (close of service) date… which I’m hoping is sometime in early May. This means that once the New Year starts, I’ll have about five months left. And picking up on the typical New Years vibe, there’s a lot to reflect on in the past year and for the future.
More so than any other time in my life, I can say that I have come in contact with some of the best people. Just the best people. Intelligent people, motivated people, caring people, considerate people. And the other side of the coin: here, during my time in Albania, I've come in contact with some of the worst people. Self-involved, competitive, insensitive and downright malicious people. Not to mention the intricacies of having to work with some of these people in a somewhat professional manner. My time with other volunteers has been either the most refreshing and invigorating battery charger, or it's been the most absolutely draining teeth-gnashing. I've learned about myself as an introvert, which is really what I am, even though I can't tell that to anyone without people laughing. I've learned to embrace the quiet and the time with myself, but I've also learned how to deal with people, to interact and to put myself out there a lot better than I ever did during the course of my undergrad years.
The best we can hope for is that we continue to learn about ourselves and that we're able to continue moving in some kind of forward motion, no matter what speed. I’ve learned a lot about myself this past year, both good and bad. There is a lot to be commended for but a lot to improve on. With the imposing end of service, PCVs are faced with a lot of difficult uncertainty. We wonder what the transition to the US will be like; what will happen to our relationships and friendships when they’re transported to a different continent; and what the next step in our lives will be. I don’t know what will happen in 2011 but I’m not worried. Anything can happen and that’s part of what makes life so exciting.
For those of us towards the end of our service, a quote from Buddha to keep you focused: “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Enjoy the time you have left here with the people that are valuable to you. This is a time that won't come again and it should be enjoyed and appreciated as such.
Happy New Year, everybody.
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