I've had my close of service conference, decided to stay a little longer, but the silly 3 month marker has now passed and I am left wondering what next. I have just lived the most amazing two years of my life in a country where I am a celebrity, not really but sort of really. I have been in the newspaper and on the news as a pole vault coach, and in the paper for being a trend setter, and weeks after being on tv children still shout to me "Miss, I saw you on TV". I'm working on finishing up building a library, getting one of my pole vaulters to qualify for the junior pan american games, and trying to train PE teachers all over the island how to be pole vault coaches. I've gotten a 9 year old boy to change his plans for his future from going to prison to going to one of the best secondary schools on the island, and he grades went up almost 30 percentage points. I've lived through the worst drought in Saint Lucia's recorded history, and the worst Natural Disaster too.
As I am coming way too close to the end, I can say without hesitation my peace corps service was a huge success. I'm not going to say it was easy or there weren't times that I thought about throwing in the towel, but I wouldn't change my choice to be here and stay here for anything. Some people say being a peace corps volunteer is the hardest job you will ever love, and while I couldn't agree more with that statement, I think the hardest part of my service will be saying goodbye.
When I first came here I thought I would just keep my head down get engulfed with work and not really be social, but boy was I wrong. Not only did I make friends but I gained a new family. While it will be incredibly sad, and I'm sure that I will cry like a baby at random places for the most ridiculous reasons over the next oh 6 months or so, I'm sure that those people will always remain in my heart. I will think of them every time, I see onion rings, a pole vault anything, a child learning to read, someone saying miss, a rooster crowing, the mention of water not working, Carnival, anytime I go shopping or have to pick out an outfit, anytime I forget to eat, or whenever some smacks me to kill a mosquito. As sad as I am to be going and leaving my family behind, it is of extreme comfort that I know they will always have my back, and I just hope they know I have theirs!
