Zero Sum (Written 5/23/07)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of time….

 

Well the first week back has definitely had it's ups and downs which makes me very glad I got a lot of rest in during the last few days of my vacation. Without a doubt, the roughest part of this week occurred on Monday when a few volunteers went home – including the first person I met when I joined Peace Corps: Josh. Due to a series of unfortunate events, he was headed home 7 months early which is a shame because I'm really going to miss him. But it's not all bad – he gets to enjoy the internet over a broadband connection while I still suffer through a dial up connection that doesn't like working in the rain.

 

On Tuesday, I got a pleasant surprise in one of my year 13 classes when Maena (the female student who was pregnant) came back to my class (she came back to school on Monday, but didn't show up to class until Tuesday). It was definitely good to see her back and as sharp as ever – she was literally answering almost every question I asked of the class. So hopefully she will finish out the rest of her school year without to much problem and at least be able to live her life (and take care of her daughter) with a college/high school education.

 

And finally, on Wednesday I went to a Diversity session for Peace Corps where a few volunteers got together (along with Kevin – one of the trainers) and talked about improvements that could be made in the diversity component of the new volunteer training. Which means that we're very close to welcoming in a bunch of new faces – Group 78 is only a few weeks away (in country June 6). At the same time that we're preparing for these new folks, we're also saying goodbye to Group 74 (all 7 of them) – the group that I've grown closest to while in Samoa. While it's hard to say goodbye, this means that we (Group 75) are close to being done and by August we'll be the most senior group in Peace Corps Samoa. Now that's a scary thought!

 

So in only 3 days time I've had to say goodbye and hello – this is like the year of great loss or something. Anyway, l8r folks.