Service Has Come To An End

Up until this point we have avoided boring you all with descriptions of our services here in Mali. This has been pretty deliberate and will continue. On the one hand we do not want to bore our readers with mundane tales of everyday life. On the other hand, many people believe we are out there saving the world, a rumor which we would not want to dispel. Therefore, we refrained from descriptions of our day to day service and stuck to tales in which we thought folks might be more interested. Sorry if you are one of the handful who might actually have been interested in that stuff. We’ll be happy to tell you all about it over the beers you buy us when we return!

That return is imminent. Our service in Peace Corps is finished and, while we will not be home right away, we begin moving in that direction now. It has been one hell of a ride. As we were told by our country director in a casual conversation during pre-service training, “just don’t quit.” We thought that was the least helpful advice ever at the time. During our recent (even more casual) close of service interview we were forced to admit to him that, while the advice gave little real direction and we thought it lame at the time (we were like “yeah, but tell me why”), it was probably the only real advice that could be given to anyone, the only advice that makes sense given that everyone’s service is so different that doling out advice becomes nearly impossible. Against all odds (read: expectations), quitting is no longer an option. C'est un fait accompli.




Cultural integration is complete!