Coming full circle
Last night, thanks to a variety of circumstances, I ended up spending the night, with other Peace Corps Volunteers, in the first place in CV that I ever spent the night in. Naturally, being there made me reflect on if and how I've changed since that first night. It was interesting to wonder what I'd do differently, if I did it again, having all the knowledge that I know now (minus the language, naturally) What I ended up realizing was that in certain respects I've come a long ways, yet in others I still have quite a ways to go. Am I glad I had this experience? Definitely. Would I want to do it all over again? Maybe. Would I be better prepared to do it all over again (or be in a similar, but not exactly equal situation)? Yes. Would/Could I be the type of person who deals with all/most aspects of the transition, of the culture shocks, (and all of the other challenges) in the most idea way? No/Maybe (Would/Could). Anyway, it was definitely interesting to be there. I'm glad I went too: coming back to my town (I was in the capital for 3 days) I felt the beginnings of closure, whatever that may be. I felt myself pulling back a little bit, starting to see myself once again as "the other" instead of as one of them; started to re-see life here with slightly foreign eyes. I'm thinking that it's a good thing.