Dates

So everyone knows I finally have all my dates relevant to returning to life in the US sorted and plane tickets purchased. On July 15th I cease to be a Peace Corps Volunteer and become a normal American again. That same day I leave for Belize with several of my buddies here to have a good time and drop one friend off to work for Peace Corps in Belize. I get back to El Salvador July 22nd only to rush off to my house, pick up my stuff and my dog and fly to LA on July 26th.

That is where the planning stops. I don't know what I will do in LA or how long I will stay there before leaving for Utah and a more permanent part of my new life. I need to stick around long enough to get my life back in order and get my car packed but I don't really know what that means.

Seeing the Sites

A while back it began to dawn on me that I have been here over two years at this point and still haven't done many of the things that everyone says are "must sees" in El Salvador. It always sort of happens like that I think. You spend so much time just living and trying to fit in that you forget that you can be a tourist in your own back yard. I mean it wasn't until I was ready to run off to college that I got out and really started to see lots of LA that people from anywhere else think of. Well I decided that with so little time left, it was now or never.



So I called up one of my friends and planned a day out in Juayua. For a brief background, Juayua is a pueblo in the middle of the tallest mountain range in El Salvador and located on what has been deemed the Route of Flowers because of the beautiful scenic nature of the road and the flowers that bloom there year round. Every weekend there is a huge food festival and market in the town square in Juayua, which although I have been to Juayua, I have never managed to get to before. Nearby there are natural waterfalls that flow not from any river, but directly out of the volcanic soil that makes up the mountains. I got up early, met Kelsey in Sonsonate and headed out to hike the waterfalls and then eat to our hearts content.

Along the way we ran into some friends who told us about an archeological site in the middle of a coffee plantation just up the road and decided we had the time and energy to go there as well. It is the site of former Mayan sacrifice and worship. It dates back to the pre-classical period here in El Salvador, and although the vast majority of artifacts have either been removed to the national museum or the owners personal museum, there are still three rock idols remaining and the footprint of the worship area. The idols are round and not of local rock, which indicates that they were moved from a great distance and intentionally set in their positions.



When all was said and done it and done it started to rain while I was headed home. I also missed the last bus into my site, which meant that I had to walk it. I had never attempted that road on foot, only on bus or bike. So I threw on my headlamp and trekked back home with 10 pounds of dog food on my back, rain on my clothes and a smile on my face. I actually managed it in around 35 minutes and beat the bus home.

I would do it all again too.

The End Is Nigh

In the interim since my last post my life here has been changing considerably. I already shared a bit of the unusual circumstance of sharing a town, a house, work and friends with another volunteer. I am trying not to be in his way and let him start his life. But at the same time, I can't help but be both a little jealous and a little annoyed everywhere I go. People have taken to asking me his whereabouts and why he isn't with me as the first item of conversation everywhere I go. At the same time I know he gets called Carlos all the time and people wonder why he can't really speak spanish, but I can. I imagine it has to be a little more trying for him than it is for me since I am already so comfortable and well known there. But for the most part his presence isn't so much a nuisance as a portent that things are coming to an end.

A few weeks back we had our official Close Of Service (COS) conference which detailed the administrative, personal and work related processes of finalizing our time in Peace Corps and saying goodbye. It was weird to sit there and listen to people telling me what I would feel and how I should go about conducting my last days. As if it was all a little unreal and part of some crazy dream that I knew would happen but never really believed I would participate in. The conference also outlined all sorts of administrative minutiae and reports that are necessary to convert ourselves from PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) into RPCVs (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers).

So for the past few weeks I have been lazing around my town, and allowing myself to settle into what I call Peace Corps senioritis. I know that I need to start phasing myself out of my work and phasing my replacement in, so I basically send him to the vast majority of scheduled meetings and either don't go, or just sit in the crowd. I don't want to step on his toes you know. Plus I have been writing all manner of reports; formal reports in the third person, informal reports about all my projects, spanish reports with recommendations for my community, quarterly reports and whatnot. In all the slovenliness and report writing I have basically given up reading books and parked myself in front of my computer either writing or watching digital versions of TV shows that my friends have given me (both english and spanish).

For the last 3 days I have been camped in San Salvador for my final Spanish interview and my COS medical evaluations. The Spanish interview went well, I was rated as Advanced Mid, which is only two spots below the highest possible on Peace Corps propietary language scale, the highest spot basically reserved for only native speakers. As far as COS med, it is a lot of pooping in cups, running around to appointments and waiting around to see doctors or get results. I make use of some of the down time to hang out with some friends that I don't see very often and to take care of some of the other administrative stuff like final evaluations, closing talks with staff members and other things like that. Fortunately it still leaves my evenings free to hang with Sam and Angie who I scheduled my COS med with.

We are staying at our friend Amir's place and living in style for at least a short time. Tonight we crashed a catering open house that another friend had a table at. It was meant for people who were planning to host events like weddings to come and see what was available, but we used it for a free dinner and better food than we could ever hope to afford on our salary. I have to say it was one of the best nights of my Peace Corps experience.

Tomorrow I have more of the same medical stuff, but I am buying a plastic kennel to fly Kaya home in. The thought is that since the Country Director and my Program director are coming to my sight for my final Sight Assessment, I can buy a kennel and hitch a ride in the Peace Corps vehicle to get myself and the kennel back home in.

Considering the general pace of my life over the past two years I never really realized that PC could be this much of a rat race at the end. I mean I am rushing all over for appointments and meetings and struggling to fit in time for friends and my site. I mean I haven't been home since Sunday night, but after I get home on Friday I am heading out on Saturday to get some quality time with another friend before my time and hers are both too hectic to see each other. Luckily I don't feel much guilt about work or my site (besides my close friends there) because I have my replacement there to pick up my slack.