9-7-07 The Finish Line

Originally posted September 7, 2007 on my other blog, http://360.yahoo.com/maxwell_woods

We are officially within the window of time when PCVs from my group can formally finish as volunteers, or in the acronym soup of the Peace Corps, “COS,” which stands for Close of Service. There is a 30 day buffer on the front and back of our finish date – October 10th – but a series of events has pushed the front of that window into this week. September 10th is next Monday, but there is a rule which says we cannot finish on a Monday, so they are allowing volunteers to end this week. However, today and yesterday are Bulgarian holidays, and the PC office is closed – meaning, the first possible COS day was Wednesday of this week. To show how eager we all are to get out of here, four of my best buddies COS’d on that day. Saturday I will be going into Sofia to celebrate with them, and it will be sad to see their departure for various adventures while I’m still in Bulgaria for another six weeks. After two years, six weeks isn’t really much time at all – but after two looong years, six weeks seems like an eternity.

As a result of this new job, I will be one of the very last volunteers from my group to leave Bulgaria, aside from the two who are extending for a third year. I am very much enjoying working as a trainer, helping prepare the new trainees for their service. But I’m tired, tired of living in a difficult country, bored with Bulgaria and its never-changing ways, and a bit homesick for the first time in a while. The thoughts of finishing my service and starting a life back in America is beginning to weigh heavy on my mind (of course, after the grand around-the-world adventure).

A few years ago, I put together a three-year plan for myself that involved getting a Master’s degree, and then serving in the Peace Corps. In six weeks, that three year period will be over, and I find myself without a new 3-5 year plan. I think many of us come into the PC a bit confused about the direction of our lives, hoping for some clarity to come during our time overseas. Invariably, it never does. And after two years, we stand around on the tarmac of the airport and say to ourselves, “Well, that’s done. Now what do we do?”

These are my thoughts on a rainy Friday afternoon in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria.