Close of Service

At the beginning of my service, the Peace Corps staff and former volunteers would always tell us that two years of service would fly by. I never believed them until now.

At the end of September, my training class and I attended our Close of Service Conference to commemorate the successful completion of two years of Peace Corps service. 27 months of Peace Corps service was by no means, an easy task. By the time of our COS Conference, only about half of our training group remained. They had left Peru for various reasons over the course of the past two years. Some left for medical reasons, some for family emergencies, while others just realized the Peace Corps life just wasn’t for them. There were even times when I thought I may leave too (mainly for the whole ordeal I had with my tooth) but I’m glad I stayed. I have never been happier in my Peace Corps service than I am right now. No, it’s not because I am now getting ready to leave but because I finally feel truly integrated and successful in my work. Former Peace Corps volunteers always said that things have a way of falling into place just as you are getting ready to leave, looks like they were right.

Now that my service has come to a close and the time has come to leave Peru, I’d like to reflect on some highlights during my second year of service…

My dance and exercise groups

Dance 3 — Going out to exercise in the evenings with my students was one of my favorite activities in site. I’m so proud of my students for all of their hard work, and I hope they continue with the class after I’m gone.

Soledad

My students

Dance 2 — My students were also some of my best friends in site, they always managed to make me smile.

My dog, Zorritos

When I first found this little guy, I thought he was a fox, hence the name “Zorritos” (little fox).

My family coming to Peru

**My family visiting my site was my favorite part. Here’s my dad with some of my students.**

Becoming a “Madrina”

With my student (and now Godson) and his family

Friendships

Making it to COS

Although there have been many difficult moments over the past two years of my service, the hardest part was leaving and saying goodbye. I never imagined it would be so difficult. I have developed many close relationships with people in my community, some of which I consider family. But as I told them before I left, “this is not goodbye, but see you later”.