Again, What Exactly Do You Do?

I love this question.

I mean, it is like asking me to enumerate and then describe (in detail) the reasons I think Rich Franklin and I should get married.

It is just impossible to do...

But, for the sake of fun, let's pretend, that I can answer this question. After 2+ years, you'd think I would be at a point where I could whip out a little "50 Years of PC" [link] tract and give you my 30-second elevator speech. I can't, but let's pretend I am not as verbose as I actually am...My job, in 30-seconds:

Wwwwelllll, Peace Corps got started on a fateful October day at 2 a.m. when JFK challenged University of Michigan students to serve their country [link]. It's been 50 years and Peace Corps has been invited to send PCVs to 139 countries and more than 200,000 Volunteers have served.

I am Youth Development Volunteer in a post-soviet secular Muslim country. It's called Azerbaijan. Yeah. Most people have no idea where that is either.

Um, I share me and my experience as an American with locals who share their unique experiences with me. I teach, I learn, and I practice making bread. I also wash my clothes by hand, which sucks. Anyhoo, check it out. They got a website [link]. If you have any questions, you can email me.

*I totally would amp up the smile at this point. Oh yeah, that speech, 31.63 seconds...score.

The Crap* I Eat

Last night I was sitting down to a steaming bowl of anchovy and tuna pasta and I realized something:

This smells horrible.

Don't get me wrong. It was delicious. I have no idea how Italians figured out that tuna, olive oil, fresh parsley and anchovies were a good combination...but man, yum-yum (albeit, pinch your nose).

Anyway, this got me to thinking, what else do I eat [here] that probably would never get me a date...a lot of things. So I made a top ten list. Check it out:

1. Tuna & Anchovy pasta
2. Raw garlic, raw onion, and olive pasta
3. Homemade Mac & Cheese [link](I am lactose intolerant)
4. French Onion Soup
5. Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Eggs
6. Spinach with a large pat of butter (I had that for dinner a few days ago)
7. Picante Salmon Corn Chowder (again...me and diary ain't friends)
8. A can of corn
9. Garlic yogurt and a loaf of bread
10. Cabbage dolma [link]

*Not saying that any of these things are crap, just that they don't necessarily work well with my digestive tract.

So, I'm back...

I am going to be honest here and say that I thought coming back would make me feel different.

It didn't.

Last year, after that amazing month in Thailand, I felt rejuvenated. I felt excited. I felt like I could take on the world and convert everyone to Star Trek TNG fans (seriously, why does everyone like the Original Series?).

Coming back from Germany definitely wasn't the same.

I had to talk myself onto the plane. I had to talk myself off the plane. I had to talk myself onto the marshut and again to walk across the border. Of course, that extra 2 hours we spent at the border really did not help my constitution, but that was just the kind of welcome you'd expect when you were having trouble gearing yourself up.

No. This time was different. After a long week in Germany, I really wasn't ready to come back to my super cold apartment, but I did and I can tell you...

I am glad I came back.

Really. Of course, it took a day for me to get my emotions in check and to really think about what was going on, but I realized, I am choosing to be here. I chose this and I am happy I did. I still have so much left to learn and so many more goals to achieve that another year is just what I need.

Still, it is hard knowing what I am delaying and what I am forgoing to be here. I really do want to travel the world, eat white sausage for breakfast everyday, take hot showers each night...

I guess the point is that there never really is a day or a month or a year where you do not question your choice of living overseas in such a situation as Peace Corps requires. Peace does not settle in your heart and every puzzle piece falls into place. I mean, if that were the case, what would be the point? This experience is not meant for the complacent, it is meant for the hearty. The ready. The willing.

Good news. I am all those things and more...well, right now, I am cold, but I am committed. Here comes year 3.