Last, Lasts, not The Last

This is my last post as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Tomorrow, May 28, 2009, we meet with the Country Director, shake hands, get a certificate (no, not a t-shirt), sign more papers, then leave.

We will have completed our obligation, our service to our country, service in peace.

I am so glad! And also so sad!

The last week has been a continual string of lasts: the last homemade Romanian meal (Monica's Mom made us ciroba de perisoare -- meatball soup -- and chicken, salad of tomatoes and cucumbers and we ate fresh cherries we had bought at a roadside stand.); the last night in Suceava; the last taste of Betty Ice icecream; the last hike up five flights of cement stairs.

When we left Alamosa, we said "Goodbye!" and "See you later!" And we knew we really would see people later. Here, I can only say goodbye. I gave last hugs to Paula, my counterpart for the prenatal classes; Dr. Dan, the Peace Corps doctor and Liliana, his most excellent assistant; other volunteers at our site, Mary and Betsey; my teachers association friends, Maria and Adriana -- these two hurt the most.

I knew that Peace Corps was about making new relationships, and I knew that leaving them would be hard. I was right.

Today the final lasts: last dinner in Romania, last night in Bucaresti (yay!), last visit to favorite restaraunts.

Although our service in Peace Corps ends, I feel like this adventure will continue. We have to "re-adjust" after all. And then there are the presentations, the connecting with other Return Peace Corps Volunteers.

I feel like I still have a lot of memories and pictures to share; like The Most Terrible Train Ride, the communist prison in Sighet, functional illiteracy, loneliness, great parties. So much still to tell!

Please check back here once a month or so for awhile. You may be lucky enough to find new stories and new pictures and new thoughts.

For now, la revedere!