Friday, February 8, 2013

what they don't tell you


What they don’t tell you about readjustment is that one day you will wake up and look at the things that were “normal” during your time in Peace Corps—malnourished kids that you came to view as annoying rather than heartbreaking, clinics without medicine and schools without books, women reciting the names of the babies they’ve buried, days spent watching the sky and knowing that if the rains don’t come, your friends might starve. 

What they don’t tell you about readjustment is that one day you will wake up, after you’ve been in America for a few months, after you’ve started to think like an American again… one day you will wake up and you will realize that the emotional calluses you formed in order to preserve your sanity have begun to heal.  With a raw heart, you will look back at the last two years and think about the things you thought were normal.

And it will hurt like hell. 

3 comments:

  1. They also don't tell you that one day you will wake up and realize that the time you spent in the Peace Corps made the world a better place. The lives you touched will never be the same and neither will you. And, you inspired so many of us to be more conscious of the needs of others and our duty to help them. You can never doubt that you helped to heal the world, and nothing else matters.

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  2. Thanks Lauren for all your wonderful blogging; and, thank you David for your perspective which most Volunteers might never see. As a newly returned PCV I might print that and read it every day while.

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