I have been away from site for three solid weeks, the longest stint during my Peace Corps service. I will go home first thing in the morning. Being with the group is exhausting once you have gotten used to a solitary lifestyle. I can see why I had trouble in training, just existing in a ‘herd’ is trying at best. Now that I’m back in Fianarantsoa, I have that clenching in my stomach that I get after being away from site. Getting back into the grove of village life always seems daunting, though it never is. Doesn’t stop my anxiety of doing it.

I found at my MSC (mid-service conference) that more than half of my group (9 out of 16) is considering extending their service, though how seriously, I won’t know for a while. I am including myself. I hope to get hopping on figuring out how I can get involved in a water/sanitation project next year. The benefits certainly weigh out the deterrent factors. I have no Masters or specialty experience. I would retain my medical and evacuation insurance. I would continue to cultivate contacts and get involved in fieldwork of my choosing, not just the training that PC provided when I arrived last year.

More daunting than the anxiety of going home to Anjà is the anxiety of asking my friends and NGO workers for a job. They have to provide housing but no salary, so it will be interesting to see what possibilities are out there in my region, or if I need to look further. The PCVL (PC Volunteer leader) in Fianarantsoa is a possibility, though I have my doubts as to whether running the house in Fianar is something I want to do. But it is free housing, and may give an edge over other possible extenders. Our current PCVL is leaving for the capital and then home tomorrow. The next group of possible extenders will start COSing soon, but there’s currently only one person who wants to extend, and she wants to extend in her banking town. So that leaves the position open until I COS May 2nd. BUT… who knows if the house will make it that long without a PCVL?!? I am only being pessimistic but I know that the Country Director would rather the regional houses die than try to keep them open. He doesn’t have to be explicit for me to sense this.

Well, there’s still plenty of time to brood. But a year-and-a-half flew by. I expect the same for the rest of the tour (so the lingo goes).