Thankfully to every roller coaster there is……and engine and some gas. You thought I was going to say there is an end, right?! I am definitely NOT that ready to leave yet! Don’t think that! To every roller coaster there the engine, the gas, the something that keeps it going the whole time no matter what part of the roller coaster you are. These parts of the roller coaster are vital and without them the roller coaster would have no energy to work, no motivation to run each and every day.
I do not want to say I speak for all Peace Corps Volunteers when I say this, but I do hope I speak for the majority when I say that my, our, engines, our gas for this incredibly crazy roller coaster they call the Peace Corps is those people.
Those people. Those people that bring a smile to your face every time you see them walking from afar because you know they are going to bring a laugh, a sarcastic joke, or both if you are lucky. Those people that make you smile on your uphill, laugh on the downhill, and keep you halfway sane everywhere in between. Those people that you can spend hours at pasearing, not knowing where the time went until you realize that sometime long ago it got dark and you are once again left to return without a flashlight. Or if those people are feeling particularly nice, they let you borrow one or send a kid to light the path.
Once again I find myself feeling how lucky and blessed I am because I have some of the most unbelievably amazing those people in the community where I live. They are old, young, men, women, grandparents, grandkids, coworkers and everything in between. At home these people would be my friends, my family, and I can honestly say that here, in Alto Estrella and in Panama, they are my friends and family as well. In my last year I want to share with you those people for me who allow me to wake up every day and get out of bed with anticipation, motivation, and a pure joy to be doing what I am doing.
Oh Paty, where do I even begin. We will begin in the mornings when she goes to fetch water and passes by my door. She usually sees me staring at the coffee water wondering if it can boil any faster and immediately says, “Que falta hoy?” (“What’s missing today?”) I want to be mad. It is early, and I have just been woken up by the chickens screaming at my door and the cat crying for some breakfast. You know she is one of those people though when she can still make me smile before there is even one bubble in that coffee water. I smile, pretending to have no clue, and say, “Que falta hoy?” She quickly asks permission to enter my house, including the magic word, "please", takes off her shoes in the fastest possible way, run towards me, and jumps as I lift her into a bear hug and swing her around in circles pretending I am going to take a bite of her neck while she giggles trying to escape. And so every morning begins with Paty.
Muchachos- young men in the community between the ages of 13 and 28
Pasearing- visiting
Que falta hoy?- What’s missing today?