Well, this post is long overdue.
The last few months have been pretty rough. Before I went on Christmas vacation my health took a nose-dive but I was determined to make it to Italy to see my good friends Anna and Brown and their soon-to-be-born baby (the baby, Sally Mae, was born on Feb 11th and is adorable). I had a great time with the Browns and they surprised me with a trip to Salzburg, Austria and Munich, Germany. I ended up spending Christmas in Italy and New Year's in Munich, pretty incredible. Being with Anna and Brown was nothing short of a balm for my soul and heart - it's amazing how just being in the presence of those you love makes a foreign place feel easy and comfortable, like home.
When I returned to Moldova I had talks with my doctor in Moldova and one at Peace Corps headquarters in D.C. and, as a group, we decided that the best choice for my health was to be medically evacuated to D.C. I spent a total of two nights in Moldova and then was on a plane to the states on the Orthodox Christmas, January 7th. In one week I had been in 5 countries and traveled well over 7000 miles. I was met at the airport by a staff member of PC and taken to my new home, the Georgetown Suites. When a PCV is medically evacuated we have a maximum of 45 days to recover before being sent back to country. I spent the full 45 days in D.C. and let me tell you, I love staying in hotels but have decided that living in one is not for me. After about two weeks I was ready to leave the hotel, it would have been exponentially harder to be in D.C. had I not had a very good friend, Casey, who lived in the city.
The 45 days were mainly spent seeing doctors, walking everywhere and, fortunately, reconnecting with some great friends who came in for the Inauguration weekend. The entire time, Peace Corps staff was only a phone call away and, just as in Moldova, they took care of every need I had. At about day 38 I had a meeting with my International Health Coordinator to talk about whether or not I would return to Moldova. Unfortunately, we decided that it would be healthier for me to remain in the states and on February 23rd I was officially medically separated from Peace Corps.
Obviously, this is not how I wanted my service to go and I am feeling more lost right now than I have ever felt in the past. I know it was the right decision but I am going to miss Moldova, Peace Corps and, most of all, the people who became my family away from home. I will miss the ease of the friendships with other PCVs and the incredible feeling of being completely vulnerable with someone, knowing that they are being just as open with you. I will miss my students. The smiles of my third graders and their enthusiasm to learn and connect with someone from a different culture. I will miss joking around with my teens and realizing that humor, like compassion and love, is a universal language. I will miss my friends in Milestii Mici who started out as my first host family but grew to be very dear friends. I will miss Moldova; the quiet, the feelings of freedom and strength that come from relying on oneself, the brightest stars I've ever seen and the lushness of every piece of land. I will miss hearing rs that roll on for eternity and laughing at myself because I am unable to roll them. I will miss house wine and cognac drank from tiny glasses at random hours of the day due to some celebration/holiday that I didn't know about, at work and at home.
Once again the letters by my name change, as I am now a RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer), but as the first sets of letters left me certain of my path, these letters leave me with the surreal feeling that the last 9 months didn't actually happen. I'm back where I started, but I am not the same person. In the end, I think that this new person is a better one, a stronger one who has faced fears and challenges and won. Farewell Draga Moldova, thank you for being part of my journey.
