IST, the reunion of PCV's after 4 months at site, is something difficult to describe to you all back home. When we finished PST and left for our sites, IST was this distant thing in the future.
After being at site and each having our own individual experiences...IST is a time we all get back together and assess how far we've come and where we have yet to be. Does that make any sense at all?? I'm afraid of this post being incoherent because essentially it's just a bunch of meetings, but combined with emotions, experiences, distance from home, etc....it becomes something much more. For instance...once we hiked from the train station with our luggage in hand we entered a magical world of comfort and excess. After the months of struggling to adjust to our new Romanian homes we got to take long, hot showers with a shower curtain and water pressure my body had forgotten existed. We stayed in warm, comfortable hotel rooms (this was enhanced by the fact that Ciuc is one of the coldest places in Romania). I had an allowance to eat out at restaurants and was able to forget my budget for the time being. Lunches were multiple courses and were punctuated by decadent desserts I had no room to sample because my stomach had adjusted to much different amounts of food. And finally I was with my fellow Group 25'ers who had stood outside with me in Philly during a ridiculous fire drill the morning of our departure to Romania, the people who landed in Otopeni airport in Bucharest with me jet-lagged and unsure of what the future held for them, and the people that I hugged and said goodbye to on a summer night in Ploiesti....
As a Peace Corps volunteer, when I'm at site as the only American ever to live in my town and serve in my school, it is easy to forget that I'm are part of a larger group. I'm part of the 38 members of Group 25, the 146 volunteers of Peace Corps Romania, the many current and returned Peace Corps volunteers from around the world, and finally a proud member of the United States of America that believes in helping their fellow citizens of the world. It takes me back to the talks I received from coaches and teachers in high school and college --you represent something much more than just yourself. I hope I'm representing those of you that have invested so much in me well...thanks for your support!
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