I Suck Thorax - or IST

I just finished a week long IST or In Service Training. This pesky bugger of a workshop occurs once a year for most Peace Corps Volunteers. Were most PCVs have two during their service, I will have three. This third one was made bearable by the fact that I was a facilitator. Whew. Having some responsiblities made it a lot easier to pay attention (plus, I kind of like my job, especially facilitating).
The social aspect was pretty fun. I went to bed once, before midnight. The rest of the nights went until 2 or 3. Crazy. I felt weirdly in the way most of the week. My intake is gone. All my good friends have disappeared. 06 is tight with themselves. 07 is tight with themselves. I felt like Aubrey; the Captain of the ship can be friendly, inviting the officers to his quarters for food and wine, but he will always be different. Never a part of the crew always above. I feel that I will always be in good graces with fellow volunteers but I have no crew anymore. I am (in a non-egotistical way) above the crew. The third-year volunteer in Lusaka. Just disconnected.
I didn't jump in the pool at the bar. That probably would have endeared me to the PCVs, just not the expats I had asked to meet me there...

Ah, the times.

I feel stalker-ish when reading other people's blogs. It's very voyeur like. Slightly creepy. I visit this one girls blog a lot. I don't know why. I saw her artwork on the Moleskin project and I liked it. I've looked at a lot of random people's art blogs and I enjoy her's the most. So I visit it. Almost everyday. I think this qualifies as finding the end of the internet. It's done. There is no more.
Last night all the RAP 05 kids COSed. To all non-PCVs this will be just a bunch of acronyms and even to PCVs not from here but it does mean something and something quite profound. These cats came in 3 months after me. Some of them were my nearest neighbors, my best drinking buddies, and I even went on vacations with a few of them. Now, they are going back home. Sure a lot of them are taking the long way home; through Ethiopia, through Egypt, through Uganda, through Spain. But they are out of here and going back there. It is truly an end to an era. I enjoyed their company and will really miss them. They were such heavy drinkers and who couldn't forget Fecalgate, or PooDunnit? or Iwasthereforpooponachair. Ah, the times.
IST is next week. That will be good. I'll see my other friends. I will not be sad for long (who am I kinding, I'm not sad at all). Toodles, blog.

Sea-faring Analogies

Yeah, I feel a little lost at sea. I need to find some land. I think next week will be good. I'm co-facilitating the next Peace Corps In-Service Training. It should help me realize what I'm good at and help me to find my sea-legs. Yep, I'm treading water but soon I hope to be swimming forward. Towards land.

sea-faring analogies