Back in Business !!!

Sept. 27th
Well, we’ve finished Pre-Service Training (PST) and we have arrived at our permanent sites. It has been about a week now and I’ll have more to say about that. First, I’ve been giving this blog a lot of thought and I wish that I had posted more entries throughout training. A couple factors have been at play. First, entries were written. However, I am/was reticent to post some of this material as it stands and I thought that if I sat on some of this stuff for a bit that perhaps I would benefit from the advantage of hindsight. I was right. Some of this material I’ll save for my memoirs. Second, there is not quite the crisp newness of the experience, although it is my first Peace Corps experience in South Africa, it is not my first Peace Corps experience. Some of the things that were so striking before are not as striking now. The fact that we are returned Peace Corps volunteers (RPCVs) has – as you may imagine- made us a resource for other trainees regarding all manners of comparisons between Peace Corps South Africa and Peace Corps Madagascar- and mostly in regards to PST since that is what we have done so far. I considered detailing the differences and then I thought I’ll avoid that and just make a scorecard for the blog that compares different facets of the program here and in Madagascar. When I started to envision what the numbers would in my most honest estimation have to be, I decided to just scrap it. I will say one thing, there are some stark contrasts. And it has really occurred to me just how variable the Peace Corps experience must be for people, and not just relating to the country assignment, sector, and site, but also to the competency and organization of the in country administration. Furthermore, for 98% percent of Peace Corps Volunteers there only experience with Peace Corps is in the country in which they have served. There is no yardstick for them to measure by. It is what it is! In any case, there are a few backdated entries that will follow and I have also done a little back-writing to discuss some things I haven’t written about. If nothing else becomes clear, I hope that it is just how amazing and fascinating a country is South Africa! And now that we have left training behind and moved into our communities we have now become an active part of it. We're feeling good!