It was really special to be able to spend time with the other Peace Corps Volunteers during IST. We don’t get to see each other very often, especially now that our budget has been reduced and our previous 15 days (In-Service Training, Project Design and Management conference and Mid-Service Training) of training has been reduced to 5 days (IST). We are all still hoping for the Peace Corps budget to increase some with the new admission led by Barack Obama, but until then this might be the last time we all see one another until the summer of 2010. That’s hard to imagine, but that might be a reality for us in our group. Regardless it has been wonderful to see everyone,
our counterparts have been wonderful and we have all laughed over and over and over all week.
Leslie said it right when she said that it is a cruel joke for Volunteers to learn to love each other so much during two and a half months of training together only to be separated for two years and hardly ever see one another. IST (In-Service Training) was incredible and wonderful, but it was also very hard on each of us. We got to see some of our favorite people, hugged each other almost every hour, and then within a week had to separate once again for another six, eight, or maybe even sixteen months. Until we meet again, we will continue to text each other, call each other and hold onto all the memories we are able to have.
