Tomorrow is the 730th day (365 x 2) I've been on this journey. I left St. Louis on June 12, 2007 for Washington D.C. and it has gone from there. The second of us to complete a full tour also leaves tomorrow. And so then there was 14.
Here is an article I wrote for the SoJo, the SwaziSojournal the monthly newsletter that comes out for us at PC and pretty much the whole American mission in country. Just some thoughts on the whole day counting. Enjoy
The 1,2, 3…717 Days of Peace Corps
Many of you know I count the days that my group has been together since the Peace Corps experience began back in June 2007. Today as I write this it is my 717th day. Broken down, that is 23.5 months or 102 weeks and just 13 days shy of that 2 year mark. Now of course I didn’t spend all those days in Swaziland, I count from staging, and as Peace Corps reminded us time and again we were not full volunteers until we took that oath 2 months after we arrived, both of which cut down my days as an official PCV if you want to get nit picky, but it’s the whole experience I look at since I left my home in St. Louis.
Ok, that said, I had this idea to write an article for SoJo about the days and numbers of my Peace Corps experience. And as my group approaches our 2 year anniversary I wanted to….something, I guess I wanted to share…something. Well, looking over my journals, I only have two, and it’s harder than I thought it would be to form a cohesive interesting spiel that wouldn’t just be, “blah blah I did this blah blah.”
That got me thinking, again, it’s always been somewhere on my mind, why was it ever interesting or important, at least for me, to count the days?
I don’t know why exactly I started. I opened up my first journal in the staging room and wrote, “Day 1,” and it followed from there. I think at the time it was an accomplishment thing. I had made it so many days. It was something I could control, the days I was here and doing this thing. And in that annoying and yet endearing role I’ve always seen myself somewhat filling for most groups I’ve been a part of, it was something to contribute, to shock, to rally the troops with. And I could probably go on, but I think you get the idea.
So did it work?
Well, I made it…I think. And the count as you can see is still going but its novelty has waned to the occasional, “Oh, another big number…” which is fine. And now, another count, this time down, has usurped its shock and rally power.
Two years is huge. And it’s not. There were a lot of days that were tough and I hated it. There were days of, “I’m lovin it.” And there were kakhulu days where I was just doing it. And life is like that, and it goes on.
Congratulations to G5 in Swaziland for making it 717 days, and counting…
And here is to my 68 days left, and however you in G5, G6, or G7 have left, may they be counted in your life however you want them to be.