The other day my mom asked me what my biggest stressor is regarding leaving America/moving to Comoros and beginning my service. I thought about it for a moment and realized that I do not have one large stressor or anxiety, just a few little ones – which I will get into later in this post. I think the reason why I have been feeling relatively calm is because I made my decision to accept my invitation to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Comoros back in October; I have been subconsciously and consciously preparing myself for the past 7 months.
Beyond this however, there are two major things I realized in regards to my feelings about Peace Corps service. Firstly, I am so thankful that I have been given the opportunity and am able to do this. I have the chance to do something so cool and pretty uncommon and I will hold my experiences with me forever. Secondly, I know that this is the thing I want to be doing more than anything; I can’t picture myself doing anything else at this stage of my life. I want to take these two facts and carry them with me throughout the duration of my service as reminders and motivation for when I have very hard days – which I am sure will happen.
That brings me to the little anxieties I have been having leading up to my departure date. I am going to leave them in a bulleted list here and I plan to reflect on them and how they’ve changed in future posts.
- Making friends with my fellow volunteers
- Feeling lonely
- Not learning the language quickly enough
- Becoming exhausted during Pre-Service Training
- Adjusting my lifestyle in a big way
And thus, I depart in just over a week! Family and friends feel free to message me privately on Facebook if you would like specific contact information/a mailing address for my time in Comoros. I still cannot fathom that this is actually happening but I am so so excited!!!
Danielle in Comoros 