Communities

Since I received my placement notice from the Peace Corps nearly a month ago, I’ve been thinking a lot about communities. Specifically, about how hard it is to maintain ties when you move around every few months. One of the nice aspects of the position is that I’ll be in one community for two years after forming strong bonds with my fellow volunteers during a two and half month training period. The Peace Corps places a high priority on community integration – how else can volunteers promote meaningful cultural exchange and truly help their host communities? My family has been very accommodating in dealing with the time difference and it’s not as big of an issue in France as it was in Senegal since a) we’re all more used to the process and b) I have Internet at my residence. My close friends from college have made great efforts as well, but our conversations aren’t as regular because they are at very busy stages in their academic careers: K and R are in their first year of medical school and P is getting ready to graduate and head off to some fabulous to be announced law school. I’ve found a nice group of friends here in Nancy, but we’ve all been a bit reluctant to get too close since we’ll be leaving so soon. An unexpected benefit of my job is that I’ve been able to meet up with several friends from my study abroad program in Senegal. J and I went to Geneva in October, I’ll see K in a few weeks in Strasbourg, and M and I will catch up in Paris for a few days before flying back to the United States. Several of my former classmates are/will be serving in Africa in the Peace Corps in Niger, Togo, and Rwanda as well as in other destinations like Mongolia. I’ll only have a few weeks back in the United States to catch up with people, and while I’m always ready to make new friends, I want to maintain the ties that I already have. Who’s in your community?