Me toca a mi salir

It is my turn to leave
(by John)

After two years in El Salvador, it is now time to leave. I have officially closed my service, and I am no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer, rather, I have the new monicker, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

The last two years has been a transformative experience in which I made new friends--both Peace Corps Volunteers and staff and friends and colleagues in Suchitoto. The country of El Salvador and my city of Suchitoto provided a very rich environment socially, professionally and historically. I eventually immersed myself fully in the experience, building friendships, working together with my others and reading up on the history and talking with those how lived it.

Initially, I came here very focused on the professional aspects the experience had to offer--namely learning Spanish and gaining experience in international development. This focus was to the exclusion of all else the experience had to offer. I was just not open to a wider range of personal and social growth. Eventually, I did come around to those things through the difficult growing experience in which I had to "abandon" or at least accept things may not go according to my preconceived and narrow plan.

In this process, I have come to a wider perspective on what life has to offer. We can have all the plans and schemes we want, but all things good are founded on positive, healthy relations. and in the process of prioritizing and nurturing those relations, our plans and schemes change entirely...

I will be always be grateful to everyone who helped make this adventure possible from my wife, and family and friends in the states to my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers and staff and of course all my friends and colleagues in El Salvador and Suchitoto.