The Revolving Door

In a white plastic lawn chair located at the lonely end of my 40ft long, skinny, adobe room, I sit listening to the strange, drawling, voice of “The Tallest Man in the World”. A musician not born of America, but nonetheless belting sounds forged in Americana folk, he both stokes and mirrors my mild homesickness. I have just tumbled out of the back of a vegetable laden beige taxi, back in my village after having spent the last 24 hours in the provincial capital of Ouarzazate seeing off 5 Peace Corps volunteers who are finishing their service and going out into the world they now know much more thoroughly. Even for me, this was an emotional event. A group of maybe 25 volunteers from near and far managed to attend our scheduled 2 o’clock lunch celebration at the extravagant (for Morocco) restaurant Phoenix, which oh so uniquely offered dishes featuring numerous cheeses, alcohol, and even ham (hashak). In company were the 5 exiting volunteers, 6 from the newest group including Amber and myself, and a smattering of other volunteers in various stages of their service. As the food came and went, emotions slowly mounted. All of us at the table have been sharing with each other, for various lengths of time, an experience that can not easily be understood of replicated. As Josh Marshall put it while toasting the service of his fellow volunteers, “There is something strange about a person who makes a conscious choice to leave their life and home behind and spend two years living with perfect strangers”. While the variety of that group was stunning, we all had this significant trait in common and we will always share this strange and wonderful Moroccan experience. For the new additions to the Moroccan team, we have been awed and succored by these parting individuals who interact with their alien surroundings so seamlessly as to bolster our confidence even while we wonder how it could ever get so effortless. But while our relationships with these wonderful people is just beginning, we also witnessed 6 month, 1 year, and 1 ½ year relationships which seem much older and stronger because of the deep connections that going through this process create. And while I watched the emotional goodbyes I realized, this will be me before long. Over the course of the evening I continued to make friends with the people around me, all of whom, I will have to say goodbye to in 2 years or less. I will also have to say goodbye to the local communities, culture, language, friends, and coworkers that I grow to love. In a year, I will be saying goodbye to another group of amazing people, but I will also be saying hello to a new group of frightened beginners. Thus is the wonderful, if not slightly painful, revolving door of the Peace Corps. In the meantime, I am wowed by the impressive accomplishments and grace of the exiting volunteers, and looking forward to doing my job here well enough that when I leave, I have a community who will miss me and whom I will miss; a second home! Still listening to the poignant drawl of “The Tallest Man in the World” (given to me by one of my new Peace Corps fast friends) I begin to wonder how this globetrotting artist can speak to my American heart with an American voice, and what provokes the sadness hidden in his words? Perhaps his nomadic nature has left pieces of his heart in many places around the world. Maybe each piece he gifts is replaced and he is therefore more heartfelt. Maybe it easier for his to love and communicate and connect. Yes….I think so….I think so!