Saying Goodbye

Good Byes are always the hardest and believe me I put a lot of thought, prayer and advice into this decision. After only 9 months I decided to Early Terminate my service, which may come as a surprise to some of you who have faithfully read my posts. Truth is Peace Corps is not for everyone and I could not handle it. I have made some great friends and will miss many people, and I definitely cried saying good bye to some people because they have become a sort of family to me.

While I will not go in depth to why I am quitting, I will just tell you there have been things that have frustrated me or made me feel as if I have been wasting my time. Sometimes I wonder if I have become a mean or negative person being here, especially today when I got in a fight with a man on the mini bus who I later apologized to. I have learned a lot from this experience and hope I have made some bit, if any impact on the communities. I believe this is the right time for me to go home, a time in which I still have the want to help the people here, but in a some other way. You sometimes don't realize the impact you have on a persons life until you go, although I still feel as I have accomplished little the people are still so grateful for the little things. My BMF (Best Malawian Friend) even wrote me a letter on how much I impacted her life. Really though I think she impacted my life in more ways...thanks Meggie for having so many girl's night-movie night-sleep overs with me!

I will leave Malawi with a much deeper appreciation of all the things I have including family, as well as more patience and larger worldview. I do believe Peace Corps is a great organization and many volunteers have done and continue to do amazing things.

If you would like to follow/support some other Peace Corps Volunteers serving in Malawi here are some links to their blogs below:

kayismyname.com
christymalawi.blogspot.com
towaxandwane.wordpress.com
cwolff597.wordpress.com

As for me I am excited to come home. Will I regret coming home? Maybe, but I know that no matter where you are in the world you can make a difference. Thank you for all the letters, packages, love and support I have received from family and friends. It really meant a lot.

Hope you have all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!