Week 104: Meeting the New Trainees

This week 76 new Peace Corps trainees arrived in Botswana. When I close my service (COS) on October 14^th they will be swearing in as new volunteers. I had the privilege of meeting these folks at the airport where there were more smiling faces than I expected after such a flight. I then stayed with the group as they spent their first night with their new home stay families (who they will live with until they move to their sites’) fielding questions about how to navigate different religious views and the names for the different types of bread.

The energy and enthusiasm of this group was contagious. I feel content with my past two years and what I have and have not been able to accomplish and was delighted to share this with the new group. The timing was excellent, as I know that at other points in my service I may not have had as many nice things to say. As much as I enjoyed the energy I was reminded that adjusting back to the faster pace of life in the States will no doubt be a challenge. However, I am confident that just as I adapted two years ago, I can do it again and in fact I am excited to.