Saturday, Sept 3
I’m officially done with Peace Corps! Another volunteer asked me how it felt to be done. There are so many emotions, but I CAN say that I was crushed to leave my site, but I am thankful to be done with Peace Corps. I am proud of my two year service, but I am ready to move on to the next step of my life.
The big news is that I did not make it to Nicaragua yesterday. My friend Meredith and I were at the border all afternoon, and it turns out that I need a special stamp on my passport to get across. I am still not exactly sure what happened, but supposedly when my residency was cancelled in my passport, the Honduran immigration officers should have given me a stamp to move around in Central America. Apparently the 90 day tourist visa in Honduras was not enough. So I spent the afternoon on the phone (well Meredith’s phone, I had already turned mine over) with the Peace Corps emergency officer, as they were frantically calling immigration officials, lawyers, etc. They even called the Honduran officials at the border crossing that had let me “leave” Honduras without any problem. I never really left Honduras nor entered Nicaragua; I was more in the territory between the 2 countries. One of the more ridiculous parts of the afternoon was when the Honduran immigration official came over to talk to the Nicaraguan officer and had no idea about this special stamp. (The Peace Corps and Hondu Teguc people claimed that the stamp did not exist). Meredith and I laughed about the fact that the Nicaraguan officers were all in matching official uniforms and seemed somewhat professional. Our Honduran officer rep, on the other hand, was elderly, had on a uniform that looked like it had been around for 20 years, and had no idea what was going on. Thanks Honduras. And during one of my more stressful phone convos of the afternoon, I started crying because all I wanted was to get out of the country! And I look over and one of the Nica officials is sitting on a stool beside Meredith eating corn on the cob and asking her about her boyfriends in Honduras. The head official was playing reggaeton on his cell phone radio. And the other official was trying on my huge backpack and walking around with it…..
Thankfully the Peace Corps office got in touch with Laura, my travel companion for the month, and told her we were having issues and not to leave Teguc yet. Apparently the entire PC office and American embassy was working to get me over the border. And the Nicaraguans wouldn’t budge. It became obvious that it was some type of power struggle between Honduras and Nicaragua. Who knows. I am still not clear about who was right in this situation. All I know is that after an afternoon of sitting at the border, PC said that I would have to go back to Teguc to the immigration office. We asked the Nica officials about the next bus to Teguc, and it wasn’t going to pass for another 3 hours, so they found a ride for us in a really comfy car. That part was nice, at least. BUT lest I start to think that things were going in my favor, we had to stop to check back into Honduras. I would like to remind you that we never entered Nicaragua. The same border guard that had done a very poor job to convince the Nica side to let me in, told me I owed 3 dollars. I had paid 3 dollars when I crossed over the Honduran border in the morning, but since I NEVER made it to Nicaragua, I told him it did not make sense for me to pay. I had technically never left Honduras. He told me it didn’t matter, that I had to pay. I was furious, and thankfully Meredith stepped in and payed before I made a scene. I also had to fill out customs papers about my visit to Nicaragua—had I touched any livestock, bought souvenirs, etc? NO, I told them , I DIDN’T EVEN MAKE IT IN THE COUNTRY. YOU WERE THERE AT THE BORDER WITH ME! I was mad. But I had to fill it out or the armed guards wouldn’t let me cross back into Honduras.
After a ridiculous afternoon, we arrived that night to Teguc and stayed with a friend in the city who works for World Bank. We bummed around the city and the Peace Corps office and are staying with a previous volunteer who now works for USAID tonight and tomorrow. Fingers crossed that we can get this special stamp on Monday, because the PC office will be closed for Labor Day and unable to help. I’m still a bit unsure, since I’ve heard the stamp doesn’t even exist…
Wednesday, August 31, 2010: Despedidas!
In Teguc finishing up my service with plenty of medical appointments and interviews, and lots of reports. Its been exhausting.
The last week in Camasca was full of goodbye party after goodbye party. Everyone wanted me in their house one last time for coffee, dinner, or whatever. I got lots of interesting gifts. I received purses, tshirts, lots of keyrings, jewelry, lotions, and strangely, underwear. I had to pass along most of my gifts to local friends because I literally have no extra room in my bag. It didn’t really hit me until the end of the week that I was leaving. Even as I write this, it seems unreal that I won’t be leaving for Camasca on Friday when we finish. I know that my time is done in Camasca, that I couldn’t continue working there with Peace Corps, but I still feel a huge gap in my heart, like it isn’t right that I won’t return. I know I’ll be back at some point, hopefully next year if I can get together the money, but I know it will never be the same, that it will always be just a visit. I spoke with Iris a little while ago and it made me emotional to hear her voice and know that I won’t be able to see her for a long time. Saying goodbye to Iris, Zach, and some other friends in town really made me sad. They were people that I lived with and really cared for during two years of my life. I don’t feel that my experience was just 2 years of doing projects and living in a community. I feel like I was a part of the community, that these people were my friends and that they were part of my life.
Saturday morning I went to La Esperanza to say goodbye to friends there. Zach went with me and we lived the good life at the nicer hotel in La Esperanza (meaning it has hot water, comfy beds, TV/internet, and a generator for when the power inevitably goes out), watching TV and relaxing all day. We ate big baleadas and I ran errands. That evening we had homemade bbq sandwiches at the home of a Peace Corps married couple there and it was delicious! We went to the Fogon that night for dancing with some Honduran friends and I had a great time. It was low-key and I was able to see almost everyone I wanted to see in La Esperanza. Zach and I continued our luxurious lifestyle by ordering in breakfast at the hotel, and then relaxing until I had to say goodbye to him L I stayed the rest of the day to relax and spend more time with my friend Ana and her family. I left Monday morning for Teguc.
I am excited about my upcoming trip through Central America. I’m a bit nervous because my backpack is rather large, but to my credit, it was difficult packing for a month of travel after living here for 2 years. So in an effort to carry less stuff, I left clothes in La Esperanza and will probably leave more in Teguc. I already turned over my nice shampoo, conditioner, and bodywash for shampoo individual packets and bar soap :L I am also getting excited to see my family and catch up with everyone. I’m NOT so excited about job searching…
