work and apathy: winding down 2 years

i know, i know, yet again, i haven't posted in forever. i'll give you two reasons: one, i've been somewhat busy, on and off, and two, as the time for me to go home comes closer and closer, i've been feeling more and more apathetic about things, including blog posts. but i'll give it my best shot.

so here are some things i've done since my last post:

trainings/meetings/conferences:
- stakeholders workshop. over the past several months some other health pcvs and i have helped my pc boss write and analyze a survey for health volunteers to see about the health project going in a new direction. this meeting, for all the government and ngo partners to the pc health project, was the culmination of this, presenting the results of the survey and new directions for the project. it was a stuffy embassy affair, but it was also interesting to see the process, help with developing the new project framework, and understand how unbelievably complex the whole thing is.
- training on financial management. pretty basic stuff about book-keeping and budget-management. honestly, i went more because i think it will be useful for me in my job next year than because i needed it for my current work. even tho it was basic and very intuitive, i've never actually been taught this type of thing before, so it was useful.
- COS (close of service) conference. 3 days for my pcv group (Moz 13) to talk about our service, the end of our service, re-entry and reverse culture shock, how to go about applying for jobs and grad school, and, for those 13 of us crazy enough to stay for a third year, about the logistics of going home and coming back. it was also a last time for all of us to be together (52 out of the original 57 made it through the 2 years), and pc staff were wonderful and allowed us lots of down time talk, catch up, and process everything. we were at a beautiful beach resort in northern inhambane province and it was a really relaxing time.
- JOMA transfer meeting. my loyal readers will remember that last year in july i went to a meeting where the "older" generation of pcvs passed on the burden of the JOMA project to us. this was our chance to pass it on to the next group. even though i (and the national coordinator) will be here for next year, the new group needs to take over. and they were great, we tried to give them a clear outline of what had happened in the past, the new directions we tried (not altogether successfully) to move in, and some ideas about how they could move on in the future, and they ran with it. they were making decisions by the end of the meeting that we were only making by our planning meeting in january, so i feel like we're leaving the project in good hands. and good hands or not, i know all of us are feeling pretty exhausted and ready to be done with JOMA!
- ANAMED. this was a training on natural medicine, developed by a church group, held at my friend Denys's site in Mulevala. over the course of 5 days 6 PCVs and our counterparts learned about a variety of natural treatments, how to make therapeutic oils, lotions, and tinctures, and how to build a firewood-saving stove. i had been feeling pretty stressed out before this training, with all the traveling to all those other trainings and conferences, and spending a week in rural, beautiful, peaceful mulevala, with no cell-phone service, was just the relaxing break i needed. i'm really excited about the possibility of teaching some other peer educators some of what we learned at this training, both for their use in helping patients, and possibly to be able to sell the oils and lotions to make money.

work:
- the first savings and loan group is coming along well, they now have over 2000 meticais in their "pot," (to put this in perspective, that's roughly 60USD, and about 1/4 of what i get in a month from pc), and all the members have been able to take out at least one small loan.
- another small group of peer educators also decided to start a savings and loan group. i've found explaining the concepts to them a little more difficult, probably largely because their members are older and at least 2 speak more limited portuguese, but they seem enthusiastic about it.
- the sewing training for orphans that i helped organize with a local association came to an end. they hadn't been able to include funds for a closing ceremony in their grant, and they'd been worried about that, because that type of ceremony is very important, but they produced a lot of material throughout the training, mostly baby clothes, school uniforms, and tablecloth and place-mat sets, and with those proceeds they were able to buy drinks and food for a simple closing ceremony, and i was really proud of them. they started a second training a few weeks later, so we'll see how this one goes!

other:
- i've been reading a lot. i keep a list of the books i read in my journal, and i went back and counted recently and i've read 62 books (and counting) since entering the peace corps!
- i've also been studying. i'm taking two courses online, intro psych and nutrition, and i've really been enjoying the experience of studying, and having some sort of structure in a life that is so often so un-structured.

so that's mostly how i've been filling my time. i mentioned above that i've been feeling somewhat apathetic and lackadaisical about new work stuff. even tho i'm coming back for a third year, i will be doing different work, and so i feel that as my time with these people and this job is winding up, i've accomplished pretty much all i can with them, and there's not enough time (and i don't have the energy) to start anything new. i'm still really excited about my third year, about learning and doing different things, but i am SO happy that i'm coming home in a few weeks. i'm looking forward to relaxing, catching up with friends and family, and enjoying the peace and quiet that i so value and is virtually impossible to get in this hot, crowded city (oh yeah, it's getting hot again, another thing i'm looking forward to it NOT being at home!). so, pc still hasn't given me my official ticket information, but i am supposed to arrive home november 20, and will leave january 2 or 3. i plan to be in vermont for most of this time, with probable trips to maine, boston, and connecticut, and i plan to spend new year's in nyc. so i hope this means i will be able to see all of you who are nearest and dearest to me. you know who you are. i'll be in the eastern standard time zone before you know it!:)