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PAU3A!
My Med Evac Experience
by: Jesse Warner, MAK 10
All Peace Corps Volunteers understand the
rollercoaster phenomenon of the ups and
downs inherent during their PC service.
However, only a select few PCV’s know of
the compressed, intensified rollercoaster experience of being medically evacuated.
The summer of 2006 I was suddenly
whisked away from my day-to-day PC service and found myself back in WA DC for
minor surgery. I had about four days to pack
up everything in my small apartment in Kochani. Peace Corps has you pack up all of
your stuff, in case you are medically separated and not able to return, in which case
they’ll ship your stuff home for you. I happened to be attending an IST when I got the
news, so I was able to “say goodbye” to everyone, which was good for closure, but
heart-wrenching at the same time.
Telling my Macedonian friends wasn’t any
easier. I only told a few people the real reason why I was going back to America; most
thought I was just going on vacation. It was
hard enough to explain in English and almost impossible for me to say in Macedonian, although I tried. There were worried
faces and a few tears quickly brushed away,
due to the uncertainty of whether I would be
able to return or not. At the time there was
no way of knowing that I’d return in just under 4 weeks.
As soon as I reached US soil I was amazed
that I could understand the conversations
around me and was able to read the English
signs. Probably the best part for me was being able to eat American food, get take out
pizza and go to Starbucks every day. My
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