Senioritis of a Different Type
By: Rachel Wilkinson, Mak 8
The nights this summer don’t seem as hot as the year
before. However, there are a handful of nights where I
lay in bed, sleep stolen by the oppressive stuffy heat, and
I follow my wandering mind. The other night, it led me
to this startling fact: I’ve been a Peace Corps Volunteer
for nearly 35 months.
I’m now 25, and just the slightest bit wiser. In
these past three years, I’ve been through so much
that I’m no longer the same person, and I’ve done a
lot of growing up. Living in Macedonia has shaped
me in so many ways, and given me plenty of interesting anecdotes to share with people when I’m 70.
The Florida girl sees snow for the first time in 15
years!
MAK 8s Anniversary - Kocani, September '04.
Little did I know that in July 2003, when I accepted my
invitation, that the country I’d be serving in would become my home. I kept myself very open-minded about
everything, even to the fact that I could quit and go back
to Florida whenever I wanted. But I also told myself to
try and stick it out for the entire 27 month period, no matter what happened. Sometimes it’s amazing to me how
I’ve stayed 8 months more even though I’ve had some
truly terrible times.
It was here in Macedonia that I fell in love
for the first time, and later had my heart broken. In
the same vein, I broke hearts as well. I’ve been the
victim of serious theft by a host family member,
unwanted kissing, and a stalking. I learned the
Cyrillic alphabets of 4 different languages and forgot a lot of my Cuban Spanish. I went to a Jewish
wedding in Greece. I rewired my telephone line as
well as countless porcelain fuses, however, I was
electrocuted in a bathroom just by unplugging a
hair dryer. I lived with two chickens inside my
apartment who resembled precocious 4 year old
boys.
I was medevaced for 5 ½ weeks and ended
up meeting some of the most generous PCVs from
around the world.
I finally grew some semblance of a backbone, and learned that it’s okay to be a bitch.
During our party in Vinica for the 2003 MTV European
Music Awards.
These are only a handful of my PC experiences that define who I now am. No matter how
big or little they are, they’ve affected me in one
way or another. However, I never thought they’d
gang up on me in these last couple of months, forcing me into an unwanted mood of…nostalgia.
I came to Macedonia when I was 22 and right out
of college. I knew nothing, but thought I could do everything. I guess it’s that whole “get-out-and-change-theworld!!” mentality that some new PCVs get sucked into.
Volume 4, issue 2
Page 9