December
21, 2008
Is it the Economy or the
Adventure?
This
past week I was in Bishkek for a 3-day training seminar on Winter Camps which I
and 21 other volunteers are coordinating throughout the country for
February. During dinner one evening, the conversation turned toward
what we want to do after September 2010. I learned I am not alone in
my desire to see some more of the world before returning to the States. While
I am looking for a neat way to cruise into retirement—Samoa is looking darned
good—the other two volunteers in the conversation are 22. One wants
to teach English in Italy and the other in the Philippines (The latter vol
doesn't want to return to the US until she's 30.) There's also a 33 year
old vol who wants to teach in Brazil after this. Somehow I don't
think we're the only four over here who feel this way.
So,
is it the state of the economy, the adventure of living abroad or a sense of
wanting to do more with your life than “working for the man”? None
of us knows what the economy will look like in two years, although we're
all hopeful, and somewhat confident, it will be better. Even so, I
got the distinct feeling that even if it is, the three of us would still feel
as we do today.
“The Economy or the Adventure” illustrates
vividly how deeply and immediately the PC had impacted my life and that of many
of my peers. You will also notice a thematic overlap in many of my scribblings,
especially living abroad, how it seeped into my being, and age as it related to
my fellow volunteers. Being immersed into Kyrgyz culture confirmed a desire
that began in college and had never left me; indeed, it only served to
intensify it.
In the book: cultural immersion and how it affected my thoughts about living abroad; what part of cultural immersion I never grasped; and where are the four people I mentioned in the email today?
