So what happens after the Peace Corps?

I have been on American Soil for 209 days. It occurred to me, on this day, the 209th day, that when one is away and serving in the Peace Corps, there is considerable hype and attention surrounding the experience. For two years I documented and shared my life with everyone. The stories were ongoing and endless - the places I visited, the cultural events that took place, how I felt, what I ate, and even where I shat.

Then once I flew back, the blogging and story sharing stopped. On this 209th day I am going to change that.

Of course my stories are not going to be as interesting. I eat and pee and poop the same as everyone else now. I'm not lost somewhere in the abyss of the unknown 'Afrika' anymore. I'm here. I'm home. I'm living just like everyone else. I am not that interesting.

But this isn't always true. My life now, is just as complex, intricate, and 'interesting' as it was when I was gone. NOBODY TOLD US THAT COMING HOME WOULD BE SO HARD. No one told us that we would have no place to call home and it would take more, much more than 209 days to feel at home. No one bothered to share that this transition would be just as hard as the transitions and struggles we faced as Peace Corps Volunteers. Nobody spoke about feeling homesick at home and the realization of being homesick for a place, for a space, for a feeling, for a touch, for a smell, for a sight, for a sense of peace, THAT DOESN'T EVEN EXIST.

Yes, I am here. And I am so ready to claim this right of passage.