Close of service

This past week the volunteers of Peace Corps Peru 9 (the group I went through training with) descended to Lima for our final meeting - "Close of Service". That means we have 3 months left. As you would imagine, it was a great meeting simply because we were all together as a group. Being in Peace Corps on the same time-line and in the same country creates a strong bond even though we are dispersed throughout the country and have rarely seen each other throughout our two years.

The meeting was mainly how to finish Peace Corps - since it is a government agency, it has the bureaucratic paperwork. There was a lot of talk about our experiences and how we've developed as people, our accomplishments, and the benefits of being a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. We had a 30 minute picture slideshow that a fellow Ancash volunteer put together to top off the meeting. Every night was a party.

Our official end-date is August 23...but, if you have a reason, you can finish in the last month of your service, 29 days before the final end date. I'm not exactly sure yet when my "final date" will be, but it will be sometime around August 15th. It has been a long journey - and thanks for those who've kept reading my blog and for all the positive comments. I'll keep it going for the next three months - and for the two months while I'm heading home.

To make this blog somewhat funny - here are some pictures. I've mentioned this before, but Peru has a bit of a different culture around drinking. Getting black-out drunk and passing out in random places isn't just reserved for college. Here are a few pictures.
Much love,
Jake