So, this blog has come to an appropriate end, but the fun is not over...I started another blog! I'm traveling through Central and South America for the next 70 days.
Track my journey here:
Love always,
Jess
Friday, September 2, 2016
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Close of Service
Today is the day I get to put "Returned" in front of Peace Corps Volunteer. I rang the bell in the office in Belmopan and am no longer a liability to Peace Corps Belize. If I had to go back in time three years to the beginning of the Peace Corps application process, I'd do it all again. This whole experience has been so enlightening. I wish I could do it justice in a blog post and explain what these two years in Belize meant to me, but I do not think it can be articulated.
A huge thank you to everyone who made it all possible: family, fellow volunteers, friends at home, new friends in Belize, and Peace Corps staff. It wouldn't have been possible without you.
Love always,
Jess, RPCV
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Site Reveal
Not sure if you noticed, but I never identified the village that I have called home for the last two years by name on this blog. That was on purpose. As Peace Corps Volunteers, we were discouraged from posting our exact location for issues related to safety and security.
Well, I'm already moved out, and after a week of hard goodbyes, I wanted to document the village that showed me absolute generosity and provided so many lasting memories: Cristo Rey, Corozal. A village of just under 900 people, it is sandwiched between two smaller villages, San Pedro and Yo Chen. The main road through the village is a shortcut to the Mexican border.
I'll miss it--that's for sure. I'll be able to keep in touch with the friends that became my family here, but I won't be able to recreate or even really explain justly the the night sky that makes you feel so tiny because you can see the Milk Way or the smell of smokey air when the sugar cane fields are ablaze and 'black snow' (ash) is falling all around you.
I'm eternally grateful for the privilege to have served here. I'm thankful that the community, collectively, kept me safe, fed, and made to feel like I belonged. Not a day will go by without thinking of Cristo Rey, the village that will always be home.
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| Sugar Cane at Sunset Cristo Rey, Corozal, Belize |
Love always,
Jess
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