Brittany McGee

As the second largest district in Peru (land mass wise), and with an entire population of more than 30,000 (and growing every day), there is no shortage of new people to meet in Olmos. As a blue-eyed blonde in site, these new people don’t hesitate to ask me who I am, what I’m doing in Olmos, and whether I like it here.

My response is usually the same, “I’ve lived here for a year, and I do like it. I feel like an Olmano.”

This response typically produces a smile on the face of this new friend I’ve made and we continue to make small talk.

What’s so significant to me is that in my year in site, I do feel like a part of the community. And, the bond I feel with the community only strengthens with time. Every now and again I catch myself thinking, “Oh man, and I thought I was integrated (insert number of months) ago!”

In August I left Olmos for 3 ½ weeks. I had Mid-Service Medical Check Ups, followed by our Mid-Service Youth Development Training. After a week in Lima, I jetted back to Texas to celebrate two close friends marrying the men of their dreams. By the time September rolled around, I flew back to Lima and was there a few days for the English Teaching Committee meeting.

I had gone into our Mid-Service on such a high. It signaled that I had survived the first year as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I was at the halfway point. I had projects that weren’t going perfectly, but were going well. I had people who wanted to work with me, and potential projects in the pipeline. I had friends, granted they were either 9 years old or over 40. I was in a routine. I was comfortable.

But then, I went back to the States. The land of, well, the land of everything I didn’t realize I had missed until I went back. The land of convenience. The land of options. The land of family I had left behind. The land of a social life I had removed myself from and friends who are more like sisters. The land of big open skies and green grass. The list goes on, and on, and on. I found myself more appreciative of literally everything. While my visit wasn’t all sunshine and flowers, it was still pleasant enough that I had a hard time getting back on the plane to Peru.

And once I got back to my site, I had a difficult time readjusting to my life here—and to some extent I am still readjusting. I felt torn between my life in the States and my life in Olmos. The first few days, it took a lot of effort to leave my room, to talk to my host family, to go to the high school. Things that were once normal, comfortable, and routine even, became a chore.

I really got down on myself for this, wondering if this made me a bad volunteer. “Is it time for me to leave?” I questioned myself.

The more I forced myself to leave my room though, I remembered why I had been on such a high before Mid-Service. As I walked around town, strangers greeted me and the youth shouted my name while grinning from ear to ear. When I went to the high school, teachers gave me giant bear hugs and asked me how my trip had been. Little things kept reminding me why I felt such a tie to the community.

They say during our Peace Corps service, we’ll go through really high highs and really low lows. While I’m sure I’ll continue to experience both, I’m confident that the kindness the people in my town display and the unexpected friendships I’ve forged will help me through the lows, as they have the past two weeks.

After all, I am an Olmano now too.