The Gods Must Be Crazy

Should I stay or should I go?

Okay so I recently got to talking with a friend from college on fb chat. I was complaining to her about my lack of water, my inability to find vegetables, when she asked, “So what percentage of Peace Corps Volunteers finish their service?”

So far 32 out of the 35 people I arrived with in Botswana are still here. The group before us didn’t fare as well, with 26 of the 44 people they arrived with still around. I’m not sure about the statistics, but I think it’s about 10-20% of Peace Corps Volunteers who ET (early terminate) on average.

Let’s be real, I complain a lot, but I’m not going to quit. Not because I feel like my work here is extremely meaningful or productive. Most days I feel good if I coached soccer practice and nobody ended up crying. I miss my family and friends a lot, every day. But really, if I went home now, I would just be living in my parents’ basement, probably still celibate, and upset and miserable that I was living in Montana. If I stay here, I get a year of free rent, hanging out with friends, time to write my novel, study for the MCAT, get to hold lots of babies, and getting to see Namibia, Cape Town, and Mozambique.