End, The Beatles

During my last full month in site, I was at my wonderful neighbors’ house finalizing some of the paperwork for their son and I to go to Chiriqui for the Ultimate Frisbee Camp. My neighbor had just been in attendance at my final community meeting, and spoke with my boss privately, commending my time in Peace Corps there, saying that I had not only changed his life, but changed the life of his entire family. I was not there for that conversation, but he relayed to me what he had told him. He said that without me, his son would not have opened up as he has in the past 2 years - and would not have had the desire to continue his education. His oldest son is even going on to study biology because of a class I did in his class about endangered species. He also told me that his family has stopped consumption of turtle eggs in their own home and I had supported his ability, though visitors and recommendations, to become a commercial fisherman. He told me yesterday that fishing on big boats had always been a dream of his and I've helped him realize that small scale fishing with tourists and locals, using ecology and his own knowledge of the area, is more profitable and more rewarding. He is able to tell his customers more about the area, understand the interactions between different kinds of fish and marine mammals - like how dolphins and tuna use each other to find feeding grounds.

More applicable, though, is that he said the same thing my father has often told me - parenting is hard, but every moment is worth it. Seeing his kids grow, even his oldest, who isn't even his and came into his life at 4 years old, is life changing and affirming and he's become a conservationist and environmentalist because of them. He wants to protect their future. He told me that I gave him a way to do that.

And here I was, thinking that all I did for that family was hang out with their kids, talk to their father about fishing, surfing, the sea and my own (amazing) family, but he learned from me. It's moments like that that make the entire two years more than worth it. I never thought for a second I would have this kind of impact on anyone, let alone a family. Peace Corps, to me, was a way to build my resume, impact on a larger scale, learn how to teach, do agriculture and about myself, and be immersed in a culture. I can't believe how much more it's been and I'm so grateful to everyone who supported me in this time and being able and willing to come down and share it with me. I can't believe it's been the two years already. The family’s mother loves my mom because of how hard she searched for Buster one day we were fishing and she asked if Buster gets to come home with me, because my own mother feels guilty about almost losing my baby. She said that not only am I lucky to have such a beautiful family who loves me (and she hopes that she is able to have the kind of relationship with her adult kids as I have with my parents), but I'm even more lucky that when my brother and I start our families, we're are lucky to have a mother like her who will support us through it all.

After my neighbor got pregnant at 18, her mother stopped talking to her, and she was completely on her own until she found her husband. Only then would her mother start talking to her again because he went over to her mother’s house and said, publicly, that his son is now his child and she can be a part of his life, and the lives of their kids in the future if she wants, but if she doesn't then it will be her loss. My neighbor is an amazing woman and an amazing mother - and she sees the strength in everything around her. She even told me how hard it is to see your kids grow up and not need you anymore. I told her that we (the kids) will always need our parents, because without them, we aren't who we are. And I really mean that.

My neighbors finished the conversation by saying that if I don't come down again before the year is out, he'll be hurt.

I’m sorry for that cheesy story, but it was something I needed to share, with all of you who spend time and read this blog. I was recently asked if there was anything I disliked or would have changed about my service and I realized that even through all the ups and downs, in my community, in my life, etc, I wouldn't change a thing. I learned from every experience and every moment of discomfort. And thank you to everyone who supported me through those moments of discomfort and dismay.