You can do a lot in a lifetime
If you don't burn out too fast
You can make the most of the distance
First you need endurance
First you've got to last...
Today is my last day in Ecuador. I am now an official Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (term designated by Federal Government for Peace Corps volunteers who have successfully completed their two-year service). On the eve of my departure from this beautiful and, yet, mind-twisting country, Ecuador is in the midst of total political chaos. Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken the streets of Quito to oust President Lucio Gutierrez. Tear gas is everywhere, riot police are struggling to hold back the masses of angry indigenous peoples, and roads & highways are clogged with burning tires to prevent movement in and out of the nation's capital.
But I have more important issues on my mind: when I return, will the supermarkets in the U.S. still be filled with a million different kinds of cereal, thousands of different kinds of bread, and dozens of different brands of beer?
Will cheddar cheese, swiss cheese, American cheese, blue cheese, and Wisconsin white cheese still be available?
Will bagels continue to abound on the shelves?
Will Trader Joe's still sell wonderful, delicious boxes of organic soy milk?
Will there still be electricity and running water 24-hours a day?
It is hard to believe that, after living in a country where so little works and so much is broken, that I will once again have the opportunity to enjoy the luxuries of getting change for a $1 bill anywhere I damn well please, washing my clothes in a machine so that they don't smell like mold afterwards, and eating in restaurants without fearing that I'll be exploding into a toilet two hours later.
Is it true that banks in the U.S. are still efficient, that there are still lots of fruits and vegetables, and that people actually make more than $5.00 per day?
Could it really be that the American people still stand in lines as politely as they did when I left two years a go, that traffic signals still operate the way they're supposed to, and that you can still eat yogurt with a spoon?
These are the burning questions I have on my mind, 24-hours before stepping onto U.S. soil.
I hope you have enjoyed vicariously participating with me on my Peace Corps journey over the last two years. Join the Peace Corps, and experience first hand the joys and challenges of serving others abroad.
Good-bye.
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