It’s always sad to say goodbye because while the world is small, it is also fickle. There are some people who seem to live their lives alongside mine. They appear constantly in the same restaurants, schools, and airport lounges. I never fear losing touch because they will be ordering a cappuccino ahead of me in some starbucks at some point. Then, there are those people that vanish. Saying goodbye for the first time is hard because I never know if I’m saying it for the last time.
A volunteer from Mary ET-ed this week. He had 4 months left of his service but a better offer for a job. This brought the total of old volunteers here to 3. I feel sort of strongly that is a low number, and I hope the T-16 struggle on with a bit more valiancy and fewer diseases that get them medically separated. I didn’t know the boy who left very well, and I regret that a bit now. I think he would have been a great friend. So, it goes…if he’s ever bored in The America where internet is fast and largely free and finds my blog, I wish him all the best for whatever comes next. If you ever need anything, let me know.
Before the descent into the maudlin gets too steep, the point of this blog is the send off. The bon voyage extravaganza almost made me wish more people left early. There were burgers, sloppy joes, barbeque sauce, green bean salad, Greek salad, nominal oversight from the man, and delicious deserts. We also made a watermelon punch that was out of this world.
Turkmenistan has this thing about melons. They have an entire day to celebrate them. Right now, by the side of the roads, there are piles of melons for 2,000 manat per kilo. At that price, I can practically eat my weight in watermelons weekly. Sometimes I do. They are juicy and bursting with seeds. Unlike the America ones, they kept the seeds and the flavor. Another volunteer brought lemons back from her vacation, so all was set for the punch. The hardest part was the juicing of the watermelon. We didn’t have a blender. We had a hand held masher and dedication. We didn’t even have a t-shirt or cheesecloth to squeeze the pulverized flesh. Tragic! But, it was worth the effort expended.
Beyond the food, which is always amazing at volunteer gatherings, it was nice just to get together. I hadn’t left my sight for an overnight since coming back from the conference. Plus, because someone was leaving for FOREVER, people came from all over. The only welyat not being represented was Dashoguz. The ache of missing friends that are far away is kind of constant. I push it aside and ignore it because I do have great friends in Mary, but it’s there. It was just so relaxing and so rejuvenating to be with other PCVs again.
Again, to the dearly departed, I hope your travels where safe, and you will be missed.
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