Pieces of Peace

It’s official – I’ve entered into the last month of my time in Senegal. I have just under three weeks left before I fly out. As a result, I’ve also moved into what seems to be the most emotional part of my service.

There are so many things I’m looking forward to about being back home in the USA – my family, my friends, a washing machine, a smartphone, craft beer, etc. And there are things I won’t miss about being in Senegal. Washing my clothes by hand, for one (something I’ve done for the last 3 years), is something I can live without!

Despite all of this, I’m devastated to be leaving. Don’t get me wrong, I love the USA, and I am really excited to be home and start the next chapter in my journey. But at the same time, I’ve built a life here and integrated into a culture that I adore, sometimes more than my own. I keep trying to figure out why leaving here seems so much harder than how I felt leaving the USA back in 2014. What I’ve realized is that, in 2014, when I quit my job and moved out of Chicago, I knew that I would see my friends and family again. This time, things seem more final. Of course I plan to stay in touch with my host family and friends here and eventually come back to visit, but there is always a real chance that we will never see each other again. This thought terrifies me, and in my final weeks, it is the thought that leads to spontaneous bouts of tears.

On Saturday, I am gong back to Tamba to visit my village one last time and say goodbye. My host family has had a major influence on my life. We’ve been through the death of a child, domestic violence, weddings, funerals, and plentiful harvests, all in three years. They made my Peace Corps service feel like home. They welcomed every member of my immediate family into their home, and as with Senegalese culture, instantly and honestly believed that, through me, our families are now merged as one.

It is this spirit of openness and hospitality that I am hoping to carry with me to the USA. No matter where I am in Senegal, village or city, home or sidewalk, I’ve found people inviting me to sit with them for tea, share a meal, or just chat like old friends even as strangers. This makes it really easy to find friends, know your neighbors, and build relationships with your local grocery store clerk/tailor/roadside food stand seller/etc. I’ve been gone for 3 years during what seems to be some of the most polarizing times the USA has ever experienced, and I often wonder how different it could be if we imported this “teranga” or hospitality into our own culture. So even though leaving this place will be hard, my mission is to spread Senegalese peace wherever I go. For as Brian Andreas so beautifully painted, “She left pieces of her life behind her everywhere she went. It's easier to feel the sunlight without them, she said."

Thanks for reading. Peace and love,

Lindsay