Tempus Fugit**

Mr. Randall would be proud of that one.**  That’s Latin for “Time flies.”  ‘Aint it the truth.  Our batch of volunteers arrived in the Philippines July 3^rd.  It’s hard to believe that half a year has gone by already.  It’s a very, very strange thought.  I feel like I’m becoming redundant with this observation, but it continues to surprise me. 

I was talking with my PCV friend recently about how sometimes I feel very disconnected from my friends’ lives back home, and worry sometimes that we forget about each other.  He reassured me that we’re all just living our lives, and although right now they’re geographically separate, nothing can take away what we’ve already shared, and therefore we will always be a part of each other.  I was glad to hear it put in that perspective, and it made me reflect on how the little phases of my short life have been so far, when it comes to friendships.  The most similar example would have to be my years of college. 

My little circle of friends scattered (mostly) around New England, and despite our relatively close proximity, we hardly ever visited each other’s respective schools.  Yet on school breaks and post-graduation, everything seemed to come back around and our friendships have remained.  And when I think about my parents’ relationships with their high school and college friends… the best ones continue to this day.  But anyways, I guess we each gain insight from our friends’ separate experiences and learn from them.  Sometimes this results in growing apart amiably, other times this brings us closer.  In school today we were practicing Q&A in my first year class.  To begin the exercise and break the ice a little, I let the kids each ask me a question.  Most of them wondered when I would find love/a husband in the Philippines (most specifically, if it would be with a Filipino.  Since I’m asked this on a daily basis, I’ve learned how to entertain people with my answer because I always feed into them… “Sigurooooooo!”  [Maybeeee]--- this is always followed by oooohs of glee.)  However I did get a few good ones: Did I think 2012 would really be the end of the world?  What is my proudest achievement?  If I could talk about one of three things, what would it be: people, places, or ideas?

Right away, I knew that my answer to the latter was ‘ideas.’  And as I’m reflecting on my answer tonight, I’m coming up with another reason for this response.  When it comes to my friends and I, because we’ve traveled such different paths, we have very diverse views and ideas on aspects of life.  And as these paths have once again merged onto the same “highway” (I guess), I believe they have helped me gain a better understanding of my own world and human nature itself.  In a way, I have learned how to reach new levels of empathy from sharing ideas with my friends.

I remember having these same worries as a freshman in college.  And I’m just now recognizing that I’m having these same concerns.  Granted they are certainly on a much grander scale, and it very may well be another two years until I see most people from home.  However, as the oh-so-wise Rihanna would say, “So live your life….heyyyyyyyyy.”  Haha J  Just kidding.  But for real, I’m now seeing that the things I’m learning here are just many more ideas that I will be able to share with others for the rest of my life.  This Peace Corps thing seemed like it would be a long 27 months, but with almost 25% of it through already, I’m kind of like “AHHHHH!  I gotta kick it into high gear because this is FLYING!” 

Somewhat of a short entry, but it’s almost 1am and I’m still catching up on sleep from my awesome holiday travels.  I’ll indulge you in those stories later.  Until then, agannad ka!  Take care!

**He’d also be proud of the only other Latin saying I remember… “Semper ubi sub ubi.”  Always wear underwear.  Right, Mom?  Or Patti?**