Thoughts on One Year at Site

I arrived at my site on December 15th, 2024 with worries, excitement, and many other emotions all mixed around. Honestly, nerviousness was probably the biggest emotion I had. There were so many 'what ifs' rolling around in my head. What if I don't get along with my host family? What if I don't work well with my counterpart teachers? What if the students don't like me? And most of all, Should I even be doing this at all?

Of course there were positive and light things in my head with the possibility and potential all ahead of me. However, as happens most often, the potential negatives definitely took up more space in my brain, pushing away all the positives.

Now, I'm writing this as I am approaching one year at my site and 15 months overall in Indonesia. Reflecting on all the emotions, experience, and development I've encountered throughout this year.

I won't sugar coat it... it definitely wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. But it also- contrary to what my brain and feelings tried to convince me- wasn't all bad or negative. As with most things in life, there were good and bad parts. However, looking back on the year as a whole, I don't regret my decision to join Peace Corps, to be in Indonesia, and to be at my site.

My site is perfect for me. I am extremely fortunate to have gotten a GREAT host family, one I have truly become family with over this year. For past experiences, I've had great, not great, and middle of the road host families. I think a lot of the other volunteers who haven't had experiences with host families were probably pretty nervious about that aspect. I think my previous experiences gave me some more realistic expectations about host families so I didn't necessarily go into Peace Corps with any lofty fantasies about it. That being said, I will always be grateful for how fortunate I was to get a truly wonderful host family.

My host mom and I are more like good friends than mother and daughter, which makes sense because we only have about a 10 year age gap. We chat and gossip all the time. She fills me in on all the tea about the area and I tell her all about the other volunteers' experiences that they have shared and of course, abotu America. My little host sister is super sweet and energetic, but not in a tiring way which is great for me because I am able to spend time with her without becoming too worn out. And my host dad is great as well. My host dad and mom are great cooks which is awesome for me because I eat all of my meals at home when I am at my site.

I also enjoy living in West Java and I am pretty close to Bandung, my favorite city I've been to in Indonesia. Bandung is the city I've found in Indonesia that I would actually love to live in full time. West Java and my site specifically is a lot cooler than some other parts of Indonesia and I love when it rains here. September to November is the beginning of the rainy season in Indonesia so I especially love the months of Sept-Feb here. There are only two seasons in Indonesia, wet and dry. I live near mountains so my site is a lot cooler than other places. I say cooler but it's nothing compared to back home in Oregon. Cool here is high 70s low 80s (farenheit). Doing Peace Corps in Indonesia, I have definitely learned that I am a cold weather kind of person.

I've met some really great people here, both Host Country Nationals (HCN) and other PC volunteers. As with any group, you can't get along with everyone but I have found some of the volunteers that I am very close with. This helps a lot because we are all going through the same things so talking to them makes you feel less alone and unprepared. The other volunteers are a great support system and I have gone on a couple trips with them, and we have other trips planned in the future.

Overall, I think this has been a good first year. There were ups and downs, but that just makes the experience more meaningful. If everything was just happiness and rainbows all the time, I don't think it would be as special. The happiness is special and something we hold onto because it isn't always there. It's like when you have a cold, you really enjoy and miss breathing normally, but once you can breath normally, you no longer notice it. I think if everything was always happy, it would be pretty boring and would become as unnoticeable as breathing.

Photos Below:

First Photo - Swear in as Peace Corps Volunteers

Second Photo - At an engagement party with my host sister

Third Photo - At an english competition walking around