Close of Service Survey

Now that I have just over a month left of service I am starting to wrap up my projects and start my Peace Corps paperwork to leave. One of the fun things we do is called a Close of Service Survey about our good and not so good memories of Peace Corps. Here is mine, although some of it may not make much sense…

Nicknames: Ali, Alise
Biggest Accomplishment: Working myself out of a job with my counterpart
Biggest Disappointment: That I didn’t get the super hard core Peace Corps experience I expected
Biggest Regret: That I spent a large part of my time working with a group of people I didn’t like
Things you will miss most: Wearing flip flops every day and my flexible work schedule
Things you will miss least: Machismo
Biggest Irony: That I am in a Latin county and I miss burritos and salsa dancing from the states
Worst Illness: When my foot swelled up like a watermelon from an ant bite
Biggest Freak-out: When I yelled at the Rotarians for not supporting us enough
Biggest fear during PC: I don’t really remember being scared…
Most useful thing I brought: My computer
Least useful thing I brought: Therma Rest (haven’t used it once)
Favorite activity I did when bored: I was never really bored…
Favorite Hondureñismo: Fijese que…, Ya viene…, Cheque
Greatest lie I told at my site: I was pretty honest about everything
Favorite Honduran Inquiry: “But you make money in the states too, right?”
Best Honduran Gesture: Gotta be the lip point
Favorite CD/Song during my service: Isabella
Favorite books during service: Eat, Pray, Love and of course all 7 Harry Potter books in Spanish
Favorite Honduran fashion: Wearing dresses that should actually be shirts.
Best jalon: I was driven from my apartment to the PC office in Teguc by the driver of an Israeli engineer, free of charge in a nice SUV.
Worst jalon: In the back of a truck full of pineapples
Best bus ride: From Teguc to Santa Barbara with my grandfather, he loved the scenery
Worst bus ride: Anything on the north coast in the summer
Favorite food: Baleadas, tamalitos
Worst thing I ate: Nance
Untrue fact told to you as an undeniable truth: That a little girl got a sty from watching a chicken poop
You know you’ve been in Hn too long when: You request reggaeton
I never thought I would: Use an umbrella when it is not raining
If I had to do it all over again I: would
Favorite piropo: I hate them all
Favorite Ropa Americana t-shirt: Anything that involves “princess” on an old campesino man
Favorite animal story: Horse back riding through the campo on my volunteer visit
Best habit acquired: Practicing yoga on my own
Worst habit acquired: Referring to people as “el gordo” or “el negro”
Things you missed most from the U.S.: Salsa dancing
Things you missed least from the U.S.: Studying
Hn Highlights: Visiting Cayos Cuchinos
Things you wish you’d known when you signed up: That I wouldn’t be in a hut in the middle of nowhere
Best advice for fellow PCVs: “Act as if the future of the universe depends on what you do, while laughing at yourself for thinking that your actions make any difference.” -Buddhist advice