Nine Months

By Peace Corps’ 27 month standard the education 2010 volunteers have completed two-thirds of their service. While I officially completed 13 months of service, only 10 of these months were served in Lesotho. No longer a volunteer I am very much united to my cohort of friends still in country finishing out the remainder of their service. We have been without T.C.M. for a complete trimester.

At the finale of each month abroad I chose one song to essentially define the atmosphere throughout the month. My playlist, heavily influenced by T.C.M., included these nine songs:

• Month One: Wagon Wheel—Old Crow Medicine Show
• Month Two: New Shoes—Paolo Nutini
• Month Three: Wonderwall—Oasis
• Month Four: 1901--Phoenix
• Month Five: I Got No Ceilings—Lil Wayne
• Month Six: She Moves in Her Own Way—The Kooks
• Month Seven: Waka Waka (Time for Africa)--Shakira
• Month Eight: July, July!—The Decembrist
• Month Nine: Let Her Cry—Hootie & the Blowfish

The second trimester, in country or out, has been a difficult one. Regaining confidence, resetting values, restoring passion, and finding a general sense of normalcy has included a celebration of small accomplishments. This month I reached a big milestone; I was able to start listening to these nine songs.