Keeping My Head in the Game

As I wrote in a previous post, ABLE was the main focus of my service for quite some time.  We all put a lot of energy and attention into the camp in order to insure that it took place and went smoothly.  This attention, along with our absences from our sites at the middle of the summer caused other programs and projects to suffer some inevitable neglect.  It is very easy for kids to drift away if a program is not active consistently.  So, now that ABLE is over, I find myself in a vacuum of sorts.  I have recovered from the exhaustion that immediately followed the end of camp, but now what?  School is still out, and the doors are locked for summer. 

I find myself taking time for myself, perhaps more than I should.  I have spent time researching and planning for my return to the United States in a few months.  November 21 is coming faster and faster.  A moment ago, it was the beginning of summer, and now it is August.  At the end of the month, we will have our COS (Close of Service) Conference, the last time our AZ8 group will all be together.  There, we will discuss some of the issues I find myself facing now, such as what to do with the remaining time we have, how to wrap up our service in a meaningful way (for ourselves and for our community), and what we need to do before we leave (doctor’s appointments, language tests, etc). 

In preparation for my return, I hope to take the GRE sometime this fall, which means study and planning.  I haven’t taken a math course since high school, so I’m a bit rusty in some areas.  Gettysburg required a quantitative reasoning class, which I fulfilled with Logic.  The ideas and practices of algebra and geometry are locked in my brain somewhere, but uncovering and revitalizing them has been a challenge.

The more abundant free time I find myself with now has provided me with the opportunity to pursue something that has been lacking in my life here—exercise.  This wouldn’t have happened without the timely return of my host brother, Orxan.  With his enthusiasm and encouragement, we have begun going to the local Olympic complex swimming pool three mornings a week.  At night, we go to the park for ping-pong and beer, and usually attract a bit of a crowd, though I'm hardly the best of players.  Truly the sport of champions.  It’s in the Olympics, after all!

Of course, I have to work.  It’s just that right now, in the heart of the YD season, I feel as if there’s not much to do.  I’ve lost my students for the most part, though there are small groups that meet with me for conversation and English help.  I’ve been helping a local friend as he attempt to apply to graduate school in the US, proofing his statement of purpose.  In the meantime, I wait, and look forward to school coming back.  Most YDs are at their best in the summers, and until ABLE ended, I was one of them.  But as a YD at a school, I find myself in the position of many TEFL volunteers, without a work home.  It is this lack of an organization that makes it even more important that I plan for the near future.  I’m beginning to feel my last chance to leave an impression on my school, teachers, and students, and I hope not to waste it.  It’s still summer, but the end is coming.