Finding the Right Balance

Social life, work, host family time, Ali time = Health, happiness and productivity .

Trying to find the right balance of all the goings on in my life is a struggle I feel fortunate have. My first few months at site, I had no social life. I worked a lot and I spent ample amount of time alone. I was very productive as a Peace Corps volunteer, but I was also miserable. Then when I started making friends, my happiness went through the roof, but my work output suffered. So instead of cutting back on either, I became a workaholic and a socialite. This combination led to me going on 6 weeks of medical leave. I am doing my best to balance the activities in my PCV life so I don’t burn my candle at both ends.

One of my biggest personal accomplishments so far, has been learning to say no. I got in a bit over my head with the nuns and my other people in my community, because when approached to do something I could never say no. It’s my obligation as a PCV to help out wherever I could, I thought. But then I started getting over worked and taken advantage of.

I have been so fortunate with my placement in Lima as it has allowed to be close enough to a lot of amazing people. My social network keeps expanding, and with it, social invitations. Being a PCV is a hard job for many reasons. One of them, is that we are volunteers who technically don’t have to do a damn thing for 2 years. When you have a 9-5, you don’t have much of a choice as to when you work and when you socialize. We are independent workers who’s productivity depends solely on self motivation. For this reason, I have imposed my own socializing hours so as not to offset the balance of my life.

Generally speaking, work all week and leave social events for the weekends. There are of course exceptions. Next week I’ve been asked by our country director to go into Lima on Thursday night for a meet and greet at the Ambassadors house with members from the US congress. This technically counts as a work and social event and is something I’m willing to make an exception for in rules about leaving site during the week. This is really exciting thing for me and I’m sure the only reason I was invited is cause of my proximity to Lima. RSVPing to this event helped me finalize saying no to other activities I was invited to this week.

Tonight, a bunch of my friends are going bowling. I haven’t been bowling in years and these days, bowling is a marquee event. I was also invited to play ultimate Frisbee at the US Embassy this evening with a PCV in Lima on sick leave. Tomorrow a bunch of ladies from a slew of different countries are getting together for their biweekly lunch and invited me to come along. Friday is Halloween and I would love to go to the US Marine party like I did last year. But so far I have declined all invitations. I am working all week and would have to sacrifice one of my projects for any one of these invitations.

I have however made an amazing Halloween costume. It’s not as creative or unique as my costumes have been in years past, but given the resources I have access to, I think it’s one of the greatest costumes I’ve ever put together. Instead of going to live jazz and salsa lessons like I was invited to do the past two nights, I’ve stayed at site watching Gilmore Girls on DVD and hand stitching my costume. Even if I don’t go to a Halloween party, it will make a great costume for my girls theater group.

Next Tuesday is the election and I will definitely head into Lima for that. So I will be in Lima on Tuesday and Thursday of next week and that throws my balance way off. Rather coincidentally, a few of the international ladies I had lunch with a few weeks back just started a project with an NGO at my girls home Caritas Felices. They have volunteered to paint the school they are building at the home. So for the past few Fridays, my social life as come to me. I’ve been helping them paint during the day, then I take them to a restaurant in my town and we social in my hood for a change