An Update on Life

 Hello and welcome to my shit show of a life. When the COVID pandemic swept throughout the world in March my life was turned upside down.

The content of this website is mine alone and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or the Indonesian Government.

Photo taken by Maddie. I had to guard everyone's bags in the airport while we waited for one of many planes we had to take back to the United States.

There were days I sat down and stared at my computer screen trying to find a way to gather the words, courage, and the strength to write again. During those three months I realized I couldn’t do anything. I needed the time to process what had just happened. I was paralyzed, traumatized, and broken in ways that needed time to heal before I was able to write all of this shit down.

Photo taken by my counterpart in Indonesia. My English Club was able to complete our world map project before I had to leave.

For people who don’t know the full story, I’ll try to explain it in a few sentences. All Peace Corps Volunteers were evacuated back to the United States (ya girl lost her job). Although it was the right thing to do, leaving so abruptly was the most exhausting/ depressing thing I’ve ever had to do. There were some people (like myself) that were: so close to finishing their service, people who were close to a year, people who had just gotten to their new host country, and people who were completing paperwork and mentally preparing themselves for the journey that the next two years would give them.

My last conference (MSC) when we celebrated entering our second year and I was able to spend some quality time with my counterpart (love you BuNorma)

Deciding to give up your life for two years to live in a country with a completely different culture, language, and far from loved ones is a big commitment. So no matter what stage you were in in this P.C process I’m so sorry that it was cut short. You committed to something beautiful and I hope you know that. I hope this time can heal your wounds and that you can find some sort of stability in a world that is so unstable.

I decided to use continue to use this platform to upload my work and express myself in the way that seems the most comfortable. I highly encourage all you people bored at home to do the same (make sure you're safe as well.) And for the people who read my blogs about Indonesia, thank you for following along.

Quarantined regards,

Bren