Leaving

NB: I have just put an addendum at the bottom of the preceding post: Why I left

Well, I tried to schedule my departure so that I could meet with my APCD. As luck would have it, he wound up being out of the office anyway. Well, I wrote him a long note, but I wish I could have had a final conversation.

I had made inquiries in July and found out that if Peace Corps knew that I was making any plans for leaving, I would have to start the departure process immediately. Upon learning that, I avoided the topic during all interactions for the rest of my service. I was in Nairobi on December 29th, just after my parents had gone to the airport, so it was just a matter of going to the office. The first thing that I saw when I arrived was that the notice board was half filled with staff on leave (understandably so, given my timing). I was a little relieved since I always struggle with good-byes to friends, but mostly disappointed and uncertain if I would ever see these people again.

I received a stack of papers for filling out. I won't bore you with the details, but it was pretty drawn out. Then I went to Medical for the final tasks there. Ordinarily there is a check-up and everything, but I had just been in for an examination 3 weeks before and I was trying to finish the process for a day, and medical had only one staff member in the office, so I decided to forgo the checkup. I got a long explanation of all the paperwork and medicines that they were giving me. There was a lot of information about what I am supposed to do to get my full check-up when I get back to the states (but only relevant in the unlikely event that I return there within 3 months of leaving the program). As I listened, I recalled my friend Will's advice that you should get all medical stuff done before you leave because it's a real hassle in the states (and apparently unavailable outside the states). Well, let's hope that I don't have any medical conditions (actually, I really should have a comprehensive physical after all my adventures in the chemistry lab; too bad the timing didn't work out).

After that was finished, I had to close out my bank account (the only major ordeal of the day). Peace Corps does all volunteer banking with Commercial Bank of Africa. We regularly complain about the inconvenience due to the fact that there are 11 branches in the country: 7 in Nairobi, 3 in Mombasa and 1 in Meru. Seeing as no volunteers are stationed in Nairobi, and there are very few in the Mombasa or Meru area, this does not seem like the bank of choice. However, Peace Corps does put an extra allowance into our accounts each month to cover the ATM fees incurred by using non-CBA ATMs. Just don't encounter any customer service issues. In my case, I was at the bank with Peace Corps's finance officer (Isabella is a quiet, but wonderful member of the office), so I figured it would be really easy. No such luck. After some light paperwork, they told me that they would need me to write a check to give me the balance from my account. I didn't have my checkbook, so they also had to charge me for a new checkbook. They printed the new checkbook (they misspelled my name on it, as they had on the previous one that I hadn't bothered to carry with me--inexplicably, they also misspelled my name on my ATM card, but with a different typo) and deducted the cost from my balance (I wish checkbooks were a tad cheaper). Then I wrote the check and surrendered the checkbook. Then came handing me the balance. I had XXX46.98 in my account, so they gave me XXX46.50. Bankers' rounding wouldn't bother me so much if those 0.50 cent pieces weren't so worthless. CBA's slogan is "What stress-free banking is all about". I feel like that is supposed to be a joke. That slogan can't be serious, right? My condolences to anyone with an account at that bank.

After that, I went back to the office and finished up my paperwork. I had Tim, who runs the Public Health program sign in place of my APCD. He was very friendly about everything. I surrendered my passport (we are issued a Peace Corps specific passport, so I remained with my personal passport) and my work permit for Kenya. The Acting Country Director wrote me a letter to allow me to cross the border since I didn't have a visa or entry stamp (I was worried immigration would hold me up, but after a brief explanation, they accepted it). The Acting Country Director also told me that we could forgo the exit interview so that we could wrap up the process (I needed to get out of the country ASAP for the letter to be valid; I managed to hop a bus back to site, pack up my house and hop on another bus to leave the country within 36 hours).

I emailed many staff members at the office to say a final good-bye and received nice words back from several of them. I may return to Kenya some time. Perhaps when that day comes, I might be able to partner with Peace Corps on some of my work.