i get by with a little help from my friends

jeremy and ben left today.

i cannot really express how much i am going to miss them – their friendship, companionship, help, support, assistance, comfort.

it is really amazing how close you become with people in a foreign country in a mere six weeks. we have spent practically every day together since they arrived (with the except of the three where they were in boracay) and been exchanging thoughts and ideas and information about our lives in that very short time.

they saved me in coming here. my first two months were so difficult and i felt so ... unaccomplished. and even though we didn't get everything done that we'd hoped to while they were here (welcome to the philippines, ay?), i feel more accomplished since they arrived. when i first came to the philippines, i filled out a survey for CERV that asked how my time here could be a "success" and i wrote that i wanted to be able to see some difference at the end of my time, to actually do something, to feel fulfilled. and because of jeremy and ben, at least part of that has been realized. yes, things, even with them here, is challenging and our work is never easy, but ... there is something different about struggling with them rather than by myself.

and more than all the work, it is the conversations we have had that stand out in my mind. nothing can compare to those talks and throwing things around, working things out together.

i will miss them so much.