October 2025: My last few weeks in Mexico and my transition back home

Good afternoon, everyone,

I hope you are well.

As many (if not all) of you already know, October 17 was my last official day as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Last Monday, October 20, was my last full day in Mexico. And since last Tuesday, I've been back in the U.S. after over two years of being away. 

It's only been one week since I landed in San Diego, and already things feel so different. So final. It's almost hard to believe that just a little over 2 weeks ago, I was still living in a small, remote town in the mountains, speaking only in Spanish, and living with few of the amenities that we are so accustomed to in the United States. 

To me, what's remarkable is how just as quickly as we adapt to different and new surroundings, we even more quickly return back to the familiar. It's as if I blinked and suddenly I'm back to my reality of before the Peace Corps without any recollection of the happenings of the last two years. But I know these last two years were real, and that they had a real impact on who I am as a person and of my perception of the world around me. 

It's likely going to take a long time for me to fully digest and understand what I lived through, but I wanted to write the final chapter of my time in Mexico that we all deserve: a recap of my last few weeks in service, and then perhaps a glimpse into my thoughts about the future. Some of this, I wrote while I was still in Neblinas. The rest, I'm writing to you now, trying to hold onto the memories that are starting to feel like years away, though they happened within the last few weeks. 

I hope it brings you all (and me) some closure and provides a happy ending to this exciting chapter of my life. 

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(Written Saturday, October 12, 2025; Adapted Tuesday, October 28, 2025)

Good afternoon, everyone,

This is my last newsletter entry as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mexico. 

My last few weeks of service were quite interesting and didn't go exactly to plan. But that's the beauty of the Peace Corps—things typically don't go as planned, and it's up to us as volunteers to be flexible and adaptable and enjoy what we can even with the uncertainty.

As you may have seen in the news, most of central Mexico experienced the tail-end effects of two passing hurricanes earlier this month that caused days of constant and heavy rainfall, flooding, landslides, and destruction in their paths. My part of the world wasn't too badly affected. We did have some mudslides along the road coming in and out of the community, but, ultimately, everyone was safe and the damage was minimal. 

Nevertheless, we did have a week full of rainy, dreary days, and as such, we had to cancel most of the plans we had to celebrate the end of my time in Neblinas. 

We had planned to have a big community event at the casa de cultura to show off the work we did over the course of the last few months and to celebrate the end of my two years of service in the community. People were asked to bring food and drinks and I was planning on saying a few words and giving others the opportunity to say a few words, but ultimately with the bad weather we decided it would be better to cancel the big event.

It did end up being a bit of a scramble, however, trying to decide whether to cancel the event we had planned or not, given that there was no electricity or internet in the whole town to be able to let people know that the event was cancelled. But, given the weather conditions, we bet on the fact that most people wouldn't have come out anyway, and it ended up being for the best. 

While we didn't go forward with the big community celebration as planned, Flora, Margarita, and other members of the family decided that they still wanted to have a celebration, even if it was at the house and with fewer people. So that's what we did. Flora made mole, Margarita made tamales, a few other people brought food and beverages to share, we put on some music, and we made the most of the evening. Even though it didn't turn out exactly as planned, I'm grateful to those who showed up to say their farewells and celebrate for a little while. 

Later that weekend, the weather turned around and I was able to visit some people that weren't able to make it up to the house on Friday. I visited people who I knew well and let people that I didn't know very well know that my time in the community was coming to an end. Most people took the news well, knowing that my two years were coming to a close. One woman, whom I only spoke to on a handful of occasions, however, seemed deeply saddened by the news and with tears in her eyes, told me not to go. It was the first time leaving felt real, and it was a moment when I felt that I had really made an impact on the community of Neblinas, whether I knew it or not. 

On Sunday, the day before I was scheduled to leave Neblinas, there was a death in Margarita's extended family. Because the family of the deceased no longer had a home in Neblinas, the funeral preparations were being made to be held at Miguel's and my house. All day, Margarita and other family members were busy preparing the house and making the arrangements for the body to be brought back to the community. Knowing the house would be full of people, I took my opportunity that day to say goodbye to some of the individuals in the community who I was closer with and who had made a lasting impact on me. I said goodbye to Ariana, Rayanne's neighbor, as well as a number of the women who lived in Rayanne's neighborhood and who I knew she was close to. I said goodbye to Don Juan and Doña Cleta (the kids' other set of grandparents) and said my goodbyes to Teodora and Pablo (the parents of my friend Sonia).

I arrived back home to a full house around 9pm (as expected) and made my way upstairs to say my first round of goodbyes to the kids (Melanie, Santiago, Julian, and Juliette). I had made the kids a little book of photos for them to remember me by, and I had them open it together—I think they were quite happy with their gift but sad to see me go. 

I went to bed that night with Mishu sleeping at my feet and Cruella (Ariana's dog who followed Rayanne around the community) sleeping near my head. With screaming kids running around and people coming in and out of the house, I barely slept, but I was happy to be in the company of my furry friends who accompanied me through the night.

The next morning, I got my things ready and prepared myself for my final departure from Neblinas. My counterpart Juan Manuel and a few other members of the CONANP came to Neblinas to pick me up. But before leaving, I said my final goodbyes to Margarita, the kids, Flora and her family, as well as my furry friends: Cruella, Solovino, and Mishu. It was a tearful goodbye. Saying goodbye to the kids and to my kitty friends was by far one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life. You never know when something is going to hit you, but that goodbye certainly did. I know there will be opportunities for me to go back to Neblinas in the future, but in that moment it finally became real that that was my last time saying goodbye to the community and the family I created. I knew things would never be the same.

Juan Manuel drove me to Jalpan where I planned on meeting my friends Emma, George, and Miryam before leaving for Querétaro. The plan was for Emma and I to go to Querétaro together on Monday, however, we were still on a standfast (or do not travel) order from the Peace Corps safety and security manager, so as a backup plan, we spent the night in Jalpan and planned to leave early Tuesday morning for Querétaro once we received the "all clear". Spending the day in Jalpan ended up being perfectly lovely. I was able to rest and relax and process some of the emotions of the morning and I also had the chance to say my formal goodbyes to the CONANP team, who hosted a cute despedida party for me, as well as my Peace Corps Volunteer friends in the Sierra Gorda who still have a year left in their service. We celebrated the end of my service with a cheesecake provided by the CONANP and tacos at the end of the night surrounded by good friends. 

I spent the rest of the week in Querétaro, where I ran around visiting friends, going to doctor's appointments, and having meetings with various staff members. The end of my service was marked by a bell-ringing ceremony at the Peace Corps office, a traditional way for Peace Corps posts to celebrate the end of a volunteer's two years. My friends Sean, Aeden, and Xavi completed their service at the same time as me, and afterwards we all went out for a celebratory lunch.

I'm still not sure if I felt that my service was really over, even after ringing the bell and saying my goodbyes, but I guess that's how things go, and my service really has come to an end.

On Saturday, I took the bus from Querétaro to Mexico City to spend my last few days in Mexico with my friend Luis. Fitting, as he was one of the first friends I made in Mexico. We had a great few days together. Luis introduced me to a few of his good friends in the city and I got to play tourist and see some of the most iconic landmarks in Mexico City that I hadn't gotten to see on prior visits.

On Tuesday morning, Luis took me on the metro to the airport, and after saying our goodbyes, I made it to my terminal, went through security, boarded my plane, and took off.

Mexico, I hope to see you again soon. Thanks for the memories and two great years. 

Te quiero mucho,
Ilana