GET ANY NUMBER OF PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS (pcv’s) TOGETHER and the topic will quickly move to where they all went to dinner last, or where they were planning on eating next. I have come to the conclusion that if you need to find out where, or where not, to eat in a given country talk to a PCV’er. When these folks meet, they eat. It almost became quite humorous to me to listen to their conversations, it seemed that all they did was go out to eat together…they lived for meal time.
As I gave this some thought, and as I enjoyed some meal times with them (where they would talk about previous and upcoming meal times) I realized why these meals gained such a great priority in their lives.
The reality is that each of these PCV’s spend the majority of their time away from light-skinned, English speaking, western-mindset people, and when they have the opportunity to come together it is a time for celebration, for catching up, for enjoying a sense of family which finds its best expression in the family dinner table, even if that table was outside at Paradisio. My new PC friends reminded me that true community comes from sharing that which is in common…theirs was a true communion meal.
At these gatherings is shared a common story lived out through a variety of daily experience. It is a meal that allows them to look back and to look forward (often to the next meal). During these meals their hearts and stories are intertwined and new strength and hope is renewed as they prepare to return to their often solitary lives of service. Thus, these meals were of incredible importance to their ongoing lives. They were not something that could be easily done without.
Not unlike the Communion Meal we celebrate today!