Chopping and Sleeping

I've spent the last few days visiting my friend Gertrude in her village about 1 and 1/2 hours from my village. We really have not done much, but we've spent a lot of time discussing life as a PCV, our role as PCVs, how easy it would be to just 'throw in the towel' and go home, and relationships (with significant others) and how being a PCV complicates them. So, I've named this entry after something Gertrude's counterpart told her. Toward the beginning when we got to our villages and realized that we have A LOT of free time, Gertrude asked her counterpart how she should fill her time. He told her to just, 'chop and sleep.' ('Chop' or 'chopping' here is a synonym for eating). So, the last few days since I've been visiting and because Gertrude's projects are at a standstill we've basically been sleeping and eating a lot -- probably too much. Lately we've been talking about how easy it would be to just go home. Gertrude has been having a hard time in her village. She's heard through the grapevine some negative things people in her village have said about her (one said that she is a spy from the US and part of Al Qaida. What? Really?) which makes her feel unappreciated and frustrated because people don't understand why she's here. Furthermore, secondary projects, not to mention her primary project, haven't really worked out. We're a year and two months into our service. When is 'enough, enough?' When do you tell yourself that you've tried and, for various interrelated reasons, things just didn't work out? Why do some PCV's stay when they just feel like things aren't right? Stubborness, a feeling of failure if you go home or selfish reasons like you know how much you are personally gaining, how good two years 'looks'. It is good to have someone to 'lean on' who is in a similar situation to you. I hope she works things out and is able to get over this rough spot. But if she decides to go home I hope she comes to peace with her decision.