Elliott

Elliott, sweet Elliott, you hard hearted harbinger of haggis.

This blog entry is dedicated to a fellow trainee and volunteer, Elliott. The above is a reference to the film “So I Married an Axe Murderer,” which is my favorite film of all time. If you haven’t seen this cult classic, then please turn off your computer right away and head to Blockbuster (isn’t that the only video store still open) and rent it immediately. In fact, you should probably just purchase the film for your personal collection because it is so good.

Back to Elliott… Today I received an email from a fellow, recently sworn in, volunteer. In his email, Elliott told our group that he had decided to ET (early terminate). There are many jokes about who will be the first volunteer in a given group to leave early, but no one really wants to see anyone go home. Elliott just happened to be pretty high on my list of “people who might ET.” In fact, Elliott was probably pretty high on everyone’s list to ET. In general conversation about this subject, his name usually came up first or second. It’s sad, but it’s true. And mostly, it’s just unfortunate.

Let me tell you a little bit about Elliott. Elliott is an amazingly bright person. He graduated from MIT before joining the Peace Corps. He was brought to Cape Verde as an IT (information technology) guy. He was placed in Assomada, a city near here (I’ve written about it in previous posts). Elliott has one of the darkest senses of humor ever! He is all about “keepin’ it real” and “tellin’ it like it is.” Ellie (as we lovingly call him) was always himself, which got him into some trouble with the Peace Corps staff. Elliott was a constant source of entertainment as he always had a rap lyric ready to throw out at the most inappropriate situation. Elliott made you laugh because he was honest when no one else could or would be. Elliott is the kind of guy who you would expect to have a knife in his pocket at any given time (and he does). Elliott acted tough, but really he’s a good guy. I’ll miss Elliott, and I’ll miss listening to rap music with him. I’ll miss his smile and his wicked/deranged sense of humor. Most importantly, I’ll miss the way his hair grew at different lengths all over his head. Elliott had a rough go of it during training, and now he most regrets that he swore in when he knew his heart wasn’t in it. The best thing about Ellie is that he sent us all an email and went out with dignity. He didn’t just leave without a word. He left with more words than we needed, but they will help us understand why he left when he did and where he’s headed next.

Elliott will surely be missed.