It all started when I studied abroad in Chile in 2005, my senior year of college. I love travel, seeing new things, meeting new people and strangely, smelling new smells. Almost 10 years later every time I smell a wood stove, I think of my time on Chiloe, Chile and clamming with my home stay mom - one of my fondest memories of my time in Chile. It was a simple day of hunting for clams on the beach and telling stories as we searched for mussels, snails and anything she thought we could eat. We came home and she threw everything in a pot and boiled it up. Everything went in and she smiled excitedly as I nervously watched the pot boiling. She laughed when I tried a periwinkle for the first time and couldn't quite get the hang of it. As we sat around her stove the weeks I lived with her, life was simple. Life was peaceful. And life was clear. I wanted more of these experiences and adventures in my life.
After graduating from Saint Michael's college in Vermont in 2006, I started my Peace Corps application. But it quickly was swept aside as the realities of being a college graduate came over me.... Student loans! Credit card debt from nights out on Church Street in Burlington! No resume besides college and working in restaurants! I got a "real" job and started at it. I lost track of time and every few years I would think about it and re-start the application, again, only to get side tracked. This happened 4 times in 8 years.
Finally, as my 30th birthday approached, I did what any young, single, 30 year old would do... I sat down and thought long and hard about life and what I had accomplished so far. Yes I had worked at a few law firms and did well. Yes I had paid off half my student loans. Yes I volunteered for several years as a big sister ( www.bigsister.org) to a wonderful little girl. Yes I had lived in a few awesome, sometimes janky apartments with some equally awesome people. And yes, I had had the requisite fun, interesting and sometimes heart wrenching relationships. And yes I had tons of new amazing friends.... But no, I had not done peace corps. What in the hell was I waiting for?
November 2013 I decided it was time. I came up with a plan and went for it. I submitted my application in January. Started ESL tutoring per peace corps request. Had my Interview (almost 2 hrs by the way) and received my nomination in March (nominated to Dominican Republic, ESL). Then came the fun part! Medical and legal pre clearance... I won't bore you with the details, but I was finally pre-cleared the end of June 2014. And then came the waiting ... 3 months and nothing from peace corps! But I tried not to stress because I was told it would take 3-4 months to get an invitation. FINALLY, Monday of this week I got an email... The program I was nominated to was full! They said they would work to find me a new one. Terror, fear and anxiety for a hot minute... What if they couldn't find anything I was qualified for? What if I was sent somewhere I didn't want to go!! I had gone for months thinking I may be going to the Dominican Republic and now back to square one, uncertainty! Then I just thought about it and convinced myself there is a reason behind everything, and I would wait...
Well I didn't wait long because 4 days later... Aka last night, I got an invitation! It was not at all what I expected and I honestly had to look on a map! Guyana... Located in South America smack on the north of the continent surrounded by Venezuela, Brazil, Surinam and the Atlantic Ocean. An actual English speaking country in South America, that also has Spanish, Portuguese, creole and several other languages spoken by the approximately 700k people ; a complete mixing bowl of awesomeness is all I can think! Departure date: April 2015, working in literacy/education with kids & teachers. I have spent the last 12 hours looking at pictures, reading my welcome packet and job description, reading blogs and watching videos on how to actually pronounce Guyana. Will I accept??? Heck ya,
sign me up! So stay tuned!
