The verdict is in; Drum Roll Please........

*~ECUADOR~*

I was officially invited to serve as a PCV in Ecuador. I'll be leaving February 16th to go to staging, from there we will be shipped out to Ecuador and receive two months of training in Quito- the capital. My job description is sustainable agriculture, and will be working with agribusiness and farm management. :)

After not having any definitive information for the last few years about peace corps it feels just like Christmas getting so much information all at once!

So Wednesday morning at 5 am I received a toolkit status update which said "Congratulations, you have been invited to become a peace corps volunteer." SOooo of course that was the one thing on my mind that day. I calculated the time it would take the mail to come from the PC D.C. office, apparently only one day, and from then on decided it was necessary to leave work and stalk the mail man. Which I did, and sadly....only some magazines. So Thursday came and I figured there was a very high probability that the invitation would be mailed today. So I planned on leaving and stopping home for a run at 3 (mail time). Of course I got caught up doing things and never ended up leaving so I had Canny check the mail. Might I add that this was all after consulting the online magic 8 ball: Question 1. Will I receive invitation today- Absolutely 2. Will I get an invitation to Ecuador- Yes 3. Will I get an invitation to El Salvador- No Way. These are the things one does when anxiously waiting I presume. So Yes the invitation did come today in the mail. So I ran home and drove all the way back to the office so that I could open it there with everyone. Everyone gathered in the hall- I prayed that I would not have some ridiculous unexpected reaction when opening the invitation, Haewon was conferenced in, and it was finally time......drummmm roollll. No way! - insert big smile here- I'm going to Ecuador! to do sustainable agriculture!!!

Preface complete, and now the beginning of my Peace Corps saga begins.

At the End of the Line

My how the last two years have flown by! I started my Peace Corps applications and preparation about two years ago and now I'm in the home stretch waiting for a placement. I was nominated on April 22, 2008 to leave for south/central America doing the agriculture program in February 2009..but as life has had it there were a few medical complications along the way so I missed my original departure. I was renominated for the same program but leaving February of this year...and it is quickly approaching!

I've been dentally, medically and legally qualified since about spring time and now my placement review is also complete! Next step...invite. I've been anxiously stalking all the future peace corps facebook websites and the wikis and have not yet found anyone with an invite to Latin America for February in my program. This is a slight relief since that would suggest they probably have not made those placements yet, but hopefully they will be made soon. There are a few others in the same boat and they are also just having their placement reviews completed, which is exciting.

So I thought it would be a good idea to get a blog going to document my experience (since other's blogs have been so helpful and enlightening for me throughout this process).

I'm so excited to find out how I'll be spending the next few years of my life! It's been mentally draining for me to not have a definitive five year plan for the last few years and am ready to make my next move. I must say this year and a half since graduation has been amazing! I have learned so much, made great friends and had a lot spare time to hang out with friends and family and do the things I love. I had the great opportunity to work for JGCRI and have learned so much from my wonderful colleagues. I've had the chance to make new friends and deepen my relationships with former friends. I not only love them but many have been great role models for me and are of the greatest and most intelligent people I know. I also had the chance to complete my first half marathon last moth at the Baltimore running festival, which was so much fun. Thank goodness I have running as an outlet for my nervousness and stress. I think it's really helped me relieve some stress from waiting and being unsure of my future. I've also been able to expand my garden this year and grow more variety than I've had in the past. Every season I learn something new, and though I know my little backyard garden won't compare to anything I will be seeing during service, I hope the experience in some way prepared me for what lies ahead.

Well this is crunch time and I've been trying to make sure to use the little time I have these next few months in ways that are in alignment with my future goals. That means, studying Spanish...yes I am going to have to go full force on this task since most other nominees for the Latin American region will probably be more advanced than I. Other than that I am reading some past PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer) side projects so I will have some ideas when I go (though I know I would absolutely love to do something regarding renewable energy technologies if I could figure out somehow to incorporate that). I'm also reading a book called, "Living Poor" by Mortiz Thompsen, about a PCV's experiences, trials and tribulations during service. I'm also trying to figure out how to get rid of as much of the stuff that has accumulated in my house over the last 5 years as possible...and there's a lot. Of course hanging out with friends and family is a top priority as well!

Well hopefully I should have some Real, Actual, Informative news soon :) Everyone always asks me what the news with the peace corps is and frankly I never have too information to share. As of now, I am still patiently waiting...