Hello, soon-to-be faithful readers!
After seemingly endless months of waiting, many painful shots and countless forms completed, I finally received my Peace Corps placement a few weeks ago. Peru, here I come!
I leave in June to begin my two years of service as a small business volunteer. It's taken such a long time to get to this point, to make everything official and confirmed, that it still doesn't seem real. This journey remains a huge unknown, an exciting adventure looming in the near(!) future. One that I am eagerly anticipating and anxiously awaiting. These next couple months are sure to fly by as I wrap up my time in DC, load up the U-Haul and begin my trek southward with a few-week layover in Charleston. I'm already sad to think about goodbyes I'll have to start saying so soon, and I listen wistfully as friends plan summer getaways and parties, knowing I will be far from those familiar traditions. When I think about my summer, butterflies swarm my stomach, and a slide-show of images (snow-capped peaks, crashing waves, a whirl of Spanish, me in all my new-found hippie glory, guinea pigs) plays across the back of my mind. I don't know where these images come from as I really have NO idea what my actual life will look like. I think they're a romanticized version of all I've seen and read of both Peruvian and Peace Corps life. All I know is that instead of long weekends at a Carolina beach, I'll be celebrating summer (or winter, as the case may be) Peruvian style, with new friends in new places. And I can't wait! Excitement overwhelms any and all other emotions -- even those nagging 'what ifs' that rouse me from sleep in the middle of the night. My grand adventure awaits and I can only begin to imagine the amazing people, places and experiences that are just around the corner.
Viva el Peru!
*Disclaimer: don't judge this first installment too harshly. My fluorescent-lit office feels a long way from an Andean village and Outlook reminders distract me from my Peruvian daydreams...soon enough, soon enough.
