On Hold

September 21, 2012 3 Comments

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to a police officer standing over you asking your name, the year you were born and what city you lived in … and not knowing the answer.

I’d just had a seizure…

My first real memory of the night aside from the glimpses of the paramedics and police officer was in the Emergency Room where they hooked me up to a machine that monitored my heart, them taking blood and giving me an IV for my headache, and doing a CT scan of my brain. The results of those tests all came back normal and I had an appointment today to have an EEG, which also came back normal.

Until the Peace Corps medical office approves me for service, my departure is indefinite.

I may or may not be leaving for Paraguay. They said it was still possible to start training late but I’m not getting my hopes up. I’ve been willing to go wherever they need me, and I’m still willing to go wherever they need me. I’ve just had my sights set on Paraguay for so long now that anywhere else will take a while to get used to.

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Filed under Health, Paraguay, Peace Corps

Reality Hits

August 31, 2012 Leave a comment

Until now, leaving for Paraguay has felt distant…the reality of the situation hadn’t yet set in.

I could talk about how I was leaving, what I might be doing while I serve, and the challenges I’ll face at home and in Paraguay. But it was all in the abstract…until a couple days ago when I received my staging letter.

At that moment, reality hit me like a ton of bricks.

I’m leaving.

For two years…

“Can I do this?

“Am I smart enough?”

“What if…”

I’ll be honest … I’m slightly terrified. Doubt and fear have made my mind their home. I just have to keep reminding myself that if my dreams don’t scare me, I’m not dreaming big enough. I know in my heart that I’ll be just fine. There will no doubt be struggles along the way. I’ll miss home. I’ll feel lonely at night when I lay my head down to sleep. I’ll doubt my impact.

Despite all this, I’m ready for the challenge.

I begin my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer on Tuesday, September 25th at 10 am. I fly into Miami for orientation, and leave for Paraguay the next day.

My life will never be the same.

Filed under Paraguay, Peace Corps

Snow

August 11, 2012 Leave a comment

The summer temperatures are beginning to cool and the other day I realized how much I’m going to miss winter and snow. Last ”winter” (in quotes because we had such a mild winter last year I’m not sure I can really consider it winter by my standards) I discovered my love for snowboarding (thank you snow machines) … and unless I have the opportunity to do some boarding in the mountains of Chile or Argentina (which would be incredible), I won’t be seeing snow for at least another year and a half when I (I plan to) come home for Christmas. (Lots o’ parentheses.)

This is my first realization of all the little things I’ll be giving up to follow my dream of joining the Peace Corps. It’s a bit strange that it’s snow that’s the first thing I expect to miss. Maybe I can convince Erin to bring along my snowboard when she comes to visit … I hope I can run away to the mountains for a little while.

(I won’t miss having to shovel my car out of snow drifts … the bright side.)

Filed under Life, Paraguay, Peace Corps

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