Waiting on the World

Actually, I'm waiting on my placement officer. I applied for the Peace Corps mid-January 2007. I was nominated June 2007 and it took six months before I was medically qualified for service. Now, 49 days after learning that I was approved, I'm still waiting for my placement officer to call with the wonderful and uplifting news that he has found me a country that has invited me to stay for the next 27 months. I rememeber thinking 27 months was such a long time last summer. I still had my doupts about leaving home. But now that I've had this time to think, I cannot express my excitement.

Joining the Peace Corps was not a light decision. It has been something I have thought about doing nearly five years now. I recently graduated from Washington State University with my BA in English and the inevitable question a year before graduation sprung..."now what?" I have always been in love with travel. I always knew I would never stay in one place for too long. Two years in Pullman, WA showed me that I can be apart from my loved ones. I know that 3-5 days instead of 7 hours will seperate us this time, but I'm confident in my dreams to know that I will not look back and ever regret my decision.

Each day that goes by and I still have not heard from my placement officer, I despair a little more. My life is in limbo right now, and I greatly wish to move on and strike out on my own. I will miss my family and friends, but I so will cherish my next adventure. If life is a journey, then I want to make the most out of the time I have. People often ask me "why?" when I explain about the Peace Corps. I answer that Robert Frost said it all with his poem Road Less Traveled. "Two roads diverged in a wood/ And I took the one less traveled by/ And that has made all the difference."

More to follow...