Patience is a Virtue

I remember writing a blog last August about hope. I wrote that the loss of hope is the greatest tragedy. Dante believed it was the ultimate sin, to despair. I wrote that is is impossible to lose all hope; man is made of hope. Having hope is as essential as needing air to breathe or love to function. We all live in hopes. I felt that I was despairing last Tuesday for I had yet to hear from the Peace Corps (and I hadn't slept in weeks). Yet, for some reason, I awoke Wednesday feeling refreshed and renewed. I just knew that everything was going to work out. I had faith and hope that all would be well. And shortly after making this revelation, I  received the long awaited phone call from one of my placement officers. Not the call, but a call. He called to ask me a few minor questions and to inform me that I should receive the call in the next couple of weeks. I no longer have any holds on my status; my file has been reviewed. Now I wait for the call that says "Congratulations!" Once I receive the call I wait for a letter to arrive that has the exact location details. Once I know which country has invited me, I have 10 days to accept or decline the offer. At this point, I could be placed in the middle of Antarctica and still go. (No, that won't happen.) Once you've reached this point in your application process, you know you're going. I find it insane to believe anyone would say no at this point.After all, I've had over a year to make my decision. I don't care where in Africa I go, I'm just so excited to have the opportunity. So yes, I must remain patient. But at least my hope has been restored. I know that it is only a matter of time (less than a month) until I hear the news I've waited nearly 15 months for. Now I anxiously wait to hear the sweet sound of my ringtone with the 202 area code displayed so brightly on my cell screen. With luck and prayers, my patience will finally be rewarded.

 More to follow...

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...