thinking...

la calle Schell, Lima, Peru, South America

Thinking…

So it’s been a rough few days, even since we’ve settled here outside of Lima.  We’re doing Close-of-Service medical tests, learning about our options (still don’t have a list of where we could go) and finding out that we have to make very fast decisions about certain things.  But here is a list of what I’m thinking.

 

If I transfer directly to another country in Latin America (my favorite option)…

• I likely won’t be coming to the United States before I transfer (so any shopping has to be done in Lima or the next country)
• I get to keep learning Spanish.  And impressing you all with that.
• There’s a good chance there will be tropical fruit involved.
• I get to know and love a whole new Latin American culture!  I’m a lucky girl, getting to integrate into not one, but 2 cultures.
• This option isn’t guaranteed because the host country has to accept me once I decide I want to go, but I’m pursuing it as my number one.
• Regardless of what happens in the new country (if I had to early terminate or medically separate…hopefully neither), I’ll always have Returned Peace Corps Bolivia status…so I don’t lose that on resumes, etc.

 

If I choose the “re-enroll” option:

• I close out my service now, get the Returned status, and actually return to the US.
• Have some sort of top-of-the-application-pile status for doing a full 27 months in another country.
• Won’t leave the US for a while…new programs aren’t really leaving again till January/February
• I’ll be pretty bored at home after the novelty wears off and I can’t get a job (like last year all over again)
• I could maybe look into doing a Master’s International (which combines grad school and then 2 years of Peace Corps to earn a master’s degree)

 

If I just decide to COS and move on:

• I may do Willing Workers On Organic Farms (WWOOF) in central America
• I may choose grade school
• I may move to California and join a hippie commune…or just be friends with hippies
• I may move to California and get a paying job working in anything related to nutrition, food, agriculture, or farmers’ rights.  As long as I can speak Spanish.
• I’ll be proud of myself, but I don’t think I’m ready to be done with Peace Corps yet, despite the rough times.

 

Thanks for your support so far, I think the hardest blow is that I won’t be able to see my lovely supporters soon if I transfer, and that it’s going to be very hectic to tie up the loose ends in my site over the phone.