Honestly, I Don't Know What I'm Doing Either

It's true. I'm uprooting my life and moving across the world with less information than is sometimes comfortable. But here is what I DO know...

This last month has been SO full. Full of sweet memories with family and friends. Full of tearful and painful goodbyes. Full of joy-filled moments. Full of wonder and curiosity about this next season of life. I’ve been focusing on my relationships, and I am oh so thankful for the time I have gotten with all of my people and how well they have celebrated with me about this coming adventure. The month started with a vacation with my parents, sisters, brother-in-law, and nephew in Kauai (see the photo to the left). Not too shabby of a place to be, I must say! I loved getting to swim in the ocean every day and explore waterfalls and new places, but more than that I enjoyed soaking up much-needed quality time with my family. Since then I got to spend some time at my older sister’s house and then headed back up to Boulder to give hugs and goodbyes to friends. Which has been so hard. A friend and I also decided that for some reason it was a great idea to run a marathon this past weekend, so that was a check off the bucket list too (it was honestly pretty fun but it’s also been 2 days and I still can’t walk down the stairs correctly).

In the midst of challenging goodbyes, I am getting excited for something new. The thought of meeting everyone I will be working with and living in a new country is the best combination of feeling excited and scared. But I think all the best things in life should be a little scary, right?

I’ll be with my family this next week, packing and finishing moving logistics as well as spending time with them. Then I fly into Philly next Sunday for staging (where my cohort and I meet up and have a day of training before heading to Lesotho together), then from Philly to Johannesburg, South Africa, then will drive from Johannesburg to Lesotho where I will be in a few different places the first few weeks before moving in with a host family for PST (Pre-Service Training) where I will be until the end of December. Upon completing training, which includes language, culture, safety, and job training, I’ll move to my site placement where I will be living for the next two years. I don’t know my site placement and what school I will be teaching at until after some interviews halfway through PST.

Once I get to my site, I will be teaching English at an elementary school (most likely 4th-5th grade). In addition to teaching, I’ll work with community members and other Peace Corps Volunteers to create projects and help out with what the community wants and needs. I’ll be living on a host family’s property but will have my own rondavel (Basically a more permanent version of a yurt. Look it up. They are sick.) I’ve learned everyone has thrown personal boundaries out the window with this and I have been asked the MOST personal questions about lifestyle and my living situation these next few years! No, I most likely won’t have running water or electricity. Yes, I will be showering in a bucket. No, it’s not just the desert - there are mountains where I am going! Yes, I will be able to text and stay in contact with everyone, I just might have to walk up a hill for cell service. No, I am not going to shave my head (I’m convinced I would be a terrible-looking bald person). Yes, I will be walking everywhere - win a step competition with me, I dare you. Yes, I am vaccinated now for every disease ever and I swear I am immune to everything. If you have other questions feel free to ask, I really don’t mind them and love getting to share about this experience.

And that is the broad overview of what these next few years will look like. My last week in the States will be extremely bittersweet as I get everything ready to leave - packing, cleaning, selling my car, getting my life more organized than it ever has been, and final goodbyes. I’ll do another post in the next few days on what I’m packing and how that goes! As you may have guessed, these posts might be a little sporadic due to the nature of the Peace Corps lifestyle. Bear with me! I’m excited to continue to share this experience with everyone, it has been sweet to go into this knowing my community and all my people are excited and supportive and eager to know more and learn with me!