Beginnings

I love beginnings

I quit my job, packed up my studio apartment, and said goodbyes to a lot of people who I am going to miss like crazy. Most of you know the reason that I am leaving Washington DC, my home for the past six years, and moving to Guatemala to work as a Peace Corps volunteer. However, I've encountered many questions and perhaps some confusion about where I'll be going and what I'll be doing there. ("So you're going to teach English?", "I hear you're moving to El Salvador?", "How much does the Peace Corps pay you?") So allow me to clarify..I'll be living in Guatemala for a total of 27 months (Two full years of service, plus three months of training from August-October) working as a Peace Corps volunteer (meaning I don't earn a salary, though I receive a living stipend) and my area of work is Municipal Development, which Peace Corps describes as: "working with rural governments to strengthen their ability to provide basic services and infrastructure to isolated areas. Volunteers train rural communities to identify, prioritize, program, execute, and evaluate community development projects." I will receive my site placement during my first three months of training, and my actual job responsibilities will depend on the needs of that specific community, as well as the work that has been done (or lack thereof) previously.

So now that that's clarified, you ask, "Why am I doing this?" I am fulfilling a dream but also what I feel is a responsibility. After previous experiences volunteering and working abroad, especially combined with my experience working at Partners of the Americas for two years, I feel that I understand the enormous value and importance of citizen diplomacy and promoting understanding between people of different cultures - especially when there is a tumultuous history between certain countries (like the US' CIA involvement in Guatemala, for example, and the 36 year civil war that ensued). I hope to continue working in international development after the Peace Corps gig is over, and as cool as my previous job was, I want to experience international development work through living internationally myself. I am pretty psyched that this is finally happening. Many of you reading this probably know that I've been wanting to do the Peace Corps for a really long time now (when recently cleaning out some drawers, I found some old papers from freshman year of college, including a bunch of Peace Corps pamphlets from an info session I'd attended back in the day). While I never thought I'd quit a job that I love to join the Peace Corps, I am happy that this dream is turning into a reality, and that the experiences I've had over the past few years will provide greater clarity of my role and responsibility as a Peace Corps volunteer.

I'm so appreciative of everyone who has shared in my excitement and offered lots of encouragement and words of wisdom. I look forward to sharing this experience with you all, whether through blog posts, emails, phone calls, or visits (especially visits! hehe). I will work hard to maintain perspective and to take full advantage of every opportunity that this experience will offer. I want to offer a special thanks to all the Youth Ambassadors and Youth Leaders with whom I've had the privilege of working with over the last two years. They have taught me so much about approaching new experiences with an open mind and heart.

Hasta pronto!
Cara