Life after Peace Corps

It's been two weeks since I arrived at hone after spending two years in Rwanda as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  No, I haven't been down in a grocery store aisle (yet) or felt guilty for coming back home.  I've been spending time with my family and friends who I haven't been able to in so long. I went to the beach and spent hours talking, laughing, eating and sleeping. I got to be a part of a beautiful wedding and catch up with people who made it really hard to go to all the places my wanderlusting heart keeps taking me.
These last two weeks I've really just been enjoying everything that I missed the most, yes that means crushing it at the gym too.  Now as I start to dive into the unavoidable adulting I have to do I've seen how much my service opened my eyes to the possibilities that surround us, how there isnt just one path to take to be successful in this world. It's scarier and it's harder to take the road less traveled but from my experience it's so rewarding.  So rather than helping me find the thing I wanted to do "when I grew up", serving in Rwanda opened my eyes to an overwhelmingly vast sea of possibilities no one told me were there. This is making submitting job applications a bit difficult and daunting since I'm applying to basically everything where I meet the minimum recquirements but I know I am ready for whatever the next detour may be.
I also probably should mention that I'm moving out to Washington DC here in a couple of weeks.  There's someone waiting for me over there. ;) Yep its pretty scary moving across the country with no real lead on what's next, but that's just in the job realm.  There's so much more than that, call me crazy or unrealistic I can take it because sometimes you need to be to face big challenges head on.  I know that I want my life to be more than just finding a job that will get me from Monday to Friday. I want to be inspired, caught off guard, and filled with life everyday, well most days because lets be honest life isn't that kind to anyone. My community in Rwanda made me realize that the meaning of success for me is doing something that benefits others, being surrounded by people who love and care about me, and taking risks throughout my life. Right now I have another adventure about to start and I'm scared and excited. If you would've told me that this is where my life would go, I wouldnt have believed it.
So here I am applying to jobs, getting ready for another big move, and taking each day one cup of coffee at a time.  This probably isn't the ending you expected but that's because its not the end, just another beginning.  My Peace Corps service will probably affect every aspect of my life but exactly how or when is hard to tell. I'm so thankful for all the people in Rwanda who welcomed me into their country, their communities and their families. And to all my family and friends here who supported me and followed me through this journey. I couldn't have done it without all the amazing people in my life.  Here's to the road less traveled and wherever it decides to take me.
<3

Wedding Fun and More!

If someone were to tell me that the end of my Peace Corps service would be the hardest, I wouldn't have believed them.  In May I believe I described these last 3 months as the last 3 miles of a marathon.  Well, these last three weeks have been like the last sprint, you can see the finish line, the majority of the work is done, there's no where to go but forward.  And, despite your legs, your lungs, your feet wanting you to stop and take a rest, you keep pushing forward.  Not going to lie it's been a rough couple of weeks as I see the finish line and prepare to leave.  But what I think the difficulty truly stems from is that I really hate to say goodbye and I really hate the gut wrenching feeling that comes when you look into someone's eyes who has touched your life in an unforgettable way and realize that you don't know when the next time you'll see them again.
You're probably thinking that this is a really negative post and why am I writing this?  I feel like I just needed to share what it's really like because the difficulties have also been alongside some amazing times as I get closer to the end and that's what I'm going to share now, but I wanted you to all be inside my head a little bit more than I think I usually allow in order to see how deeply and extraordinarily my experience and the people in Rwanda have influenced me and wherever my life goes next.

So, let me tell you a story!
Last weekend I attended the wedding of the younger sister of my counterpart Etienne.  It was located in the rural part of the Southern Province where him and his sisters were born.  I woke up at 4 am to get ready and left my house, still in the dark, at 5 in order to reach Kigali by 7.  Once there we drove another 3 or so hours to where the wedding was located.  After these hours of traveling we finally reached the wedding venue set up with tents over the chairs for the families to sit and a proper stage for the bride and groom to sit in front of everyone.  Upon arrival I get shuttled into the room where other people are changing and getting ready for ceremonies.  I get handed an outfit and am told that I am a part of the ceremonies today!  Using the skills I've developed throughout my years of sport tournaments I managed

The Bride in the middle!

to modestly change there in the middle of the room with all the other girls, it was an instant bonding moment especially as they helped me tie the skirt and properly fasten everything.  I eventually met up with Etienne's other sister Jackie who made me a part of the group despite me not knowing anyone.  We took so many pictures of ourselves and watched as the bride got ready.
The first ceremony was the dowry ceremony.  I got to help her present the gifts to the family of the groom and sit with the wedding party at the front.  It was fun being apart of everything backstage which also meant I didn't have to sit through too many kinyarwanda speeches or drink mass amounts of fanta!
 After the short appearance at the dowry ceremony we took the bride back to the preparation room and helped her change into her white wedding dress for the church ceremony.  They are Catholic so it simply included mass and vows like you would imagine a classic Catholic wedding ceremony in the states.  Then we went back outside for the reception where we danced and gave gifts to the newly weds.
Finally before heading back to Kigali, after the happy couple was sent to their new home, Etienne toasted his family with a final beer/fanta.
It was probably one of my favorite Rwandan celebrations I've attended.  Being apart of his sister's day and feeling as a part of their family was incredible.  Jackie is only 2 years older than me and she's amazing.  I only met her one other time before but she just let me be her shadow for the day, telling me what to do where to go, and taking so many pictures together.
The next day I had planned to go home after the long day of travel and eventfulness however of course there was an after after party at Etienne's house for all of his neighbors in Kigali, and to my surprise some people from Muyongwe!  There were two community health workers and one of our night guards (who is also one of our running buddies) who made the trek from Muyongwe to celebrate with Etienne.  This was also the first time one of the community health workers had ever been to Kigali and he was amazed at how close it actually is to Muyongwe.
So we hung out all day, had a few beers and then had a ceremony where Etienne talked about the wedding and thanked everyone for coming.  We then ate probably the most amazing Rwandan food I've ever had in my 2 years.  They cooked it with spices and flavors I din't even know they cooked with here and it was incredible!!

One of the Muyongwe Community Health Worker
giving a speech at the party.

So even though it was later than I had planned I had to get back to site, so I ended up traveling with my fellow Muyongwe neighbors.  That was an adventure and a journey I'll never forget.  The small twedge that we needed to take initially wasn't available when we got to the bus station which caused an initial amount of anxiety but eventually we found one and headed back.  As usual, they packed us all in and I was sitting next to the night guard who is probably close to twice my height and how he fit his legs into that small space, I'll never know!  As we were going and it started to get dark he assured me not to worry because we were all traveling together and I felt this sense of togetherness that was so awesome and made a sort of unfavorable traveling situation great.  We also ended up walking back together from where the twedge dropped us off and it was a great evening stroll and saved me some money.
This weekend was one that was full of events and time outside of work and outside of my village that I got to spend some time with some amazing people.  It was exactly what I needed going into the final 3 weeks.
To wrap up one more awesome thing that came out of this week was that I found out a new volunteer will be replacing me at my health center!!! I'm so excited for her to come visit next week so I can show her how amazing Muyongwe is and share the work and the life I've created there over the past 2 years.  I hope I've given you a decent view of what life has been like lately, a little less work and a little more play but still adding to the incredible experience I'me having and yes that includes the struggles too! <3 nbsp="" p="">

Hindsight is 20/20: A reflection over the past 2 years

Hi everyone!  I hope your weekends were as amazing as mine!  I just had a nice relaxing girls weekend at Lake Kivu with some girls from my cohort Health - 7 and it was the perfect way to start off these last too months here in Rwanda.  I can't even believe I'm saying I'm only going to be here for two more months!  It feels like just yesterday we were all headed to meet our host families and start Pre-Service training  Now our potential replacement volunteers are the ones wide-eyed and starting this incredible adventure while most of us are preparing not only ourselves but also our friends, coworkers and communities for what will happen once we leave.

It might be cliche to do a reflection over the entire adventure that has been my Peace Corps Rwanda experience, but it's warranted.  At this point everything that I do on a daily basis feels normal and generally not super strange anymore.  However, I've realized when you look at everything from the outside, deciding to leave home for two whole years, live in a remote village where you have to learn a completely different language, live a whole new lifestyle, and try to do meaningful work that will last even after you leave, crazy is the word that first comes to mind.  It's really difficult for people to truly understand why I would choose this path and it's in looking back now, two years later, and seeing how all the small daily things, all the people I've encountered, even for one conversation, and all the knowledge exchanges that have occurred that even I can start to truly comprehend it!  As they say, "hindsight is 20/20"so I want all of you to join me on this reflection and together we can see how these past two years have not only broadened my horizons physically by moving 7000 miles from home but how my values, skills, and view of humanity has broadened.

Starting out, I was just a little baby college graduate with a biology degree and no idea what I was planning on doing with that.  All I knew was that I wanted to do something worthwhile and life changing.  Now getting ready to finish up here and head back for whatever the future may hold, I look back at all the projects I completed, all the people I've met and come to love, and all the lessons I've learned everyday and I can't believe they all fit into only 2 years!  I feel so lucky!


Working at my health center, I've been a very lucky volunteer to have such amazing support on all of my projects.  I've started 15 village hygiene clubs and started to slowly but surely see an improvement in general home hygiene. ✓   I brought a free circumcision service to my community and helped get over 500 men circumcised and more educated around reproductive health and HIV prevention.  ✓  I helped implement  the nutrition program at my health center that gives milk and other supplemental food for malnourished children and slowly over time I've watched the mothers start coming together as a group of there own that work together to bring the lessons they learn from us back to their families and greater community to further the fight against malnutrition.  ✓  I've built permagardens in most villages and worked with the amazing community health workers to utilize them properly and start encouraging them to be built at home.  Slowly we've visited more and more homes that have built either the same type of garden I taught about or different variations, but seeing the utilization of different vegetables at home, though still a work in progress as all behavior changes, is starting to increase. ✓  I had the opportunity to use soccer to teach secondary school kids about HIV and healthy living which sparked a huge interest and realization that I can use what I know and love the most, sports and exercise, to educate about another passion of mine, health. ✓  I also got to be a part of a health center that constantly sets goals to reach as many of their community members with services like HIV and TB testing, eye care, birth control, and general health education.  Even though sometimes projects moved slower than I wanted or a little differently than I had originally planned, I feel as if I accomplished more than I expected I could have and it was all due to my amazing health center, specifically my counterpart Etienne.  I truly wouldn't have had the experience I did if it wasn't for his unrelenting hard work and contagious smile. 

With that, it truly was the people of Muyongwe who made the challenges of everyday life go away.  Like I mentioned, my counterpart Etienne made work something to look forward to even on the toughest says.  I had mamas throughout my village who knew me and made me fell like I was a part of the community.  Being called by name rather than "muzungu" goes a long way.  I had my market mama who always helped me find what I wanted and for the best price.  I had my neighborhood mama who talked at full speed from the beginning, and even though even up to now I can only catch half of what she's saying because it's so fast, she took me to church on holidays and always sent her twin boys to hug me when I walked past their house.  And there's Emiliene, who has been the biggest reason I've fallen in love with my home here.  From the beginning she helped me find everything I needed in order to make my house comfortable, she open her home to me on a regular basis to come and visit without feeling out of place or like I'm imposing.  She's welcomed me into her family like a sister where I got to watch her son grow into a happy little toddler running around, I got to be a part of multiple family ceremonies, and I spent many holidays cooking and eating with them making me feel like I was a part of something rather than an outsider.  There is so much more I could say to be honest but in general, the people here in Muyongwe have shown me nothing but love, warmth, and smiles and for that I will be eternally grateful.  I've learned what true selflessness means whether it be from the sacrifices mothers make for their children or how they come together to help the person in their community who needs their help the most at the time no matter what.  The community here became as close to my own family as possible and this will forever be my second home,

Finally, the amount of life lessons and ways my experience will continue to influence my future are infinite.  First and foremost I've learned how to have and the importance of patience in a whole new way.  This doesn't mean I've mastered it by any means, but I have learned that sometimes you just have to be able to relinquish control of your life and step back for a second in order to catch your breath before continuing head first into the craziness.  I mentioned this a little in my last post but another thing I've learned is I'm so young!  Back in America there's always some invisible force pushing us forward into some career, down some path, or into some new stage of life that for some reason has been decided by society that that is where we need to be ASAP.  I felt that invisible force a lot before going to college in college, and even at times during my service.  Recently I've realized that I'm the force to be reckoned with and I want to so something that I will not only succeed in but something I am passionate about.  I think that some people get really lucky and do find their true passions early on, or in something that makes them a ton of money.  Well, I"m still figuring out what I want to dedicate the rest of my life to, well actually I don't want to limit myself to just one thing so, I won't be giving into any such force when I get back, I'll be blazing my own path.
I think that the biggest takeaway (watch next month I'll have a different "biggest takeaway") but the biggest takeaway on my mind right now is we're not alone in this world.  We are surrounded by people all the time.  There are people who touch your life that you don't even know abut, and there are those who have been and will always be in your life but it doesn't really matter.  We all need to be aware of this fact because not only are there people affecting our lives every day, but we affect he lives of so many people as well.  I don't think we think about that enough.  I just want to leave that one as food for thought for now because it's something I'm really thinking about as I prepare to hop back to the other side of the world here pretty soon.

So, two more months to go!  It's not over yet so keep following my pictures and I'll some more fun posts coming up! <3

Things I Never Thought I Would Say

Two years ago I graduated college and was preparing to head out on my Peace Corps Rwanda adventure.  Now two years later I look back and realize how many things I think or say now I would've never thought or said before embarking on this crazy adventure of mine.  Here are some of them:

"The intestine brochettes are actually pretty good."
One of the traditional foods served at bars and restaurants in Rwanda are Brochettes.  They are skewers of grilled goat meat generally.  The catch is, there are generally two types.  One made of regular meat and one made with intestines.  You might find some made with liver but they sometimes classify those under the regular meat ones.  Anyway whenever I order for myself I always get the meat brochettes for obvious reasons.  However, in the village when I've on, only a few occasions, gone out with co workers or guests of the Health Center they just put in a big order and a lot of the time that means intestine brochettes.  At home, I was always the picky eater.  Nothing on my burgers, dry salads, no weird food etc.  Here, I already stand out enough I just don't want to be the "picky white girl" so I just eat what's put in front of me.  To my surprise the intestine brochettes are quite delicious.  I still wouldn't order them on my own, but I don't have to mentally prepare myself for what's to come.

"It's 9pm?  It's way past my bedtime."
It gets dark between 6:30 and 7 pm every night.  And I mean pitch black.  I'm pretty much always in my little compound and finished cooking/eating by then because, especially during the week there isn't anything to do in the evenings besides be at home cook and head to bed.  Most Rwandans are at home cooking with their own families so it's not like I'm being antisocial.  By the time 7 or 8 rolls around I'm done eating and cleaning up, I live alone so there's not a ton of obligatory socializing to be had, and I've been up since 5:30 that morning so I'm tired and falling asleep in bed by 8.  No shame what-so-ever.  I'll probably never get to do this any other time in my life so I'm enjoying every second of it.

"I don't even remember the last time I ate meat."
Before coming to Rwanda meat was a staple in my diet.  Especially chicken.  That just isn't possible here on my budget and in my village you can only buy meat once a week.  Plus once you buy it you basically have to cook and eat it then and there.  It's freshly butchered that day, (I've seen it) so it is fresh but with our refrigeration there is no good way to store it for a long amount of time.  So, on a regular basis I live off of a vegetarian diet eating a ton of beans to try and get some protein in.

"It's still too cold to shower." (after a week or so)
Yep, this isn't me just trying to keep your interest.  I've gone obscene amounts of time without full on showering.  Don't cast judgement until your only option for a shower is a bucket bath and it's always so cold outside.  When I do shower I usually boil a kettle of water and then add cold water until its hot but bearable.  Using a plastic cup I scoop the water from the bucket and dump it on my head.  Oh, and all of this is taking place in my little "shower closet" outside in my backyard.  So yes, when it's cold outside, and I smell fine and there's no visible dirt on me why put myself through that?

"It has literally been raining for a week." "It's freezing!" (65 degrees) "It's soo hot!" (75 degrees"

I live in the northern region of the country.  It's surrounded by mountains and it's absolutely beautiful.  However when it's rainy season half the year there truly are weeks on end that it rains every single day and sometimes it doesn't stop for an entire day.  The power is generally more in and out during these times, it's harder to get places because the dirt roads turn to mud and since pretty much everyone walks everywhere it takes them longer to get places or even unable to get places causing work during rainy season to slow.  On the positive side once rainy season ends the country is even more green and luscious than before and makes you feel like your in a postcard.  

Secondly, the temperature is pretty temperate year round and after living in it for so long I've become one of those people who can't handle drastic temperature changes anymore.  I openly apologize for making fun of Californians for this when I was in SF.  I understand now.  The temperature changes less than 10 degrees and I go from wearing a T-shirt and sweating to wearing a sweatshirt under my rain jacket and freezing.  Coming back to actual winter is going to be a little rough the first year.

"I can't wait to do laundry back in the states!"
No one truly can say they like doing laundry right?  Well back in college when I was doing my own laundry I loathed it.  I basically would wait until I had no more clean clothes to finally force myself down to use the machines.  Here, I have to wash my hand.  It's way worse.  I still put it off which I always regret when I have an entire weekend filled of scrubbing piles of clothes and I can't feel my fingers.  But the one thing I always think about is how much I will appreciate a washing machine when I get home.  It's probably at the top of that list I have going in my head of things I will nver look at in the same way again once I'm home.

"I LOVE Avocados!"
I was an avocado virgin when I arrived in Rwanda.  (alert the firing squad now)  The texture always put me off.  I never ate guac, or at them in any form.  But during training I', not exactly sure what happened that caused me to try it but I did and my life was changed forever.  Now I eat them all the time and can't imagine my life without them.  Luckily for me I can buy them here for around 10-15 cents a piece depending on the season.  It really does make me sad thinking about the cost of them in America.

"I just spent less than $3 on my food for the week!"

With Avocados being so cheap would you believe me when I said those are some of the more expensive foods at the market?  In general I can make between $2-$3 feed me for the week easily by shopping at my local market.  It has taken some time for me to get more creative with my cooking since it has taken me so long to even start to get the hang of cooking on my charcoal stove.  But at my village market I can get a wide variety of veggies and starches that can all be boiled, fried and mixed with different sauces to provide me with a week of fresh, nutritious and delicious meals.  I still have no true love for cooking and probably never will but shopping at the local market and learning different cooking techniques from neighbors mixed with ideas from pinterest have expanded my palate widely!

"I drank 6 Fantas today."

I might have mentioned this before, but Fanta is huge here!  It's widely sold and is the choice drink at all celebrations.  Whenever I visit someone or attend a wedding or any ceremony I'm handed Fanta after Fanta and when I tell them I''m satisfied after two I always get a little pressure to take another.  Sometimes I stand strong at 2 and other times their insistence is so much I just take another.  6 is not an exaggeration, it's my record and I plan to never do it again.  It happened on  a day that I attended a wedding consisting of all 3 ceremonies in the same day.  I don't think I ate anything the rest of that weekend.

"I really need to wash my shoes."

When was the last time any of you have actually washed your shoes?  I bet you can't remember unless you have a job that gets your feet dirty on a regular basis, you trail run or hike a lot, but even then you don't wash them every time you use them.  Well here where the roads are dirt, you walk everywhere, and you are quietly judged by how clean you look washing your shoes is a necessity!  Along side laundry I have to scrub my shoes on a regular basis in order to keep looking clean.  By now it's totally normal but when I think about it, it's such a weird habit to have developed.  

"My best-friend at site."

During training a common statement we heard was that in Rwanda it's hard to develop deep friendships/relationships.  Me being someone who isn't the most outgoing person upfront was basically convinced that I would make it through these 2 years with simple work relationships.  I was soon proved wrong.  Having Emiliene enter my life has been amazing.  She has helped me adjust to Rwandan life and in turn I've helped her with certain things.  It's been a friendship built on mutual appreciation of one another.  The generosity and joy that has been shared between the 2 of us is something I didn't see coming and will be a part of my life forever.  She's one of the biggest reason I'll be back in the future to visit.  (Her and Etienne of course!)

"I really wish I had a better connection to be able to read more news articles."
Back home I wasn't really a fan of reading the news.  I was naive and living in my own little world.  I always felt like the news was depressing, it caused arguments, and I wasn't sure where I stood on a lot of the issues talked about so the many biased sources made me a little crazy so I took the easy way out and just didn't pay attention.  Now that I've finished college and have been serving here I've been exposed to so many different people, different opinions, and different perspectives that I've started to crave the news and the information about what's going on all around the world.  Maybe it's from being so isolated with almost no access or my slowly found opinion and voice but I want to be able to read, hear, or see what's happening and applaud the positive thing, condemn the negative things, and resist the injustices.  The only right way to do that is to do it INFORMED.

"No I'm not married, yes I finished university." (eliciting shocked faces all around)
"Why is EVERYONE getting married and having kids?"

"I'm only 24, I'm sill super young."

The most common question I get besides where I'm from is whether or not I'm married and how old I am.  The university question gets thrown in there every now and then as well.  It's shocking to a lot of people here that I can be 24, not married, no kids, and have a bachelor's degree already.  I've spent a lot of time explaining that it's very common in America for women not to be married until they are older because we want to go to school, start careers, and make some money before settling down.  They usually nod or laugh or try to deny it ad convince me that I'm just weird.  But this is a concept we always try to introduce to young girls we work with at schools and camps showing them that it is an option to not get married and start a family right away.  It's really hard to change the minds of a culture so deeply rooted.  It has made me then look at my own culture back home and sometimes I feel like a hypocrite saying that most women wait until they are older to get married because my Facebook news-feed has been filled with engagements, weddings, and baby announcements for the past 2 years and I just sit here in shock and feeling like the weirdo who has a lot of other plans thought out but not necessarily in this socially constructed way.  At the beginning of my service I felt uncomfortable that all of my thoughts, and future plans weren't falling into this mold that I thought they might after serving in the Peace Corps.  When I started I thought this would "get it out of my system".  Boy was I wrong.  It's only been in the last few weeks that I've started to embrace the fact that I'm only 24 years old and nope I don't know what's next in terms of career or future really.  My Peace Corps experience has done the exact opposite of what I thought it would.  It has shown me so many more paths that I can choose and my plan is to continue exploring them.  I won't get sucked into one path until I know it is exactly what will make me happy, purposeful, and proud.  Life is an adventure and I plan to continue exploring.  

Just a little over 2 months until I'm back and the next adventure begins!! Get ready! <3 p="">

The End of the Marathon

Another airport post coming at you!  Greetings from Greece!  I am here waiting for my first flight of three in order to get back to Rwanda after the most relaxing two weeks of my life.  I'm going to brag a little bit because this trip to Greece was not only relaxing but it was an amazing adventure I got to share with my boyfriend Will.  We spent a couple days at the beginning of the trip in Athens doing the typical touristy site-seeing.  We saw Zeus' temple, the Acropolis, and a lot of other ruins and historical sites.  It was fun attempting to remember the facts about Greek Mythology I once had been forced to memorize and realizing we were walking where some of the greatest thinkers in history walked.

After Athens we hopped on a ferry for 7 hours (7 hours on the Ageon Sea isn't too bad) and headed for the one and only Santorini.  Santorini has always been on my bucket list of places to travel.  The iconic views and photographs in movies and all over the internet have always caught my attention and so finally I got to see it first hand and let me tell you it was even better in person.  Our hotel was right outside of Fira right in the middle of the island along the water.  We had a perfect view of the iconic sunset right over the ocean.  It was basically the scene on every postcard.  We rented a quad and drove around the island to see all the vineyards and beaches covering the Island. Then we decided to make the hike from Fira to Oia.  Now, being outdoorsy and fit when the trek was described as a "hike" we kinda took that with a grain of salt thinking it was more to prepare the wide variety of travelers for a decent walk.  Well, it was definitely a hike.  It was about 7 miles there and then 7 miles back definitely not just a "difficult walk".  But the views were unlike anything I've ever seen.  It was definitely worth it even if our legs were  bit sore the next couple of days.  The next day we decided to take the quad up there so we could find Amoudi Bay and go cliff jumping.  It was the last thing I needed to do before heading to the next destination.  Well, even after driving over we still had to trek a little bit in order to get there but once we made it, it was so much fun!  It definitely brought me back to summers back home spending so many days out on the river or cliff jumping at our spot.  It was the absolute perfect last day on the Island.

Next we headed to Paros and found a really great deal on a nice hotel right on the water and the most relaxing environment which is why we ended up spending 5 days there.  Each day we woke up went to the breakfast buffet and ate too many pastries (well at least I did) and then proceeded to lay by the pool al day long reading and napping.  Yea, it was that amazing!  Then once the sun started to go down we would walk along the water to the little town for some food aka gyros since that is what we lived off of!
While I'm on the topic, the food in Greece, Oh My Gosh!  No shame, I'm returning with a few extra pounds than when I left and I've never felt better about it.  We ate so much feta cheese, gyros, and any sort of flaky pastry you can imagine.  I definitely over did it but that's what vacation is for right?  Back at the hotel in Santorini they also had a breakfast buffet that was to die for and they would always bring out a special traditional breakfast dish to go alongside the assortment of treats we were already binging on.  It was amazing.  I don't think there was a single restaurant we went to that disappointed, and more often than not they loved surprising us with a treats both sweet and alcoholic!  I could go on and on about the food and the hospitality we felt but it would take forever but overall it was amazing, relaxing and the most amazing vacation I could have imagined.


So, you may have noticed my title "The End of a Marathon" and be thinking well what does that have to do with her vacation?  Well I now only have three months left as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  It's pretty crazy to even think about.  In comparison to 27 months three is pretty much nothing.  Also, since I'll be running my 3rd and final 1/2 marathon here in Rwanda in a couple weeks I thought this analogy was perfect.  I'll never forget the end of my first 1/2 marathon.  I was already dead from having run 15 kilometers and those last 5 seemed like nothing.  I had run 5Ks so many times whether it was in high school cross country or a casual weekend run, 5K was an easy day, like how I'm initially thinking about these next 3 months.  Well, during that first 1/2 marathon that "easy" 5K was the hardest part of the entire run.  I kept feeling like it would never end no matter how much I kept forcing my legs to keep moving.  I know it's not going to be easy.  I still have a lot of work to finish up in my village, bittersweet goodbyes to say, and a lot of anticipation for what's next.  After spending 2 weeks with Will and now being apart again for these three months I know it's going to be even more difficult than before.  There's a lot I'm missing in these next few months like my brother's high school graduation, my friend's bachelorette party, and a lot of things I'm looking forward to that will test my patience.  Talking about this isn't me complaining, but rather identifying some of the big challenges that will definitely test me as I finish, just like during that last 5K every part of my body was tested whether it was my burning lungs, aching legs, or my sun burnt skin.  It took more than just my physical abilities.

This is how my entire service has been.  It's been a test of so many aspects of my being and it's been 2 years of lessons learned.  I can confidently say that I am no longer the girl who left 2 weeks after college graduation.  The woman I am now is the person I plan to bring back and introduce back to my family, friends and society and I'm so excited to work just as hard as I have throughout my entire service and finish this adventure strong and soar into the next phase.

Now, I'm headed back to Rwanda on full of determination and confidence.  I already have a to do list going with tasks for finishing up projects, a new personal workout  program in the works as well as studying for my personal trainer certification, and just simply enjoying the time left in Rwanda.

Many of you might recall me talking about my friend Emiliene.  Shes's been my village support person from day one.  Well, she recently has become unemployed due to some difficult circumstances.  But as always, she doesn't let that stifle her radiant smile and the love she shows for her son, her family, and pretty much everyone around her.  Since the day she found herself without a job she took action and decided that to continue to receive an income the best route for her was to start her own shop within the village.  As you would imagine starting your own shop isn't a simple task.  So I decided to help her in her endeavor especially since her main reasoning is to be able to continue giving her son a good life (a boy I've come to love so much) and to eventually put herself through university to study Social Work.  I've been helping in the planning, budgeting and overall organization of the business starting (who needs business school?).  Will has also started a fundraising page that you can easily donate to to help with some of the start up costs.  It's an investment not only in the lives of their family but in a women who is the definition of a strong confident, empowered and empowering woman.  Check out the website here https://www.generosity.com/fundraising/emilienne-s-business/x/16221521
Please take a look an consider donating even a small amount.  It really is for an amazing cause.

Now as I board my flight I'll leave you with this, even though I'm almost finished with my service I have a lot of posts I'm planning to make in that time so keep reading the best is yet to come!

  

The Unexpected Joy Never Ends

Right now I'm sitting in the Kigali airport awaiting my first flight on my way to Greece!!! To say I'm excited is an understatement.  But I'll get to tell you all about one I actually go.

Today before heading to the airport I visited my counterpart Etienne and his family at his house in Kigali.  First, when I say Kigali I don't mean that he live in the middle of the city he and his family live in one of the surrounding neighborhoods that if you didn't know the city was there you would just think you were in a typical Rwandan village.  I personally love it.  I took a small van taxi from the bus park up the hill where I met his beautiful daughter Bellies (I love her name so much) and we walked together to there house.  They were so welcoming as always, made me a delicious lunch and we visited for a couple hours.  The typical Rwandan visit.
I had met his wife and children before a couple times and I absolutely love them.  His wife is so sweet, motherly, and always has the cutest dresses!  His two daughters are adorable.  The oldest is quieter but carries herself like the oldest child typically does.  The middle daughter has a wild side to her, in the best way, and I can't wait to see her as she grows up.  And his son, the baby, is all wide eyed and adorable and definitely the baby of the family.  They are adorable and watching him with all of his kids I wish he didn't have to travel so far for work, even though I don't know what I would do without him.
I also got to meet one of Etienne's sisters.  She's 28 and has her bachelor's in biomedical technology.  So impressive.  She was really talkative which I always appreciate.  She went on to tell me how it was Etienne who encouraged her to continue her secondary school and then university studies even after they faced some difficulty at home.  She talked about how she wanted to get a really good job in order to help out her other siblings.  And she talked about how great it is to watch Etienne and his wife making sure their children get good a good education and make that a priority.
Now basically since I met Etienne and started working with him I've been in aw of him.  HE works harder than anyone I know, he is so open minded to all the ideas I bring in, he's always attending trainings and works really hard to bring the information he learns back to the health center or the community, and he's the most positive person ever!  He works far from home, works days, nights, is in charge of so many services at the health center I've lost count and he never complains, never is grumpy or jaded, it's amazing.  So, even after I already have this amazing view of him from working so much with him, I now hear the amazing things his sister is saying and I can't even comprehend how lucky I am to have met him and be welcomed into his life.

Throughout these two years I'm constantly in aw of the people I'm surrounded by.  When I was in the small taxi heading out towards the airport I just couldn't help but feeling my heart full of joy, love, and inspiration.  I don't leave that often like this but the few times I have, including today, I just think about ow hare it is going to be to say goodbye to these amazing people and this amazing country.  I wish the world was a little smaller and I could get back and forth between all of my loved ones easier.  But, I know that in these last 3 months I plan to soak up every minute of it because I've learned in the past that it's completely true, "you don't know what you have until it's gone."  but in this case I know what I have and it's incredible. <3 p="">

Global Food Security Summit - Refreshed and Motivated

As you may or may not know last week I was stateside in DC.  I was asked to attend Peace Corps' Global Food Security Summit along with my colleague Modeste to represent Peace Corps Rwanda.  To say it was an amazing opportunity would be and understatement.  This was a 5 day conference that focused on the issue of Food Security work done by Peace Corps.  We looked back at history of Food Security work and looked ahead into the future and discussed the direction in which we saw Peace Corps' role in working towards ensuring food security in our respective countries.

When I talk about "Food Security" I'm talking about the ability for people to acquire and utilize food to provide proper nourishment to their families.  Since the main source of both food and income in developing countries, especially those where PC is located, is agriculture a lot of our conversations were focused on the issues surrounding agriculture like climate change, biodiversity, and production, to name a few.  The other side of food security is the nutrition aspect.  We really dove into the numbers of malnourished and stunted children all over the world and tried to look at the causes and what strategies will be effective in the working towards a more nourished world.  Food Security is such a dynamic and complex issue and I'll admit this whole week I've been going through my pages and pages of notes trying to summarize and completely wrap my mind around everything that I learned.  Just know that that is still in the works.
Over the course of 5 days I was able to talk with Peace Corps staff and volunteers from many countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.  We talked about our successes, our challenges, and collaborated on strategies that we could then bring back to our own posts.  I felt like just another staff member talking with Country Directors, Program Managers, future Third Year Volunteers and giving my experiences, listening, and contributing with my thoughts and opinions.  I gained so much insight from each individual I talked with,  I have so many ideas to present to our staff here in Rwanda, I have new lenses to look at the issues surrounding food security in my own site, and I have a new found confidence that over the past 21 months I have worked hard in the right direction.  I haven't just spent these past months wandering around the country side of Rwanda.  I've implemented meaningful projects, developed lasting relationships, and acquired so many skills that I know I will use in my future career endeavors.
Finally, not only did I get to collaborate with the amazing Peace Corps staff members all working towards similar goals in regards to food security and nutrition, but I also got to listen to talks from representatives of large development agencies such as USAID, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the U.S. African Development Foundation.  Not surprisingly, the majority of the guest speakers were actually Returned PCVs.  They talked about how food security issues are looked at from a more macro viewpoint, they discussed how new or potentially new policies and budget changes will indeed affect the work that not only Peace Corps but other agencies do.  I got an insight into the administrative side of Peace Corps and how it is connected to different Government Agencies, where different funding comes from, and how unique the work that we do is.  Like I said earlier, I'm still digesting a lot of what was talked about but stay tuned for some more focused posts in the next few months.  I promise to bring more awareness to you all so you can actually see that what the U.S. does truly affects so many people around the world whether we like it or not.

So not only was this past week collaborative and eye opening, I did get to enjoy the perks of being back home (kinda).  Even though I was in the other Washington I had the opportunity to relax a the end of the day, indulge in somethings I hadn't been able to in a while and clear my head after a few rough weeks.  I wish I could say that everyday of service I have the same motivation and happiness I show off here.  But let's be honest that's not how life works anywhere.  So after some rainy weeks, and with the winding down of projects I was hitting a bit of a low point.  So, being able to go on some long runs that didn't involve mountains, lift some actual weight in a GYM, drink my coffee while walking around outside and catch up with a couple friends was just what the doctor ordered.
Being back, I've found new motivation.  I never thought I'd be able to day that I only have 4 months left but that's the reality!  I'm focusing my energy on finishing strong.  I want to make sure my projects get wrapped up in a way that they can continue them even after I leave.  I also have everything I learned at the conference that I will be presenting to our programming team and my hope is to start the conversation about how food security fits into the work we are already doing and how to improve upon that.  I also feel refreshed and ready to take on these, and of course the hurdle which is figuring out my life after Peace Corps, with a clear head and a positive outlook.

I'll be sure to keep you posted on the "what's next" but that's it for now.  Take care!