HAPPY COS DAY OMNIBUS 102!!!

When you join the Peace Corps you are committing to 27 months of service. 3 months of training and 2 years of service. Just reflecting on the times when we arrived into country it feels like it was yesterday, a lifetime ago and a dream all at the same time.

I remember hearing how people would ET (early termination of service ie. leave early) and when I first got to country I would ask "but HOW after you did all that paper work!?" After my first week here I was more like, "I mean I don't think I would leave early, but I see how people can", Then after tough times in training or those first few months at site I was like "Lord PLEASE just let me cross the finish line!!" Well today officially marks that finish line, so Thank you God again for answering my prayers.

Don't get me wrong. Somewhere in there you stop counting the months. Somewhere along the way you realize this isn't just a project, it's your life. A time where you find the balance of integrating, being culturally sensitive all the while being able to be yourself and comfortable in your own skin. Ah, yes the search for BALANCE!

It trips me out that today is our official COS day and it trips me out even more that, for me, it's just another Friday. As you all know I have decided to extend and will be staying here another year! I knew when I set the goal to join the Peace Corps that I would absolutely LOVE it. As years passed by and I started working instead of going straight out of college, I almost let this dream pass me by. I told myself, "You'll be turning 30 while you're there, maybe just apply when your 50 because right now is when you should be married with kids" Well I wasn't, and I was also in a line of work that wasn't fulfilling me. I am really pleased that I reached my goal, completed the task and am ready for more!


I knew I was going to find people to connect with, friends for life, experience challenges and have a blast through it all.
What I never expected was, living in a city as a volunteer, having security issues, getting a site change (making me one of those "special cases") and Extending. These are things I did not envision when I would daydream about what my life would be like. I knew the office may not even know me because I was going to be so under the radar and involved in my site that they wouldn't have to worry about me. The things I didn't expect are things if I KNEW were going to happen I would have projected that that's something I wouldn't be able to handle. I'm a big scaredy cat, so if I knew I would be robbed, would I have still come? If I knew I was going to get close to an amazing group of women only to then have to leave midway through my service would I have even bothered to enter in to such a relationship? If I knew coming to an unknown land I would be having starting anew three different times, in training, then Guayaquil and THEN again Sua would it have sounded like WAY to much work and drama to even deal with?

You never know where the path will take you. Sure it sounds cliche but it is the truth. On this day August 19th, we have fellow 102ers that had to go early and it was always sad to see them go. We have volunteers that have COSed as early as July 21st as they embark on their next adventure, the bulk of us will be leaving today and there are a handful of that have signed on for MORE time here in country.




I am really excited to see what this next chapter brings. I am so pleased that I was able to stick it out on the challenging days and I am content to the highest degree at this time. What's next? Only time will tell, but I've learned to be open, flexible and optimistic about whatever the winds bring my way, for it always works out for the best in the end.

Congrats 102 We did it!!!

The News You've Been Waiting For...

I GOT THE EXTENSION!!!

My New Close of Service (COS) Date is September 19, 2012!

What does it all mean?

Alright what it means is that I will be staying in Sua and I will continue working for La Aldea. (stoked!) Long term projects here I come!

It also means that Peace Corps will pay to send me home for a month to visit friends and family as "reward" for continuing my service. This month actually is required which is why the date is in September and not August.

I have already chosen my month to be in October when we are having a huge birthday bash for my grandma's 90th bday and I'm having a college reunion that month also.

There are several of us that extended or got PCVL positions and many are my good friends, so it's going to be great to still have my buddies in country with me.

Alas, inevitable there are others that are leaving, some got special permission to leave as early as June, que pena.

It's the end of era for sure. Omnibus 102 as we know it is coming to a close. People are leaving as early as June 21st and others of us are staying until September 2012.

Our COS Conference was bittersweet, but we are always so happy to get together it was hard to be sad. Plus, we have more time together so we were never sure if this goodbye was THE goodbye.

What I have learned in life is that when you think you'll never see someone again, you end up bumping into them...so as I give people hugs and kisses, I try to think of it as see you later, not goodbye, because you never know when you may run into each other again.

Since I was given the week off for COS and I'm in such a good mood I think I'm going to go beach camping to celebrate!

Thank you so much for all of your support!

...was working on my Extension Application and came across this post from November of 2009!!!

It's crazy the stuff I was projecting and predicting. It's a great lesson in living in the moment, living in the "Now" and to not sweat the unpredictable shadowlands of tomorrow.

What I thought I was doing in May is a program that doesn't even Exist anymore! I had no clue I would consider staying. I had no clue I would have by this time gone through a site change, met new people, be six months into a new project and living in the Province of Esmeraldas. A whole region of Ecuador I had never even been too!

When people say "you never know..." It's so true. I could have never predicted my future, and I'm see how everything happened perfectly just as it should, the good and the seemingly not so great.

Of course as service comes to a close I feel myself anxious about the future when really all the options I'm weighing would leave me super feliz, so why be anxious! Finding this post also helped me realize that even though I have a Choose Your Own Adventure thing going on in my head with at least 3 awesome outcomes there are in reality 1 million+ possible outcomes and I need to be open and ready to receive them all. God hasn't let me down so far and I know that won't be happening anytime soon!

So adelante with these applications and I will report on COS conference when I get back in two weeks!

Future Plans

Alright people...everyone is a buzz right now. At least if you're Omnibus 102. It's April going on May and May means COS Conference.

What does COS stand for? Close of Service. That's right this adventure that started for me, what, September 2008, is coming to a close. For the Omnibus 102 we have our Close of Service conference in May and then our official COS date is August 19th! We have started getting emails about and we are all freaking out pretty much.

You have several options.

Early COS: We have an option of leaving our sites early if we feel we have completed our projects. The Early COS date we have been given is July 21st. That's just 3 months away! Freaking out. One must write a compelling letter to the Country Director explaining why they should be granted an Early COS. We find out if it's been granted I believe sometime in May.

COS: That is the August 19th date. You wrap up your service. You've served your 27 months and you go on about your way. Usually meaning going back to the States and finding a job or going to school for most. People who applied to go to Grad school are receiving their acceptance letters around this time. That means if you were planning on getting into school but having and you haven't been applying for jobs, then COSing and going back to the states can seem a bit scary. THAT and all the news we get is about how hard the job market is still. So, from what I hear a lot of us are considering two other options.

Extension of Service: This is where you can ask to stay for a longer amount of time. I think the shortest time you can request is 3 months and the most is 1 year. After talking to my boss and him telling me all the things I could do at the Orfanato if I stay another year I have become increasingly interested in this option. We have to submit our projected year work plan month by month in time for our COS conference in May, so that means I'll be working on that pretty much up until the deadline. I am trying to get my head right because am I really ready to stay Another year!?!?! I miss my fam, I miss what I consider "normal" but I'm also doing the work that I love. That's what people look for their whole lives and I'm doing it. I just don't want to be writing my work plan with a nervous energy. I have to be solid on my decision so that that comes through in anything I write. Which brings me to another option.

PCVL: This very clever acronym stands for Peace Corps Volunteer Leader. Every since I had great experiences with my PCVL in Guayaquil I always considered apply for the position when my time came. The PCVL supports the volunteers in the field and serves as a liaison between volunteers and the office staff in Quito. Before the PCVL position was regional, meaning there were several spread out through Ecuador ready to travel and assist the volunteers in anyway they could. Now the position is going to be out of Quito only. I really like the staff that are associated with my program and the staff member who is over the PCVLs so I'm still good living in Quito. However, it would be a Huge change from what I'm used to now. Living in Quito means big city again. Office PCVLs go to an Office everyday and that is not what volunteers are accustomed to. The PCVLs are going to be trusted with site development and program ideas and that just sounds groovy to me. So I'm still also interested in that position.

I'm also hearing there are several people in my group that are applying for normal jobs here in Ecuador! The point is WE LOVE IT HERE!! Groups before us were So eager to COS early and almost no one applied for the PCVL position. In contrast we are pretty much all asking for extensions or applying for PCVL or looking for work in Ecuador. I think that's great, that shows how happy we are with our current situations. It also means that our sites are being well served with happy content and passionate volunteers and who ever gets chosen for PCVL will be a great asset to the newer volunteers in the field as Peace Corps will have a great lot to choose the very best for the job. I'm super eager to see my compeneros at the COS conference and I'm way stoked to see where we all end up!

The end is near...or is it just the beginning...stay tuned!