New Beginnings

The end of my Peace Corps experience marks the end of a huge chapter in my life. It’s not only the end of my journey in Guyana but I feel like it’s the end of my young adult life {my adolescence in a sense}. I came to Peace Corps unsure of who I really was. Unsure of what I really wanted in life. I came to Peace Corps to figure out my life…to find myself. And I have.

Now that it's over and I'm looking back on the whole experience I feel extremely grateful. I had my share of ups and downs and there were times when I questioned if being in Guyana was worth it. But now I can definitely say it was worth it and I would do the whole thing over again if I had to. I met amazing people and I grew. I gained a whole new perspective on life and that is something I’ll be forever grateful for.

Being home has been good but a little weird. And I say weird because I have felt so many different emotions like happy, overwhelmed, scared, excited, sad, loved, lonely, jealous, guilty, and subdued.  I can't help but feel that since I'm home I have to have a plan. I have to jump into something, anything.  I have to be doing something.  When these thoughts/feeling come into my mind I welcome them and feel them but I don't allow them to stick around too long...I just keep telling myself it's okay to feel these things and it's okay to take a little time before jumping into something. I know things will happen when the time is right....

I'm pretty excited for new beginnings and the next chapter in my life.  

Unplanned

I feel like everything is up in the air...I really have no definite plan for life after Peace Corps. 

I have ideas, dreams, and goals but a direct plan? Nope, and I feel like I should just throw a dart at a map...

I'm just overjoyed at the thought that I can do whatever I want to do with my life. And I'm okay with not having a plan right now in my life.  Maybe it's a good thing, because really plans don't usually go as planned. 

Everything is wide open.

And that is very exciting. 

I do want to take a little time to decompress and settle back into everything. 

I want to reconnect with friends and family.

And I want to travel within the States. 

So, right now my life is unplanned and I couldn't be happier. 

Hello 2012

I’m so incredibly excited for this New Year. 

It’s going to be a good year…I can just feel it!

I’m so excited to complete my Peace Corps service. 

I'm looking forward to returning home.

And I’m thrilled to see what 2012 has in store for me.

My Goals:

1. Start school

2. Become fit 

3. Road trip the east coast

4. Visit Amie in MI

5. Visit North Carolina

6. Visit Becky, Princess, Heather and the Tibbs'

7. Do 30 days of eating raw foods

8. Buy a professional camera and learn about photography

9. Have my own apartment

10. Enjoy going on dates

11. Take a ballet class

12. Go on a random, spontaneous trip

13. Grow my hair super long

14. Go to Laughlin and Jet Ski with family and friends over the summer

15. Cook a new meal every day for one month

16. Go camping

17. Go to a concert

18. Go to Disneyland in December

19. Grow spiritually

20. Spend lots of time with my family

Happy New Year!!

Good-bye 2011

2011 was one heck of a year and I’m welcoming 2012 wholeheartedly.
But before I do I want to reflect on this past year…

2011 was an interesting, eye opening, and life-changing year.
One I’ll never forget.

It was…good, hard, trying, sad, fun, and adventurous.
It was filled with love and full of some heartache.

I learned a lot.
I did a lot.

I grew.
I changed.

I saw the worst in myself.
I saw the best in myself.

I'm grateful for everything I experienced this year and for all the people who were a part of my 2011.

Post that reflect 2011:
What It’s All About
One Year Ago
Lights. Camera. Action.
The Long Journey Home
Shell beach
Kato
Why Now?
Tobago
22 Months + Lessons Learned

Favorite photos of 2011:

Celebrated one year in Peace Corps

Alter Ego party

St. Patrick's Day

Being home and seeing my cousins

I loved meeting baby Reggie

My 25th birthday with good friends

Attended my first Indian wedding and ate curry out of a leaf

Shell Beach-- most amazing thing I've ever done.

Flew to Kato and hiked a waterfall 

Spent 7 days in Tobago with awesome friends

&

Ate amazing shark sandwiches 

Celebrated our 2nd Thanksgiving in Linden

Changes are a-Comin'

As I am beginning to wrap up my Peace Corps service...I've been working on my Description of Service (DOS), summing up everything I've done since arriving in Guyana, and it has been a little overwhelming remembering everything and finding the right, concise wording.  But it's also been a good time to reflect on my life over the past 22 months. 

However, all of this thought about my time as a volunteer also has me thinking about the changes that are going to happen so soon. And I'll admit, as much as I am looking forward to returning home, I'm getting a little nervous...what's my plan? 

 And while I'm going back to old comforts I'm a little scared to leave the safety of Peace Corps. 

But truthfully, I'm so excited for the changes that await me.  I can feel it in my bones that the change my life is about to encounter is going to be so amazingly awesome.  

I feel confident that I have gained the strength I need to start the next chapter of my life and I'm just so ready to take this new breath of life. 

From the Heart

My heart feels heavy with unspoken words. It's healing and still full of emotion.
Although, I feel strength radiating from within me there are words I need to share...

It was a good dream, great even.

You and me and the thought of forever.

I believed it to be true because I wanted you.

I wanted us.

It has been a hard but refreshing realization

to know life doesn’t always work out like we hoped it would.

But I have faith there is a bigger plan for both of us.

I need you to know I’m grateful for the time we spent together,

for everything you taught me.

You showed me what it means to love another person

and for that I’ll always carry you in my heart.

I believe you are my soul mate because you awoke my soul.

You cracked my heart open allowing new light to come in.

Thank you.

I forgive you

and wish you happiness.

The Alphabet To Live By

I stumbled across this and love it! I think we all need to live life by following the ABC's. How cool would it be if little kids grew up learning the alphabet and rules to live by this way?

A: authenticity - be real, be yourself, speak your truth.

B: beauty - is everywhere, we need to open our hearts and our minds to find it!

C: compassion - take the time to care for others, ask how someone is and listen.

D: daring - be brave, take risks and have adventures!

E: extraordinary - think outside of the ordinary, go above and beyond mediocre!

F: funny - be funny, see the funny, laugh at yourself, don't take things too seriously.

G: generosity - be generous with your time, your love and your abilities.

H: happy - keep it simple, tune into what gives you butterflies and you will know happy.

I: intuition - listen closely, sit in silence, don't talk too much and you will truly hear.

J: joy - feel the joy in each and every moment, joy is in everyone, learn to release it.

K: kindness - the simple act of kindness has the power to change lives.

L: love - use the word often, you cannot have too much love, the more the merrier!

M: memories - our most precious gift from one generation to another, share them often.

N: nice - be nice, always, expect nothing in return, feel the inner and outer glow.

O: organised - it really does make life easier, make some lists and

break goals down into pieces.

P: passion - discover your passion and follow it, don't do anything without your passion.

Q: quiet - meditate, remove yourself from the noise of life for at least a few minutes a day.

R: reflect - don't dwell in the past, simply reflect with an open mind and be gentle on yourself.

S: self care - do at least one thing a day that nurtures YOU.

T: thoughtful - consider others and what you can do to make them feel loved.

U: unique - look for the thing or the person who stands out from the trend.

V: vivid - life is filled with color, and color improves our mood, live in full color!

W: wonder - always look at life through the eyes of a child, see everything as a miracle.

X: xtra - develop a career that is true to your passion and always do that little

bit xtra every day.

Y: youthful - the feeling of youthfulness need never fade, hold it tightly in your heart and never let go.

Z: zany - be a little silly, don't be afraid to be different.

Happy Sunday!

Grateful For...

Life.

I am so grateful for my life. I'm grateful for the people in my life. I'm grateful for all the experiences and opportunities I've been given. I'm grateful for the lessons I've learned along the way. I'm grateful for all the adventures.  I'm grateful for my health. I'm grateful for love, laughter, joy, and happiness.

I'm just so excited for life!

Advanced COS

After much consideration and discussion with Peace Corps Guyana staff I decided to apply for an advanced Close of Service (COS) date. I spoke with my Country Director and found out volunteers may apply for an advanced COS up to 90 days before their actual COS date and still be treated as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. However, the approval wouldn’t be up to him, it would have to be approved by the South America desk.

So I took the leap of faith. I had to write a letter as to why I was requesting an early COS and I had to have my supervisor at the health center write a letter saying she agreed that my projects are complete and she was giving me permission to submit my request.

The reasons vary as to why I decided to try and complete my Peace Corps service early. I do no feel like I am quitting or failing because I am completing my Close of Service (our COS conference is the first week in January). I am so grateful for the support of my Counterpart, Project Manager and Country Director because my request for an advanced COS date has been approved and I’ll be home by the end of January!

Wow, I kind of can’t believe it. The request was sent yesterday and I found out today that my advanced COS date has officially been approved. I was not expecting that quick of a response and I can’t believe I have 2 months left in Guyana. It’s crazy to think about. And I’ll admit I have mixed emotions. As much as I am excited to think about life back home I am a little scared. But I am super excited…I’m anxious, happy, sad, nervous, unsure, surprised, excited, happy, sad, excited.

I knew this adventure would eventually end and all my fellow PCVs would go their separate ways but wow, it’s really coming to an end and I’ll be leaving my friends and life in Guyana so soon.
Deep down I know this decision and step is right for me. It’s time to move on.
But right now it’s time to really enjoy my last moments in Guyana.

Life...

I took the online orientation for College of the Canyons today and as I was going through it I couldn’t help but think, “I can’t believe I am going back to school. Wow, this is weird. Here I go back to studying, writing papers, and being a broke student”. But I kept reminding myself that this is something I want to do, this is for my career, this is for my life.

Looking at my life it’s been full of adventure. I've taken risks and I’ve done what I’ve wanted to in life. So why am I feeling afraid? Why am I scared to start over? I shouldn’t be afraid…I can do anything after doing Peace Corps. I took a huge leap by moving and leaving the life I knew behind and it’s turned out well. I know whatever I choose to do in life I’ll be okay.

Yes, I’m scared for the unknown but I’m also very lucky because I get to live my life. I get to decide where I want my life to go. I get to create a life for myself. And that is something I’m very excited for.

My Life List

When I woke up this morning the first thing that popped into my head was, it's September!!  I'm so excited for this month! 

Today I want to share my life list. I wrote a list of things I want to do in my lifetime.  The goal is to have 100 things but I thought it would be fun to do half of my list now and the other half one year from now.
**My Life List {one hundred things}:
1. Become a registered nurse and work in labor and delivery
2. Get married in the Wayfarers Chapel
3. Go on a weeklong detoxifying retreat with my mom
4. Do 30 days of eating only raw foods again
5. Cook a new, different meal every day for at least one month
6. Learn how to sew
7. Sew an apron
8. Make a T-shirt quilt
9. Visit all 50 states
10. Become a mommy {2-3 babies}
11. Own seadoos
12. Write my life story
13. Be able to see my abs
14. Get a massage every month for a year
15. Road trip along the east coast and west coast
16. Go back to Alaska, see the northern lights
17. Live in Hawaii
18. Go wine tasting
19. Live close to the beach in California
20. Be a stay-at-home-mom for one year
21. Become really fit and strong
22. Grow my hair to the middle of my back (or longer)
23. Vacation in Ireland
24. Vacation in Greece
25. Take an unplanned, spontaneous trip, where you have to buy everything once you get there.
26. Own a home
27. Make my own baby food
28. Refurbish a piece of furniture and paint it a bright color
29. Paint the outside of my front door a bright teal, aqua color
30. Make homemade ice cream
31. Have something published
32. Make homemade bread
33. Do WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms)
34. Get my foot tattoo redone and made into a sea turtle
35. Go to a drive in movie
36. Take an adult ballet and tap class
37. Run a ½ marathon
38. Get a nice, professional camera, learn about photography and take lots of pictures
39. Use my own pictures for wall art
40. Open up my own health food store/bakery (this is kind of a lofty dream but I think it would be   awesome, maybe much later in life)
41. Become a person who practices yoga regularly
42. Become a little more fashionable i.e. wear high hills and accessorize more
43. Become an expert at budgeting
44. See Incubus play in a small, more personal venue
45. Write a message in a bottle and send it out to sea
46. Sail on a boat to Catalina Island and spend the night on the boat in the harbor
47. Go backpacking in the mountains
48. Host Thanksgiving dinner and cook the turkey all by myself
49. Go to Walt Disney World
50. Write in a journal every day for one year
51. Host a fun dinner party
52. Send a random person $100 in the mail
53. Take a girl’s vacation with my sister
54. Have a vacation home
55. Spend a week in New York City and see a Broadway show

Other 45 goals & dreams to come one year from today.

Spring Cleaning

In August? It's Guyana, the seasons don't change and it's been incredibly hot lately.

Today I woke up at 5:30, got out of bed at 6, ate my daily helping with oatmeal with peanut butter, scrubbed and hung 2 loads of laundry and deep cleaned my house. All by 11am.

I don't remember the last time I deep cleaned my house, sure I sweep every few days and throw bleach in the shower occasionally but I don't remember the last time I mopped or cleaned under my bed.
The thing is, my house is gross and it doesn't matter how much I clean it's still going to look dirty because the house is falling apart, even though it was totally rebuilt last year, right before we moved in. So my solution for over a year now has been to ignore it. Yes, I see the grossness everyday and yes it bothers me but there's nothing I can do about.

I thought by cleaning my house today it would make me feel better and it has now that I'm finished and sitting in a semi-clean smelling house. But as I was in the midst of my cleaning session I kept thinking how this house (living with mold, ants, laminate flooring that moves and cracking walls) is just another reason why I want to go home.

 I also decided to take some lovely photos to share with you so you can see what I'm talking about.

In my bedroom. I started sweeping behind the door and tons of ants starting crawling out from the floor.

This is rotting, moldy wood in my kitchen. 

And you can see the laminate flooring, which has moved from the wood, exposing gross, sandy cement.

And this is mold coming up from under the kitchen sink

Gross right? 

I am happy I cleaned, it needed it.  And I'm happy I cleaned my fan it was so full of dust, hair, and bugs. 

P.S. duct tape is my new best friend as it has been used so much around my house. 

...

I’m kinda lost for words. Where do I start?

For about 2 weeks now my mind and heart have been screaming at me to go home.
To give up on Peace Corps. To quit and return home to the life I miss.

You know that feeling of wanting something so badly it actually hurts? That’s where I’ve been and that’s what I’m trying to overcome but it’s so hard.

I feel I’ve always been a pretty patient person.
I’ve been waiting wholeheartedly…keeping faith that things will happen when the time is right.
But a strong force swept through me, saying, “I don’t want to wait anymore. I’m sick of waiting. And I want the next step”.

But it’s not that easy.

Because...
I have to be a little more patient.
I have to be stronger.
I have to keep having faith.

I have to stay grounded a little while longer in Guyana.
I have to push through.
I have to enjoy and endear the end of this crazy roller-coaster ride.

I’m truly hoping this is the last low point I’ll experience during my Peace Corps experience.

I am eternally grateful for the love and support from my friends and family. I’m grateful for the friendship Chelsea and I share. And I’m grateful for Zach, even though I didn’t want to hear the words I know he is right, I should stay.

 “When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians

I read this scripture everyday.

Day 12

A simple pleasure in life you could never live without.

The first thing that came to mind was ice cream! Ice cream is the cherry on top of life.

i love sprinkles

But then I thought, "what simple life pleasure could I really never live without?" and the beach came to my mind. I don't think I could live without smelling the fresh sea breeze and seeing the blue, sparkling ocean. I can't wait for the day I live near the beach, it's going to happen!

beautiful Barbados

Day 6

Create your life soundtrack.

This was fun. Some of the songs tell a little about my life while others take me back to a certain time in my life.

Sara- Starship
Love Song- 311
Island in the Sun- Weezer
I Hope You Dance- Lee Ann Womack
Forever Young- Youth Group
Miss You- Incubus
Life is a Highway- Rascal Flatts
Spice Up Your Life- Spice Girls (flashback to Park View days) 
Yeah- Usher feat. Lil Jon (takes me back to 2004)
Toes- Zac Brown Band
I Like It, I Love It- Tim McGraw
Enchanted- Taylor Swift
Carrying Your Love With Me- George Straight
Futures- Jimmy Eat World
Stellar- Incubus
All You Need Is Love- The Beatles
3 Little Birds- Bob Marley
Better Together- Jack Johnson
Rollercoaster of Love- Red Hot Chili Peppers
California- Phantom Plant
Home- Michael Buble
The Story So Far- New Found Glory
My Girl- Temptations (I loved the movie when I was little)
The Scientist- Cold Play
Beach in Hawaii-Ziggy Marley
Cuddle Fuddle- Passion Pit (such a fun song)
Louder Than Ever- Cold War Kids

I can’t decide which song speaks true to my time in Guyana, it just might have to be, “Every Day Ah Drinkin Meh Rum” it was the popular song when we first got in country and every time I hear it I’m taken right back to those beginning months in Guyana.

Day 3

A regret you have from/about high school.

High school was a lot of fun and I can't believe it's been 7 years since I graduated. My friends and I were always up to something fun. Oh, I miss those days and my old friends!

A regret I have about high school is not staying on the dance team all 4 years. I did dance team my freshman year and although it was a lot of fun and I made lots of friends it was much different than dance team in Junior High School and I decided I didn't want to continue being a part of it. So my sophomore year I didn't try out or do anything extracurricular that year. But I missed dance team. So my junior year I tried out and made the team again. I was excited and it was much different from my freshman year. I don't really remember why I didn't want to do it my senior year, but I didn't. I was 16 the last time I danced. Looking back I wish I would have danced all through out high school.
There are still times I miss dancing, maybe one day I'll get back into it.

Lancaster High Dance Team 2003

my hair was so short

Andrea and I on the last day of high school

"The Hardest Job You'll Ever Love"

After being in Guyana for 16 months I think I have a pretty good grasps on life here and the order of operations. However, this week has been rough. It started out really good and I was enjoying being busy. But by the end of this morning my patience grew really thin.
Life here is hard. And sometimes it’s so hard to see because there are so many things that tug at my heart but very little I can actually do. I can’t change the education or health care system. I can’t build someone a house. And I can’t be in 5 different places at once.
I’ve gotten accustom to the ‘just now’ mentality. I’ve accepted the fact that teachers don’t always teach like they’re suppose to. And I’ve tried my very best to be a good volunteer and put myself out there. But right now I’m feeling sad and frustrated about situations I’ve faced over the past week.

It all started with trying to meet with the Regional Health Officer (RHO) who oversees everything health related in Region 10. She is a busy lady and it’s sometimes hard to meet with her. Tony, Amy and myself want to start a diabetic program in Linden but we need her support and approval before we can start. We went on Tuesday afternoon to see if we could meet with her, she was not there. Her secretary told us to come back the next morning at 10am. So we all took the morning off to meet with her. When we got there her secretary said, “she is not here, I told you to come at 10am on Thursday”. The 3 of us looked at each other and then said, “Oh, okay. Thanks.” We knew she told us 'tomorrow' but oh well, we didn’t really expect her to be there. So Tony called the office Thursday morning to make sure RHO would be there and he was told she would be in after lunch, around 1o’clock time. So the 3 of us headed to the office once again and were told she was not in, but we could check back Friday or Monday.
Ahh, this kind of thing is so frustrating to me. They knew she was out of Linden for the week. Why couldn’t they have just told us, “RHO is out in Kwakwani until Thursday”? But people rarely say things like that because they don’t want you to know they are out of town so instead they give you the run around.
So we’ll she if she is there on Monday.

Then this morning it was one thing after the other (I know God is testing me). I reached the health center around 8:45 but the doors were still looked so instead of waiting outside for who knows how long I went to the nursery school. Before I got to the health center I saw one of the nursery school teachers on the road. She said she was coming back “just now” so I knew her class would be left unattended. When I went to the class they were playing and arguing with each other. They all gave me a hug and then immediately began fighting over who was going to sit next to me in the reading circle. Usually they scram to get their chairs in a circle, which ends up being a clump of chairs and them pushing each other. So today I lined them up against the wall and made a nice circle with their chairs. I told them if they wanted me to read they had to obey and sit nicely in the circle, which they did. After reading a story I taught them how to play Simon Says, they had fun with it. Next, one of the other teachers came to me and said, “Today is Share and Tell so have the students share the toy they brought and then they have to write in their books ‘today is Friday’ and draw a picture of a toy”. So after Share and Tell I passed out their books and looked for pencils. I had 9 students and only found 4 sharpened pencils. When I asked the other teachers if they had a pencil sharpener they said no.
It’s stuff like this that really gets to me. How is there no pencil sharpener in the school? I guess I should always walk with a pencil sharpener from now on.

I had to be at the health center at 10am for a meeting with Medex and this guy in charge of a youth club that I’ve been giving health talks to on Saturdays. After we were finished discussing youth club items he told Medex he didn’t get to eat dinner last night and woke up with a headache, blurred vision, and numbness in this hands. He asked her if he could have his blood pressure checked, she told him it was just his diet and that he needs to make sure he eats regularly. Then she told me to go and talk to him. We left her office and I went ahead and had his blood pressure checked it was high, 150/120. I went and told Medex and she said, “Oh wow!” She wasn’t even going to have his pressure checked after he told her his symptoms!

Also this morning the mother and the very malnourished baby from this post came in. It was good to see the little guy. He put on a little weight but is still so tiny. She seems to be feeding him better but his skin and head were full of scabs and bumps, it turns out he has scabies. And the onesie he was wearing was dirty and gross. I feel so sad for this baby.
It’s situations like this one that are the hardest because there’s very little I can do.

I know life is hard everywhere, not just here. But seeing these types of situations on a regular basis can be depressing and I can't tell you how many times the phrase, "what the heck?" runs through my mind.
But I guess that's why I'm here, to witness this type of life/ living and to give and help in anyway I can even when I'm really frustrated  with the system, people, life.

So the Peace Corps slogan is true, this is the hardest job I'll ever love.

Life In A Developing Country

When I take a moment to stop and think about life here it hits me hard. I know I’m living and serving in a developing country but sometimes I forget about it or I’ve just come to accept life here and don’t think twice about things that I once would have freaked out about, like no running water in the health center or all the ants that line the floor in Medex’s office.

I see things that I’ve gotten so accustom to like a woman in her mid 40’s with missing teeth and super bad breath. Or  a mom with her daughter who needs medicine for a rash on her foot because she plays in the mud barefoot. And a woman who gets de-worming treatment for her family of 7.

But there are still things I see that take a little more getting use to like, a diabetic patient who has a gaping hole on the bottom of her foot, which has re-opened more than once. And as Medex held a flash light on the wound I could see bone, it was gross but I could handle it (I see this as a success if I’m going to go to nursing school).

But there’s still so much more to the every day life here. Some of it annoys me, some of it tugs at my heart and some of it makes me laugh, which is why I continue to stay.

Like, men who stop me on the road. Yes, I find this frustrating most of the time because they always ask for my number but I’ve come to realized that they are just curious, they want to know what I’m doing here and where I’m from, hence all the questions. So it’s now my goal to stop being annoyed by this and rather share a bit of new information with a Curious George.

But sometimes when I share something about my life I can’t help to feel sad. I was showing one of my co-workers pictures from my trip home and she kept asking where pictures where taken and she loved the picture of the Bellagio fountain. I realized she has no idea what Vegas is like, nor will she ever see it. It’s crazy because many people have no concept of what life is like in the US and no matter how hard I try to explain things they just don’t understand. Sure there are many people who do travel and who have been to the US but for those who have never left Guyana, or a village for that matter it makes me sad because I am so privileged.

I find working in the hospital kitchen so funny, I mean when else am I going to work in a kitchen? Never. I really do enjoy my time there and the friendships I’ve formed with the ladies. I love that I help make bread and that I chop green onions. I love that I have to wear a hair net and apron and I love that a long steel rod is used to stir a huge pot of rice. I find it so funny how many flies come into the baker’s corner and how she tries to shoo them out with a towel.

When I stop to think about life here in Guyana I’m happy to be apart of it and I know this experience is something I’ll never forget.

My 25th Year

A few months ago I was dreading turning 25, but now, today I embrace it. After all it’s just a number and I definitely don’t feel like I’m 25. I may have wanted all this life stuff checked off by the time I hit the big 2,5 but life doesn’t work out like that. And to be completely honest I’m sick of worrying about it. Things will happen when they happen. Life is about living in the moment and I’m happy in this moment. I’m happy with my life, all 25 years of it!

Here’s a flashback to the last 5 years. :)

2006: 20, moved to Utah

2007: 21, celebrated in Vegas

2008: 22, with my sister in Lancaster

2009: 23, celebrated in Moab, UT

2010: 24, first year in Guyana with great new friends

I feel like this year is the start of a new chapter in my life and I’m so excited about it!
I know I haven’t always made the best decisions and I’ve made my fair share of mistakes. And I still have a lot of growing to do but I just want to thank my friends and family who continue to stick by my side. You are all the best and I don’t know where I’d be without you.

Thank you for the love and support.
Here's to being 25!

The LONG Journey Home

 Wednesday April 20th 2011 marks the longest, most frustrating day of my life…
With not much sleep from the night before, I awoke at 4:00am and at 4:30 my friend Megan (ironically, she was also going home to visit) and I got in a taxi from Princess’ house to the airport. Our flight was scheduled at 7:57am to JFK. We were full of nerves and excitement! 8 volunteers from GUY 21 were also on the flight as they were heading home for good. My thinking prior to the flight, “everything will be okay because there’s 10 of us volunteers”. Boy was I WONG! Either Guyana didn’t want the 21ers to leave or Guyana really has it out for me.

4:30am

We boarded the plane and settled into our seats. We were ready! When a man, who was asked to move his seat twice grabbed a flight attendant on the shoulder and the flight attendant started freaking out saying, “sir, do not touch me or you will be kicked off the plane”. After that we were ready…but we sat without moving for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes until finally we heard over the PA, “sorry for the delay, we are having difficulties closing the back door”. What the heck?

After waiting over an hour on the door situation the captain announced, “we’ve fixed the door but we’ve now seemed to encounter a warning up in the cock pit. We hope to have it taken care of in no time”. By this time I heard a lot of laughing (coming for us PCVs, we should have expected this) and shucksing form the Guyanese. For me personally, I was praying to get home. One flight attendant kept saying, “they are trying their best to fix the problem but we might have to cancel the flight” Now, keep in mind Guyana is a small country and planes don’t come in every few hours or even every day. And the next flight would have been Friday morning.

After 3 hours of sitting and waiting on the plane, which people knew they were going to miss their connecting flights but my flight to SLC wasn’t until 8pm so I wasn’t too worried, yet. The captain again announced that they knew what the problem was but it would require us to fly at a lower altitude. The lady sitting next to me started yelling, “let us off the plane then”, the flight attendant told her the captain couldn’t hear her but she would go tell him. Then 2 guys came saying, “we can escort you off the plane” this made her madder. She kept saying it wasn’t safe to fly with a plane that couldn’t fix a problem in a timely manner.
Next the captain said everyone needed to disembark the aircraft and 50 people needed to voluntarily stay behind and take the flight on Friday. By this point tears started building up and I said, “I just want to go home”. Once off the plane I was so frustrated I just didn’t understand why this was happening? Why is EVERYTHNG so difficult here? We waited off the plane for 45 minutes then it was okay to re-board.

So we settled back into our seats with 50 less passengers when all of a sudden an elderly lady started roaming the aisle looking for her brown bag. The lady sitting in front of me said she had Alzheimer but the flight attendant said she had to be seated before we could leave. She wasn’t cooperating so her and the woman in front of me got off the plane.
By this point it was 12:15 and luckily we were in the air by 1:00pm due to arrive in JFK at 7:00, leaving me an hour to make my connecting flight.
But unfortunately, we didn’t reach the gate until 7:30pm and I knew there was no way I was making my connecting flight.
Once through immigration there were a few Delta employees waiting for us with re-scheduled flights for the next morning, which was very nice. Out of the 10 of us volunteers 2 made their connecting flights that night while the rest of us stayed in a hotel, courtesy of Delta.
After we collected all of our bags we made the trek to the tram and once outside we were pleasantly welcomed by the cold. Before this point it didn’t really click that I was “home”, it was so weird to look around and see so many different people.

We finally got to the hotel at 10pm. Meg and I shared a room and it was so nice! As I was taking a very hot shower I thought to myself, “what am I doing with my life?”
Meg and I got some food (a Caesar salad), also courtesy of Delta and called it a night.

10:00pm JFK

What seemed like 5 minutes of sleep at 3:50am I awoke to my alarm, time to get up and tackle the second leg of my journey home. I did run into 2 minor situations (not being able to print my boarding pass at the kiosk and having to discard my 2 bottles of rum at security) but that was nothing compared to the day before. Once at the gate Meg, Mica (a 21er), and I enjoyed some Starbucks and talked about how weird it was to be thrown back into the fast pace of life. I was intrigued by the iPads stations every few feet on the tables and by a large group of materialistic teenagers.

Mica & Meg & an iPad

Thankfully that flight was smooth sailing and I arrived in SLC just after 10am on Thursday April 21st. It was so good to see mom, Dan, and Isaiah waiting for me!
I couldn’t believe the ordeal to get home but it’s been so good being home and being with friends and family. And it was all worth it to finally meet baby Reggie! The moment I held him in my arms my heart filled with so much love and joy!

I just love him!