4 out of 6 months hasn't been so bad

It has been a few days over 4 months since I returned from Peru.  WOW!  I can't even believe it has been that long.  It feels as if I just came back maybe a month ago.  So, much has happen in those 4 months that I feel it fair to start from the beginning.  February 14, 2012 marks a milestone in my life (just think about it next valentine's day makes one year O_o)  I stayed with my sister in New Hampshire for a week before heading to Detroit for the closing ceremony.  It was a beautiful ending to a marvelous experience (All thanks to Cap Corps Midwest). 
During that retreat week God opened my heart and mind to alot of options for my life.  One being a return to Detroit and seeing about getting hired as a peer mentor for the prevention department at "Alternatives For Girls".  I really liked that idea and made plans to make that happen.  But, unfortunately I had a few demons to deal with which prevented that option from happening. 
This lead me to "Give up"... something that I am all too familiar with.  It wasn't until after the first wedding I was to attend that I was tired of 'Giving up'.  So, I took a stand and gave up on 'Giving up'.  I must say I bested myself with that one because it made trying to find a job all that much interesting.  I applied for two jobs (one an on-call and another a full-time).  Well, the on-call job was easy to get :)  But, I went through mud and grim to get the other (which in the end only being a 2-month contract). 
I have never had to work so hard at getting a job.  A job at the time that I wanted sooooooo badly.  I had to do things that was not of my character, like call -more than once mind you-  to see if I was still being considered.  The week before they were to start their summer program, I received the call and was asked to go for orientation the next day, so that the following day I could start working.  Everything went so fast that I didn't even get a chance to think. 
Life has been much more alive since I got the job.  The busyness of it all has been very welcoming.  I am loving it.  Though it doesn't have the same demand as my work in Peru.  It makes me miss that life and the routine of it all.  The constant work that needs to be done and the challenges that come with them. 

God has been listening very attentively to me for the past year because he has given me the biggest challenge that I could ask for.  He has blessed me with the work of being the president of my churches Youth and Young Adult Ministry.  What does that involve?  Well, that is one of my challenges... trying to figure it out.  LOL, I have gotten feedback from so many (once again doing things that I rarely do, yet am skilled at).  I am glad that HE has all this faith in me because I feel as if I don't have enough.  God is never wrong in what HE does and I trust him in this decision. He gave me the background (college) and experiences (Cap Corps Midwest) to utilize.

2 more months and it will be half a year away from Peru.  I know I won't be prepared for it, but I will remain open to it.  I will update you all in 2 months :)

Ending well to enter well

It has been exactly one month since I arrived back on this land we call the US and...

The busyness of living has just caught up with me and now I am left with nothing more than to reflect and take in all that has happened to me in the past 2 and a half years. It may seem that I would talk about that in this blog, but I am not (Really?????).

In this blog, I would like to share about how I ENDED WELL to ENTER WELL.

I started thinking about this subject about 6 months before 2012. This seemed to be a good amount of time to figure out where one would like to or needs to be after finishing a job or in my case 2 and a half years of volunteer service in Peru. For a long time, the idea of going back to School wasn't in the next chapter. So, I made no move to look for a masters program that I saw fit for the profession I wanted to be under, until the middle of November. With about two months left and Hep A, I was in a slump to slow down. It wasn't just a a few days of being sick or getting hurt. Nope this was a stop in your tracks situation. God definitely grabbed my shoulders and put me in a chair telling me to let others help YOU. This lasted for a little over a month which you can read how that went in an earlier blog .

So, as I had all that time to be still and not busy... I looked up some colleges and masters. Took make this short, I found the perfect masters for me in a place I was all too familiar with-- DETROIT. So, God was telling me something and we were on the same page. Got to spend the last week and a half with my kids before they all headed home with their families.

Then, it was time for Retreat and vacation. For our ending retreat we decided to go about 9 hours up north to the east to a city called Huanuco. During the retreat, I was introduced to the transition process to the extreme and revisited the Trauma Stewardship. Both in which helped with a lot of the processing of feelings until I left Peru. As a community, we decided to do a trip up to Tingo Maria. I felt that it was greatly needed for our community. For we rarely had a chance to do one since the new/present volunteers came. We went to a cave, a serpent park, and the others got to climb up 6 waterfalls (I was still recovering from Hep A at the time). After that trip, I went on my solo trip a little farther north.

I spent 10 days getting to know CHACHAPOYAS and TARAPOTO. Having only traveled by myself once before this trip (and that one I was meeting up with my cousin) I was filled with many emotions. Yes, I was afraid but I was also excited to know Chachapoyas. After 24+ hours in a bus I finally reached Chachapoyas and ended up checking into a different hostel than I planned. It turned out to be the better choice. I visited the near by city of Huacas and did a 3-day package of tours (Kuelap, Karajia, and Gocta)... During those three days I meet the most wonderful people. I was lucky that I had 4 people that I shared all 3 days with. Then, I was suppose to go to Moyobamba for 4 days, but during the tours I was convinced that Tarapoto would be a better destination.

So, it was to Tarapoto. I had to stop in Moyobamba to get to Tarapoto anyways. Tarapoto was well a very noisy city. Motorcycles every where. I did a one day tour to two places: Ahuashiyacu and Lamas. My room had cable which was awesome, I spent two days just relaxing and catching up on the music world. Heading back to Lima was a riot. We ended up getting held up for half a day at a pass which was being constructed on. Luckily it was during bedtime, so we all just slept. So, what was a 26 hour bus ride turned into a 44 hour bus ride. How I love Peru.

After my travels, I spent my days being a lazy bum and chatting with who ever was in the ciudad. Spent time the rest of my time helping with preparations for the next year, spending time with the community, and preparing for my own departure. I attend a few of the workshops during orientation week for the tutors and realized that it only made it that much harder to leave. Then, the kids came back and all the worrying about not having enough time to feel content with my leaving left me. For the 3 days, I was present among them I realized that life continued. My leaving did not put a stop to what was going on and that I need to continue as everyone else was. I was at peace with leaving a country that had become a home to me, a group of people that have become my family, a way of living that had become so natural.

With these realization, I entered into the US quit content and at peace. Though this did not last long for the first morning back I was in disbelief that I was in the US. I was shocked to look at the window and see snow on the ground, buildings nice and all the same colors, and a room cluttered with materialistic items. I was back in the US and I felt like I was drowning. These feelings I will highlight more in my coming up blog. All in all, I did end well in Peru to Enter well into the US.