5 Months to COS date!!!

5 Months to my COS date!!! I'm not counting down, I'm counting up... all of the amazing experiences and relationships I've gained by living in Guatemala as a Peace Corps Volunteer!

5: My amazing host-family in San Marcos that I LOVE oh so much! The family that adopted me here in Quiche and all my Guatemalan friends and boos!!!

4: My Peace Corps besties that will be a part of my life for the rest of my life! This experience has taught me so much about life, relationships and what it means to be a friend! I can say that I have grown a lot, but if I didn't have you all, I definitely couldn't have made it...I'm thankful for you!!!

3: Experiencing how challenging Development work is... es dificil pero todo es posible con Dios a su lado! I always knew that development work is "hard" but didn't really understand the concept until now! For me, development work had been difficult because technically its soooo easy...but little/simple things get in the way. Simple things to me, but to other people of a different culture with different values...I guess its not so simple. And of course, that's based on my experience of doing a simple project...I can't even imagine running a non-profit and really being responsible for behavior change.

2: Solidifying my career path: I appreciate where I've been and now know where I'm going! I came to Peace Corps knowing that I had a lot of interests but I really wanted to gain an understanding of not just what I'm passionate about, but how I can make a difference... I think I may have found a way...now I'm just waiting for God to reveal his plan...I hope I've gotten it right! haha

1: Achieving most of the personal goals I set for my self.... I haven't had many large goals I've set for my life, but becoming a Woman of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc., being fluent in Spanish, and joining the Peace Corps were basically my top ones! I have a few more that I have to tackle, but what this experience has shown me is that I can literally do anything I put my mind to with the faith in God to help me achieve them in His name!

So I must Thank God for this experience... it has been very difficult and I must admit I haven't always understood why I was placed in Guatemala and how I'm making a difference. But I realize now that all the little things add up to big things and over time you notice the difference, you notice your impact...and most importantly, you notice the change in your heart... that has been my biggest revelation thus far!

Soooo 5 more months.... I have A LOT to get done in these next few months! But I had to write a blog post just to document how excited I am for this experience and proud of myself for not giving up when the going got tough...and it did...many many times! =)

and btw: early Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!!