Minute Particulars

Today I was sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer. Training is over, and tomorrow I'll move to Guayaquil for the next two years.

It's no big secret that I've been eager for training to end. I don't often do well in times of transition, using impermanency as justification for bad habits and apathetic living. And that's what training has felt like, a transition. A pause. A waiting for my "real" Peace Corps life to begin.

But today I was reminded of something I consistently manage to forget. Or rather, ignore. In life, there are no pauses. No periods of pure meaninglessness. When said aloud or written, it is strikingly obvious. But in the day to day living, we're not as blunt with ourselves. At least I'm not. I'm more likely, as within these three months of training, to give myself the easy way out. To meet discomfort with avoidance. To use my own expectations of what life should look like as valid support for my disengagement when those expectations aren't met. 

In saying my goodbyes today though, to my host family and fellow volunteers, I finally had to admit to myself that these past three months have been anything but a pointless pause. In spite of myself, I am leaving Tumbaco with a fuller heart. With new friendships. With support. With promises to visit in the future. To call when I arrive safely in Guayaquil. While waiting for the "real" Peace Corps to begin, I learned a lesson integral to sustainable development. That it is in the minute and the banal, in the daily and mundane, that human connections are made and fostered. I don't have to love the power points or plastic chairs, the group work or the repetition.  But I do have to be present; I do have to live without assigning pauses to the less glamorous chapters of my life.

"He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars." - William Blake

Having said all of that, I am excited to move permanently to Guayaquil tomorrow, to begin working with and making those connections with the families of Juconi. However, I am considerably less excited to shlep my three suitcases and backpack through the streets and bus terminals of Ecuador. I'm sure I'll be quite the spectacle! Thanks in advance for all of your thoughts as I travel and get settled in. I'll update again once in Guayaquil! 

I'm official!

My Guayaquil host mom, Grace, thinks Hannah is pretty great (as do I) so we took a picture together.

Omnibus 110!

Te dejo mi corazón, Tumbaco lindo.