invitation

So I finally received my Peace Corps invitation! I have been eagerly checking my e-mail every day since PC let me know that it was sent to my parents house and it has been driving jonathan crazy. In addition I've had a series of stress dreams that the invitation will never come, that it will be for Guyana (though not a terrible prospect, it made me realize how much I really wanted to be somewhere Spanish speaking), that I wont be leaving until June, etc. I have dutifully been somewhat trying to follow Peace Corps maxim of "patience and flexibility" and it did work somewhat through the fall when I was busy at work, but this winter break, when the March has been edging closer and closer and I need to start making real decisions about where I will be this spring if I don't leave until June, has made me very anxious about not hearing from the PC headquarters.
Though to be fair, the invitation information in the end was somewhat anticlimactic because all my obsessing led me to snoop through the Peace Corps blogs and realize that El Salvador was the only program leaving in March in Latin America, hence was probably where I was headed. :)

So I wanted to make sure I post right after receiving my invitation because after reading other people's peace corps blogs i've found it really interesting how their impressions of their host countries have changed over time. To be honest, El Salvador was originally my last choice within Spanish speaking Latin America (well except for Costa Rica where I had previously lived) because I remember hearing from multiple travelers that the level of violence in El Salvador was so high and that it was a very difficult country to travel through. Though this probably has some truth to it, I am now feeling very positive about the placement. Through my teachers in high school, Charlie and Selena, I have learned a lot about the history of the country. Charlie served as a doctor there during the Civil War and Selena is Salvadorian herself and has told me that I must meet her family there if I am sent to El Salvador, which I greatly look forward to! Especially after spending time in Guatemala this fall, I became really interested in the nature of a country in the midst of the "democratic transition." Seeing how difficult and important implementing rule of law and the electoral process was for the Guatemalans was so inspiring and interesting. I think El Salvador will probably have a similar feel, though I look forward to forming more informed opinions once I get there. Additionally, reading other PC volunteers' blogs from El Salvador has reinforced the point that Salvadorians themselves are incredibly generous people.

Politics aside, other purely physical advantages of El Salvador include the amazing surfing beaches - though I am not good at surfing, I love surfing culture, and of course hope to improve! Beaches period are a plus, and the warm weather. Also the proximity to the US is also great, as it means that it will be easy for my many visitors to fly down, right guys? :) Additionally I think doing Peace Corps in a country that is as physically small as El Salvador will have advantages as well, in terms of proximity to other volunteers and the main city, allowing us to meet up more easily.

What else? At the moment I am sitting here in Turkey, a world away in more ways than distance. It's so hard to tell what my life will be like and I know there's little point in trying to do so, but at least now I know I can get excited about it.