Friday, August 22, 2008

The End... and the Beginning

Friends and Family! I believe that this will be the last time that I use this forum to communicate. I have been inconsistent and lazy when it came to updating all of you, and for that I apologize.

I am currently in transition from one thing to another. My work in Ecuador has ended and I tearfully left my adopted family, some very good friends, my little town, and the amazing mountains behind. Currently I am visiting some friends who live in Guatemala as I gradually make my way back to Michigan. I will be here for another week before heading to New York City to see Marni. A week later, I will be in Terra Houte visiting Dan and Bethany, and finally I will make it back up to Mom, Dad, and Katie in the middle of September.

The journey only pauses there, however, since at the beginning of October I will be heading out to Seattle to take a job with the Phinney Neighborhood Association. I will be in charge of their tech center, as well as attempting to build relationships in the Spanish-speaking community in the neighborhood in order to assess its needs and connect it to the Association.

I am excited about the change, but also apprehensive about some "old" things. The opportunitiy to see a new city, the chance to start a new job with different challenges (a welcome change), meeting new people and making new friends, but also an "old" culture and way of life, which I am supposed to know and be accustomed to, although I am not so sure that I will adjust back to so readily.

Although nervous, I am eager to see family and friends in this next month and then get started with a new period in my life. Change always holds opportunity, so I am ready to adjust and learn and grow as I find myself in another situation under different circumstances.