Dumela (Setswana- PC South Africa) or rather Lumela (Sesotho-Expat Dani in Lesotho) Dear Reader:
As soon as I accepted my new position, which would officially make me an expat, my parents and I began our feverish quest to find out what life would look like in my soon-to-be-new-hometown of Maseru. Oh sure, I've found the basic details like population size, weather patterns, geological make up, Peace Corps Volunteer doings, etc., but information about what to do, where to go, how, why and when have escaped me. I did find this cool map of Maseru though. So since I haven't found the type and amount of detail necessary to quench my thirst (read: My parents wondering if this is Peace Corps service Part Deux and what they did to make me want to move to a place that doesn't even have a mall), I've decided to start this whole blogging thing all over again to chart my journey of discovering what it means to be an expatriate...in Lesotho.
If you want to follow along, visit my new blog Expat Dani. Now that I'm starting this new endeavour, this will serve as the official last post on Living My Peace Corps Dreams (Yes, the end of an era...a moment of silence please.........). Onward and Upward we go!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Saturday, October 11, 2008
And the dream continues.
Hello Dear Reader-
It certainly has been a long time since I've posted anything...but I promise you'll understand why if you keep on reading. On July 18th, I took a United Airways flight from Jo'burg to Germany and Germany to Chicago and was met by my beaming father. I could not believe I was finally back home...on American soil...for good(?) Since being home, I've had the opportunity to travel from D.C. to New York, to Atlanta several times over, catching up with friends and family who kept me grounded and were eager to share in my two years serving in Peace Corps South Africa. I recounted stories, filled in the gaps that were evident and inevitable in this blog, and answered the daunting question: "So what next?"
So what next?
Starting in March, I began searching for jobs that would allow me to build on my Peace Corps experience: international public health/social equity/life abroad. In the end, I received two competing job offers. One offer was from a top medical school working in global HIV prevention programing. The position would be responsible for providing technical support to South African health care providers in the area of the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT). It would require 3 to 5 trips a year to South Africa. The second offer, of which I accepted, is to serve as the Program Coordinator for a prominent US-based university that implements PMTCT programs in Lesotho. I will be coordinating program planning and implementation activities for the university in Lesotho. Yes, this means that within a month I will be relocating to Maseru, Lesotho indefinitely! You heard it right, I just left and now I'm going back, not as a volunteer but as a paid employee! I am so excited!!!! This is what I've wanted to do and now I finally get a chance to do it!
Still living out my dreams!
It certainly has been a long time since I've posted anything...but I promise you'll understand why if you keep on reading. On July 18th, I took a United Airways flight from Jo'burg to Germany and Germany to Chicago and was met by my beaming father. I could not believe I was finally back home...on American soil...for good(?) Since being home, I've had the opportunity to travel from D.C. to New York, to Atlanta several times over, catching up with friends and family who kept me grounded and were eager to share in my two years serving in Peace Corps South Africa. I recounted stories, filled in the gaps that were evident and inevitable in this blog, and answered the daunting question: "So what next?"
So what next?
Starting in March, I began searching for jobs that would allow me to build on my Peace Corps experience: international public health/social equity/life abroad. In the end, I received two competing job offers. One offer was from a top medical school working in global HIV prevention programing. The position would be responsible for providing technical support to South African health care providers in the area of the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT). It would require 3 to 5 trips a year to South Africa. The second offer, of which I accepted, is to serve as the Program Coordinator for a prominent US-based university that implements PMTCT programs in Lesotho. I will be coordinating program planning and implementation activities for the university in Lesotho. Yes, this means that within a month I will be relocating to Maseru, Lesotho indefinitely! You heard it right, I just left and now I'm going back, not as a volunteer but as a paid employee! I am so excited!!!! This is what I've wanted to do and now I finally get a chance to do it!
Still living out my dreams!
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