I'm Walkin on Sunshine

"Everything that's coming into your life you are attracting into your life.
And it's attracted to you by the image you're holding in your mind."
-Rhonda Byrne, The Secret

The image of a red flag with a bright yellow sun bursting forth from its center has been the image in my mind's eye the past 2 1/2 weeks. When my Peace Corps Placement Officer initially asked me to consider Eastern Europe four weeks ago as a possible region for my upcoming placement, I scoffed at the idea: "Who does Peace Corps in Eastern Europe??" The prospect seemed dreary, depressing and cold. But it was either that or a remote village in Africa doing HIV/AIDS work, which also didn't speak to my soul.

Halfheartedly I found the map of Eastern Europe on the Peace Corps website and began perusing the country descriptions: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Macedonia... MACEDONIA. I fell in love with the country's flag before I knew anything about the country. In fact, if I were a flag, I would BE the Macedonian flag: bright red, bright yellow (my two fav colors) and a sun bursting forth...ingenious! Once I got past the flag, I discovered Macedonia to be a former republic of Yugoslavia, near the region where my Great-Grandma, Mariya Susich was born. She hopped a boat for America when she was only 16 years old! (And here I thought I was adventurous.) The thought of returning to the land of my Great-Grandparents resonated deeply with me. How amazing would it be to give back to a community who essentially gave me life! I emailed my Placement Officer to let her know my change in sentiment towards Eastern Europe. Within the hour, I received a reply: she found an excellent placement fit for me and would mail out my official invitation the following week. She wouldn't tell me the country, nor the region where I would be serving. I had to wait. The only information she could share with me is that I would be working with an NGO Development program with a strong emphasis on Environmental Education and Awareness.

Thanks to a group of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who created the website www.peacecorpswiki.org, I was able to compile a list of all (10) countries departing in September. From this list, I was able to weed out most of them based on the Peace Corps job descriptions for each country. Macedonia was the only perfect match, although I couldn't be sure. So for the past 2 1/2 weeks I have been trying fervently not to get my hopes up for Macedonia, while at the same time getting my hopes up for Macedonia. The anticipation has been brutal. I got home from a meeting yesterday afternoon to find that the UPS guy had attempted to deliver my Invitation packet, but couldn't leave it because I had to sign for it. My Aunt Carole decided we take things into our own hands. We called UPS to have the package delivered to their Customer Service Center located on the outskirts of Denver, nearly an hour's drive away. So last night at 8pm, my aunt and I made the trek out to the UPS compound to pick up my Peace Corps Invitation. When the truck finally arrived with my package, I tore it open right there in the UPS center and held my breath as I opened the packet...

"Dear Hana,
Congratulations! It is with great pleasure that we invite you to begin training in Macedonia for Peace Corps service..."

Happiness IS.
Hana T.