2006-04-13 - 10:16 p.m.

So I promised to write an entry this week, and God it is so hard. I know what I want to write about even, but feel so lame having not written in so long that I’m scared to even show my face on this site. Needless to say things have been ridiculously busy. I will hopefully get the chance to regale you all with a few of the details involving: a.) Me losing complete faith in this country and almost coming home, and b.) Me regaining faith and agreeing to extend for a third year. It is official. I have signed my life away to Peace Corps for a third year of service. This is good and bad news for a lot of people. For me these last few days have been incredible.

I had applied for several positions working in PC Mauritania this summer and for my third year. Much to my surprise, I got everything I applied for. So, first off, this summer I will be moving to Kaedi again, this time to train the new set of invitees as the EE trainer. It is a great job and will really bring my service full circle. I will most likely be involving Molly Bayer a lot. She and I have had very different services and both have a lot to bring to the program. Secondly, as of June 1, on paper, I am a resident of Nouakchott and will be living there after training (Sep 9th). I have two positions there. The first is huge. I will be the GAD coordinator, which is the person in charge of all of the Girls Mentoring Centers in Mauritania. The GAD program is going to turn into it’s own sector in two years, so I am acting as an APCD (assistant director) during the interim. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t mildly intimidated by the role, but it will be an amazing experience and I am extremely passionate about the program. I only hope I will bring as much expertise and wealth to the position as my predecessors. My second position in Nouakchott is as EE coordinator. This is a lesser role, but still very important and prestigious. I will follow up my job as trainer this summer and continue giving guidance to new and old volunteers in EE related topics. I will be organizing meetings and events as well as giving project assistance.

I am extremely happy about all of this. It means so much to me to see that my work here has been noticed and that people have put this much faith in me.

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