A New Home - But Where?

One of the inevitable parts of going through the Peace Corps application process is wondering where, just where, you are going to spend 27 months of your life. It's a great lesson in patience, flexibility, and keeping things in perspective. There is so much outside of your control. Because of this, you tend to read too much into certain things and create your own reasoning for where you'll be assigned and why. For example, is this week's snow in DC the universe's way of suggesting I may be assigned to a post in a cold, wintery region? There are many, many possibilities.

To somewhat mitigate this, ever since my interview when I was assigned to the Francophone Africa track, I've assumed I'll get assigned to one of the countries in that region with Peace Corps programs and without political coups going on. That actually eliminates the possibility of me getting posted in one third of Francophone Africa countries with Peace Corps programs. So my short list of potential countries was: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Senegal, and Togo. I even walked by the embassies of each of these countries, imagining the adventures I could have in each one. This is all assuming I don't get re-assigned to a different program and geographic area, a frequent occurence in the Peace Corps application process.

But it does pique my curiosity, to wonder what country will become my home for two years. I've created three "homes" away from my hometown now and home has become a relative concept, a collection of people and places I love, rather than one specific place. So naturally I am interested to learn where my new home will be as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and two nights ago I checked the Peace Corps website. Something caught my eye; the program in Sierra Leone, which had been suspended, is re-opening in 2010. Last night, as I was waiting for friends I walked around Dupont Circle and happened to walk by the Sierra Leone embassy. Was that a sign? I can't help but wonder.