And we're back!

The last sunset in Rinconada.

I had to take a break from blogging for a while. I see this blog as sharing my experiences, what I'm learning, and what's going on in my bubble. For a while there was just so much happening so quickly that I didn't know how to summarize it for your reading pleasure. I missed you and I do apologize for my unexplained absence. Thanks to all of my friends and blog readers who contacted me to make sure that all is well.

So, my life in brief since Nov. 2, 2008:

Nov. 4: I closed Peace Corps service. DONE! My fiancee, Michael and I watched my country elect the first African-American President from a raucous and celebratory living room filled with gringos in Lima, Peru.

Nov. 6 - 13: I bussed it up to Ancash,Peru and hiked the Santa Cruz trail, a 3 day hike that reached 4,700 meters in the central Andes.

Nov. 19 - Dec. 9: I flew down to Argentina with my friends Casey, Amanda and Travis for a 3 week adventure. We visited the bottom of the world, Ushuaia where we hung out with a very kind guide named Leo. Then we bussed it up to El Calefate and El Chalten where we hiked in some beautiful mountains and celebrated Thanksgiving with Argentinian beef and a delicious Argentinean Malbec. Further north, in Bariloche I got hoppin' mad with a guy who nearly erased all of my photos when he was trying to burn them onto a CD. To calm my nerves Casey and I tasted copious amounts of wine and rode bikes in Mendoza, where I discovered that not all pink wine is gross. And finally, in Buenos Aires we ate lots of beef at fabulous restaurants, drank lots of wine, and watched living tango chess in a park.

Dec. 9 - 16: I returned to Lima where Michael and I spent a week with my parents and his family, getting to know one another and having meals together.

Dec. 17 - 20: I went to Washington DC for an interview with the US Agency for International Development (USAID). They freaking paid for me to go to DC from Lima for 3 days! I was stunned. I really didn't believe that it was actually going to happen.

Dec 24: I celebrated la Noche Buena with Michael's family in Lima. Missed my family terribly and felt more than a little guilty that I didn't go home for Christmas. But, I got over it and partied it up with Michael's family.

Dec 29: I realized that Michael and I have some pretty profound issues to work out and that I wasn't going to be able to resolve them from Peru, so far from my regular US life. I called up Peace Corps to ask them to fly me home, about 2 weeks earlier than expected. I received an email from USAID saying that I was no longer being considered for the position. :(

Dec 30 - 31: Flew to Austin arrived Dec 31 around 2:30PM.

Dec 31: I rang in the New Year with my parents, brother and his nearest and dearest at a party in his new condo. We toasted to love and life and my own shamelessness. My family was so happy to see me that they even took a temporary break from being mad at me for not being home at Christmas.

Jan 1: I gave out all of the Argentinian Christmas gifts that I had been saving for my family.

Jan 2: I bought and iPhone and some new underwear, and later obsessed about fabric for bridesmaid's dresses in my brother's wedding with his fiancee. She settled on shiny green for her big day in June.

Jan 3: I started actively hiding in my parent's house because I realized that everything in the US is huge, loud and fast. But, decided that I must escape once in a while to take advantage of my 10 day free trial gym membership.

Jan 6: I went to the social security office to try to replace my lost card, but I left after about 10 minutes of feeling like I was inside a Far Side cartoon and decided to return to hiding in the house. While I was hiding in the house I decided to call up the consulting firm that does the USAID interviews and see about what went awry only to discover that I didn't NOT get the job! It's not a "yes we love you" but, it's way better than a "no and please don't call again." The email that I received on Dec. 29 was an automated email generated when the online application service purged my application, but USAID IS still considering my application. YIPPEE!! a better kind of unemployed.

Jan 9: I did some more hiding in house and bought some makeup in an attempt to recover from the oh so glamorous Peace Corps-look.

Current state of affairs: I'm in Austin for at least a month and probably two. I'm still engaged and we're working on our problems. I'm looking for a job in a really rough job market. I'm going to visit family in St. Louis Jan. 28 - Feb. 4 and will be in Washington, DC for more job search fun Feb. 10 - 13.