Site Placement

As I mentally freaked out a little a couple days before finding out my site placement, the weight of this reality bore down on my thoughts.  I was about to find out where I would be living for two years.  I also felt somewhat nervous as I soaked in the enormity of this unknown; I have never in my life been assigned a place to live for two years. I chose my college, I chose my foreign study location, but this huge decision hangs in the air without my final input.  Then I realized that this was the exact same anxiety I was harvesting just six months ago as I awaited that stuffed white Peace Corps envelope in the mail labeled boldly, "INVITATION."  I was constantly staring at a map of the entire continent of Africa pondering what my future had in store for me, and now here I am, five weeks into my life in Ethiopia—the simple matter of what town I am placed seems like a minor decision.

I am here in Ethiopia with the Peace Corps; I surrendered major decision-making privileges long ago, which is also exactly what I needed.  As a recent college graduate, I could not place that next tack in my bulletin-board map-of-the-world myself.  I was in need of a passion and a destination, which is why I joined Peace Corps.  For a while, I added countries and cities to my "Must See" list without a cause or reason, and now I can envision a life abroad with meaning and adventure both.  I did not choose Ethiopia as my new home, but after living here for just over one month I already love this country.  I am filled with purpose just by being here is Ethiopia and yet again I find myself unable to place that next exact location on the map for myself.  Peace Corps has once more intervened to guide my footsteps, and I am so grateful for that direction.
 

I just found out my site placement!

My home for the next two years is Dangila, Ethiopia.  I am so excited about my placement! Here is pretty much all I know about it so far: It is a smaller town (population of approximately 50,000), it is in the Amhara Region (which means I will continue learning Amharic), it is only a couple hours away from Bahir Dar (a bigger city where I can access some Western amenities).  My Ethiopia Bradt tour book mentions my town once when instructing people how to get from Debre Markos to Bahir Dar.  "There is plenty of budget accommodation in Dangila in the unlikely event you were to get stuck there overnight."  Haha.  Despite the negative tone in that small passage, I am very excited to be 'off the map' a little bit.  All my site placement requests were met and I am very grateful for that.
 
My direct counterpart that I will be working with is HAPCO, and I was told today that there is a very motivated Women's Group in the town that wants to work with me as well.  I look forward to finally getting my feet wet in this whole process by spending next week in Dangila! The information is still vague, but that again is part of being a PCV.  When I do move to site in the middle of February, the town truly is a blank canvas and I anticipate using my creativity to help in any way I can. As for now, my three main goals next week are to open a bank account, set up a PO Box, and buy a bed.  I will update when I can from Dangila, which I am told has occasional internet. Wish me luck!