Maryknoll

So I am staying at the Lay missioners house here in Ossining N.Y. My travels were fine, and I met another girl on my way up on the train who was headed to an interview in Syracuse for a position as a physician's assistant. My trip was great, a couple delays when a train engine wasn't functioning properly and we had to move to another, and there was a little ice and snow on the way. There is one other candidate here with me interviewing now (they have interviews from the summer right up until april) she is from Michigan and is the mother of six children. Her youngest recently turned 18, and she has one grandchild. She is hoping to be placed in a Spanish speaking country if chosen.

SO while I did have my heart set on Brazil it seems that won't be a possibility if I chose to go through Maryknoll, as the only options this year are Kenya, East Timor, Cambodia, and El Salvador. I feel like I have had a lot of little "no"s lately that have been preparing me to accept that things don't always go as I want them, but it doesn't mean it wouldn't be a blessing to serve in any one of those places. I am still excited about the interview process and am so glad I have come this far. I am still doing research about the countries but think that I would want to be placed in either East Timor or Cambodia because I really do want to learn another language. I think my first choice would actually be East Timor. While only 5-25% of the population actually use it Portuguese is one of the official languages in East Timor. I do have one friend in Cambodia right now working for the peace corps, and I have a friend headed to Indonesia this upcoming Monday who will be teaching english and visiting her family there for six months (her mother speaks indonesian and maybe I might be able to get a few lessons:-). I am excited by all the possibilities. I love to travel, and do plan to see the world, so I figure I should take big leaps while my brain is still young and apt for learning and adjusting to new circumstances. I loved Island life in the west indies, so maybe I'll get to visit the east indies:-)