The Time Everything Worked Out, Exactly As it Should Have

As mentioned in my previous post, I am no longer a PCV in Rwanda. So if you are looking for a post about life there, this is not it. However, the story about how I came to leave Rwanda and how perfectly timed it was with my future life plans merits telling, so here it is.
I quit Peace Corps on a Tuesday morning which was a national holiday, I took a moto taxi out of  my school at 5am and didn't look back. By 11am I had arrived PC's Kigali headquarters where I first had to alert my boss that I was quitting by calling it thru her window - she wanted to know why I was in Kigali without permission - in the middle of her morning meeting. Off to a great start. Once a PCV resigns they have 72 hours to process the paperwork and get you out of country - due to the holiday I got an extra 24ish hours. But here's the part where things get crazy:
In December shortly after moving into my permanent site I had a serious security situation where a coworker of mine was harassing me in the middle of the night, while the whole thing was being sorted out  I stayed in Kigali for a few nights. I was naturally upset and decided to send in a few law school apps to the schools that had sent me fee waivers (i took the LSAT before graduating college) just as a safety net. For some added security I also sent in app to my top choice school, American in DC, figuring it wasn't so bad to pay for one application. After the security issue was resolved I returned to my site and figured I could defer an enrollment if I got in. I was accepted to one law school and waitlisted at American, so I put myself on the waitlist just to see how things shook out and applied for a deferment at the second. The morning after I arrived in Kigali I was still waitlisted and hadn't heard a decision on my deferment request.  I called the first school to see if I could still be accepted into this years class, which they gladly agreed to if I sent in a deposit in 72 hours - turns out I had decided to resign the week law schools were selecting their waitlist candidates. I held off sending the deposit figuring it would be easier to send once I was in the USA (which was now less than 72 hours away). That same afternoon American emailed me saying they were filling their waitlist spots and asking if I was still interested in a place, when I answered in the affirmative I got an email to send in a deposit immediately. Both the first and second email contained a 24 hour time limit to respond before the offer expired. If i was in my village I wouldn't have even seen the emails in time!! With 24 hours to go before my flight I wired the money to American and officially secured my spot in their class of 2015. American even runs a program on educating local students on the Rwandan genocide, that you know I'm going to get involved in somehow. I found an apartment a few days after getting home. It was a friend of my aunt's who was willing to give me a short term summer lease. I signed the lease site unseen. Later when i typed the address into google maps I was shocked and amused to see that the Rwandan embassy to the United states is on the same block!!  I can't wait to greet the guards in Kinyarwanda. So the moral of this rambling tale is that I see that as the last positive omen, out of many, demonstrating that this was the best decision for me personally and professionally. I move tomorrow! Wish me luck! nta komeza (i am going forward)

Resignation

It's officially been a month since my plane landed at JFK, ending my Peace Corps adventure and reuniting me with the great country of America, so it felt like time for an explanation. I wasn't going to post anything on her about my decision to resign, or in PC lingo early terminate, but this weekend I was at an event with family and friends who were consistently shocked to see me back on this side of the world and thought maybe an official announcement to the cyber world was in order. Also, this blog is linked to peacecorpsjournals.com where I know a lot of people considering joining peace corps go to try and understand the culture before they join and sadly, early termination is definitely a part of the culture. While I won't comment here on my own reasons for leaving, except to say that it was a decision to leave Rwanda and not Peace Corps, my issues were all specific to the culture, my site, and my personal situation. They in no way reflect on the operation or mission of PC Rwanda which I still support with all my heart. Let me say a few things about Early termination, for all those of you thinking of joining PC. First of all it was painless, I arrived at my bosses office in Kigali and very calmly told her I wished to resign. Since I had shown up in person without any previous discussion she asked me to sit and explain myself, but also this was the moment of no return. No one in pc staff after that point tried to talk me into staying - which I appreciated whole heartedly. I then had 72 hours to get my medical exams and paperwork finished before I had to get on a plane home. My fellows PCVs also responded with nothing but understanding to what was a surprising decision to them as well. I have met a handful of people in PC who chose to stay long past the point where they were happy in their decision to be in country, people who were staying simply to say that they finished their 2 year commitment and while I understand the urge, that kind of stubborness isn't my nature and I had no desire to do it. From my fellow pcv's the response I got most often to my decision to leave was respect. Many people told me they hoped they had the courage to leave once they realized that had crossed that point, because they too knew people who had chosen to stay. It's hard to quit PC and when I quit I had no plan. I just knew I had to be anywhere but Rwanda and literally 24 hours after I resigned the next 3 years of my life fell into place perfectly leading me to believe once and for all that I had made the right choice (more on that later). So now I have a plan, and a new apartment, and a new city to explore but Rwanda has taken up permanent residence in my heart. Despite not finishing two years of service the 8 months I did do have changed forever my outlook on the world. And even without finishing I still find myself constantly engaging in PC's 3rd goal of explaining Rwanda to Americans - an especially important tasked as I've learned how poorly understood the genocide is here - which makes me feel like I haven't abandoned Rwanda entirely, I'm just helping it in the only way I can for the time being.
I plan to post a few more times on where I am now and final reflections on service, but I wanted to start with this.
Once and for all Rwanda Turi kumwe (we are together) but it's time for me to move on.