Lesson #2: The Chambre on Why We Really ETed

As I sit here enjoying the aircon at the in-laws I can't help but feel like a failure. How is it possible for one to feel like while one has made the right choice, but at the same time not be able to deny the feelings of failure seeping out of one's pores? Perhaps that's a rhetorical question best left unanswered.

Yes, Peace Corps is hard. Yes, I had days where I hated El Salvador and could only think about being in Australia. Yes, I even felt depressed because I knew that I would not be able to return to Australia. Yes, I had plenty of great experiences. And yes, our time with Peace Corps/El Salvador was brief. However, none of these reasons have to do with why we ETed one week short of site placement or three weeks before the end of training.

The brutally honest reason is that we found an alternative way to live and work abroad for longer: Migrate to Australia!

We could have stayed in El Salvador for a year and then decided to migrate to Australia, however we decided that to be fair to both ourselves and our future community and counterparts, ETing before they had found a permanent community for us, which is next week, seemed like the most responsible choice. Everyone wins, our future community won't miss us or think poorly of Peace Corps and Peace Corps staff wouldn't have used their time in vain.

Peace Corps will be an opportunity that will be available to us later down the road, however, the chance to migrate to Australia most likely will not due to many reasons, of which age and lack of directly applicable work experience are two.

You might be thinking, "How can you spend a year working on an application process, get there and then just leave?". That's exactly what I said. But it's only until you get there that you can figure out whether Peace Corps really fits into your life plan or it doesn't. And for us, right now, it doesn't.

So fellow readers, during the next week this blog will be undergoing some changes to accommodate the witty documentation of our next adventure: migrating to Australia

Best,
Adrianna the rogue ex-Peace Corps volunteer