goals.

one of our assignments for today was to journal about our goals for this year. why not make it a blog post, thought she. 

the decision to move abroad, for me, has been a long time coming. from the moment i set foot outside of my native country when i was 19, i could appreciate the value and see the importance of understanding and embracing other cultures. after two years of working in corporate america - a place that i am thankful to have lived in, but happy to be out of - i knew it was time for me to move on to something different completely. 

my reasons for coming here are endless: for an adventure, to learn spanish, to get out of my bubble, to just experience something new, to name a few.  but when i sit down to think about what i really want to get out of living here, in quito, ecuador, for eleven months, the list becomes quite different. yes, i want to learn spanish. yes, i am excited for the adventure. but there is much more i hope to accomplish while i am here, and while the list is shorter, the weight is much, much greater. my goals, if you will, are: 

1. to gain a true and deep understanding of the culture: to live among the people and live like them; to embrace all aspects of their culture while i am here, including the ones that i adore (a lackadaisical concept of time and a completely flexible schedule), as well as the ones i may never get used to (adults living with their parents until they get married, even if that means age 42). 

2. to stretch myself: if anything, living in a foreign place and speaking a foreign language will be challenging. it's one of those things that you can only prepare so much for, and eventually just have to go for it. kinda like diving into a river you've never swam in before... there's no telling what's below the surface, but your instinct tells you it is marvelous so you jump in anyway. 

3. to find more direction: my hope is that this year will help me to more clearly define what it is that i want to do with the rest of my life. part of the reason i came here was because i am interested in international affairs, relations and development and possibly want to pursue a graduate degree in one of those fields. i think spending some time internationally will push me in one way or the other, either feeding the passion or starving it. 

4. lastly, to make a difference: if i could help better just one person's life while i am here, i will be happy. 

"sometimes life just leads to the next thing and the next thing, and each one of those things brings us a little more to life, taps into a few more parts of us that were previously untapped. but every once in a while life opens up wide and drenches us, like getting hit by a wave and tumbled, and when we come up for are we see that it is offering to us something extraordinary."  -- shauna niequist