Reclaimed Blog! I'm back yall!

So, my new friend Brian has been getting to know me by reading my old blog.  Shout out to Brian!!!
His good reviews are so encouraging, he made me want to re-read my work and get reacquainted with
my 23 year old self who was facing the greatest adventure of her life - Peace Corps Costa Rica.  I was
quoting scriptures and using big words like “parabolic discussion”. Apparently, attending church was
great for my intellectual as well as spiritual life.  

14 years later I’m encouraged to blog again.  I may only have a current following of Brian, and me.  But
my old blog reminded me that writing is cathartic and posting my musings to the interwebs to be
publicly available for all eternity is pretty epic.Therefore, this new chapter of the blog is dedicated to life
as I now know it...and my recent & upcoming adventures. 

Recent History:

Let’s begin with 35 year old Joya who adventured back to Costa Rica for graduate studies at University
for Peace in Ciudad Colon, San Jose, Costa Rica.  I was still unmarried, no kids and “free”. My dog
ran away or got stolen, and I mourned for 6 months. Then, I sold my pretty blue house (for a mint),
and headed back to heal my regrets and sankofa “return and go get” the best parts of my previous
experience living in the tropical Spanish-speaking country. I thought I would work for the United Nations
immediately after the 12 month accelerated Masters Program, for a target salary of $70,000 per year.

I was politely discouraged by many people at UPeace whom I told I wanted to work for the United
Nations.  My declaration was met with blank stares or raised eyebrows and the comment, “It’s really
competitive”. I got a pretty rude awakening to realize that attending the university established by the
UN General Assembly didn’t make it necessarily any easier to obtain UN employment...The University
is proud to not be funded by the UN and therefore free to criticize her actions and shortcomings, often. 
Even after thorough critical analysis of some of the failures of the UN, I remain decided that it is the best
organization we have for international cooperation. Even if the work of the UN is just talk, we need this
international stage for talk to become the walk towards positive peace and sustainable world development.

While I was studying though, I had a serious shock when my sister passed away suddenly.  It was the
second time that while living in Costa Rica, I lose a close family member. I felt a dark feeling about this
coincidence.  In 2007 it was my grandmother that passed, and my Peace Corps career never fully
recovered. This time, I finished attending classes, tried to remember how exquisitely happy I was
before my sister passed, and came straight home to be with my parents. I had no further plan.  

I know I’m feeling and accepting my grief in tiny little daily drops, and I feel a sort of haze and
existential question mark hanging over my head about where to go from here, and what my new role
in the family should be. Jamil was a type A personality, the responsible older sister - she organized all
the family vacations. My dad picked Jamil to help him pre-order his funeral arrangements.  It was
deeply entrenched in my identity to be the winged little sister, free spirited and with limited responsibility.
A year ago, I felt comfortable with the idea of living abroad indefinitely because my sister would be in the
USA to take care of any family emergencies.

Now up is down and right is left.  Is it the right thing to settle back down in Atlanta and see my parents
every week?  That makes me feel lonesome for the pretty blue house I sold. If I had planned on living
back in Atlanta 11 months later, I would not have sold my sweet renovated rental income house. Is it
the right thing to keep after my UN dream, in spite of “It’s really competitive” and that dark cloud
reminding me that people die while I’m off living in paradise.

In an effort to try to answer some of those questions, I’ve applied to some internships and jobs here
and abroad.  This exercise will test the power of my UPeace Master’s Degree, and allow the universe
to send me an answer. So stay tuned to see how the life and times of a Returned Peace Corps
Volunteer develop!

Future Adventure Ideas:

Shipping container house, 

Short school bus RV conversion = skoolie, 

Farming on the rooftops of Nairobi!?!

Visiting my family friend Shanice who is currently serving in Peace Corps Morocco!

Comment below to say which ideas you find interesting?

Pura Vida!