Plans within Plans

Is it bad that i haven't been into civilization for about a month? I don't feel any different, but when i come into the city, the first thing i do is put on my 'city clothes' and constantly want to wash my feet.

That's right, folks. I live in BFE. If I were to post pictures of what I look like on a daily basis, you would flip out. I'm tellin ya, it's worse than college. And I believe a lot of you had strong feelings about what i wore in college as well.

Hey...she looks Gooooood....

So last week was our Close Of Service conference. This means my group that I came in with over 2 years ago, now has to get mentally, medically, and materially ready to leave Paraguay in less than 3 months.

I will admit, I have had a few panic attacks already. Thoughts like, 'I won't be preparing the terere for my family when I get home' or 'What happens when I'm really craving deep fried tortillas from my favorite señora!'

But all in all, I think I'm ready to move on. To what...well...that's another question.


I'm trying to block out all the career stuff that I have to think about, like student loans, grad school, getting back into landscape design, etc. What I HAVE been thinking about is where i want to go when i get back for Cassie's Road Trip 2010.

• After Peace Corps, Anthony and I will be traveling to Columbia. We want to tour the Lost City.This sounds like a great trek through the jungle for 6 days and 5 nights with nuthin but a mosquito net and a hammok. But seriously, should i bring 2 machetes or just one? It's a toughy.

• After descending in the Washington DC area to enjoy Christmas with a new fam, should i pack heavy for the east coast winter? I have my thickest pair of torn up cargo pants I found in the Free Box at the Peace Corps office over 2 years ago. I think I'll fit in nicely in our nation's capital.








• After a week's stay in Pittsburg I hope my 2 year old underwear that is about as big as my torso due to washing in a bucket suffice for a final plane ride back to Kansas City. My mom says i have tons of old clothes awaiting me in my closet, but alas, am I ready to don the high heels of hip urban bar fly society? Only time can tell.



• My stepdad is giving me his old jeep, in which we can scurry off to Denver, Saint Louis, and finally Nashville, where I'm sure my talents on my brand new Paraguayan guitar will woo the socks off those record producers having dinner at the local Mexican restaurant in the strip mall. I am a one-woman paraguayan polka band. Thank gawd I kept the floral señor skirt which is 4 sizes too big, and just one big resewn mess. I think in Nashville most people only bathe once a week in a bucket too, right? I'm sure to find lots of friends.

while this is not a photo of myself, it is a photo of a peace corps volunteer bathing similar to myself- but i have never let my hair get that long....i swear....

• Onto Georgia and then down to Florida, all the while camping out in the jeep in the cold March springtime. I just hope it's okay to use the bathroom where ever there is a spare bush. I mean, who wants to cart around corncobs the whole time when i can just use the thrifty nickel!!! Ahhh a week or two at the beach. Since Paraguay is a landlocked country, I just hope Florida has more than just 1 kind of fish, and the eels aren't so small. One can always dream....

So there it is, folks. After March, I will be fully ready for someone to just GIVE such a well adjusted Returned Peace Corps Volunteer a job. Preferably with up to an hour terere breaks.