Sept/Oct 2011 - Spring/Fall/Spring again

The beginning of the final quarter of this year found me back in the United States, enjoying my one-month home leave that comes with a full third year of service with the Peace Corps. I chose to take leave from mid-September through mid-October for many reasons, including the chance to a) experience a real autumn once again, including the annual Applejack Festival in my hometown, and b)celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Peace Corps with throngs of other PC folks during the last week of September in Washington, D.C. The trip was charmed from beginning to end, and thank you to all my family and friends who helped make it so. It brought home to me more than ever that all of life is a journey, and each day is a journey in and of itself. I packed so many memories into that one month that I can't begin to do them justice here, but I will have the memories in my mind for a lifetime. Meanwhile, here's just a partial list to share some highlights of the special sojourn:

-Applejack Festival in Nebraska City, Nebraska, also home of Arbor Day
-Peace Corps 50th Anniversary events in Washington D.C., Sept 22-25
-PC Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill, PC Anniversary Gala + Dance,
-PC Memorial Service at Arlington National Cemetery, Parade of Flags from the cemetery to the Lincoln Memorial
(Bonus: The National Book Festival was held on the National Mall during this same weekend - so I was in hog heaven!!!)
-New York City area - visited oldest nephew at college and dined with dear friends in Manhattan
-Boston/Brookline - barely in the Beantown area 48 hours, dined with galpals in Brookline and visited my friends at the Literacy Connection. (Sorry I didn't have more time to see more of you--next year when I'm back in the States for good!)
-D.C. again (home base during my East Coast swing, special thanks to MB!) - back in time for a special screening of Emilio Estevez's and Martin Sheen's latest movie The Way . (I was able to attend thanks to my dear friend Carmen Estevez, who invited me to join in seeing the "family film" and also join the Q&A and reception following.) SEE THIS MOVIE, about how life is indeed a journey! Also visited the Pentagon's 9/11 Memorial and the MLK Jr. Memorial
-First Monday in October--sat in on part of the Supreme Court's first day in session
-Nebraska Library Conference - donated some Paraguayan ñanduti to the conference's silent auction, and whizzed through the exhibits to bring back freebies for our next library workshop
-Road trip to Lawrence, Kansas with sisters to visit our oldest niece who is a freshman at KU
-Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska on a home football Saturday--witnessed the Huskers first Big 10 conference home game, a brilliant victory over Ohio State.
-One relatively quiet week in lovely hometown, including a trip to high school alma mater to speak to a Spanish class, a meeting at the local library to give letters to kids from their Paraguayan pen pals, sitting in on a local book club discussion, walks through Arbor Lodge State Park with my mom, and drives through the neighboring countryside. It was good to have some time to just be....to count my blessings, to reflect...Aaah, my view of the harvest moon on Thursday, October 13, while seated in an adirondack chair on the terrace of the Lied Lodge...emblazoned in my memory bank for eternity. How I love my hometown, especially in the fall!

Again, this partial sketch doesn't capture the full essence of the trip, which again, was simply a GREAT MONTH, from beginning to end. I enjoyed all the time I had to spend with friends and family, yet there's never enough time to see and do everything you'd like. To all of you I didn't get to see during this whirlwind, there's always next year! I was very humbled by this dream trip, and feel more blessed than ever.

It's still springtime in Paraguay, so the switch from spring from fall to spring again has been pretty comfortable. I was back in time to share in a belated celebration of Paraguay's National Day of the Librarian, observed on Oct. 16. My Japanese friend Yoshiko, founder of the Fundacion Biblioteca Maximilian Freundorfer in Asuncion, invited me to lunch with her board and volunteers, after which we went to her library where I gave on talk on PC Volunteer library projects in this country. Now I'm back in Villarrica. I brought back Halloween treats from the States for the kids at the Cultural Center--how many pounds of candy corn must have been in my suitcase?!