Beautiful Luck!

What an AMAZING day!!!! After a very fun day of teaching I had to help recruit for AmeriCorps at the "Career Fair" on my campus. I went with no intention of trying to find a job; I was simply getting hours in for AmeriCorps. :) However, as things tend to come at unexpected times, I was instantly greeted by a Peace Corps booth. I stopped by and introduced myself, and after a friendly conversation with the recruiter, I was invited to attend a presentation she was holding tonight on her experience in Kenya. I eagerly agreed, and then attended to my AmeriCorps booth. The fair itself was amazing (I was randomly offered 2 full-time summer jobs…both with benefits), after the fair I discovered that my phone (lost for 3 days) was found by a wonderfully kind woman who returned it, and then I checked my mail, where I received an invitation to a "Peace Corps Send Off Celebration” in Iowa City next week. Sooo I was feeling pretty high at this point, and at 7:00 I walked into the Kenya presentation, eager to be blown away even more by fun Peace Corps Karma.

The meeting itself was a bit uninformative, in all honesty. The recruiter was amazing and she had a great presentation; I’m sure the other girl (there was only 2 of us in attendance) found the session very informative. However, it was primarily for people interested in applying, and so it focused on how to apply, what PC looks for, etc. Basically, all things I've already gone through. Towards the end of the session, however, 3 individuals walked in, apologizing for being late. I was instantly drawn to one girl, who was a beautiful shade of black, much like any North African I've ever seen. When the recruiter opened up the session to questions, the 3 latecomers asked about how to apply, so the recruiter suggested I tell them about my own application process, since I'm in it now. I gave them a brief recap of my application process, which was eagerly greeted by "Oh! Morocco! How amazing!" I laughed and responded, "Well, knock on wood," and the beautiful black girl quickly said "Insa’allah" (meaning "God willing" in Moroccan Arabic). I naturally gasped and asked how she knew that, and she eagerly told me she knows Arabic because her mom is from Sudan (my favorite country in the world!!!) and her dad is from Kenya. She proceeded to tell me her best friend is from Morocco (they both attend University of Dubuque, a college 5 minutes away from Loras), and that they would love to give me Arabic lessons!!!!! What beautiful, amazing luck! And it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time…Lately I’ve been so discouraged about not getting an invite, yet; this was a great pick-me-up and a beautiful way to end my day! :)