I am no longer a HELP International volunteer.

That's right, I'm not a HELP volunteer. I was supposed to be down here volunteering for two months, but now my plans have changed.

A week ago, Arturo, our Program/Country Director, asked if he could talk with me for a minute. And he told me that he was impressed with my abilities to speak Spanish, and to be a leader, and blahblahblah. I was just waiting for him to say, "But, you actually suck. So we're sending you home."

BUT.... it never came.

Instead, he offered me the open position of Country Director over Nicaragua.

Every country has two Country Directors. They're in charge of keeping track of all the volunteers, recording all the finances, reviewing project proposals, communicating with partner NGOs, etc. Megan and Abe were our two Country Directors, until Abe was offered another job. So Arturo came down to help start the summer off, but in about a week he's leaving to go do some project evaluation in El Salvador and then a team evaluation in Belize. So the HELP office has been looking for a second Nicaragua Country Director. And now, that's me!

So now I'm staying in Nicaragua until the end of August. I don't get paid while I'm in country, but when I get back to the US, I'll have part-time employment with HELP until December. During that time Megan and I will be working together on project evaluation and the Nicaragua year-end report.

Basically, I'm WAY excited. And also way humbled (I know, it's hard to believe... but even I have the occasional humbling experience). But seriously, all the other Country Directors are working on their Masters in Development, or they've been president of other NGOs, or they've been traveling internationally their whole lives. I'm two semesters into the Undergrad International Relations program, I used to be a cashier, and this trip was the first time I've ever left the United States.

It was a tough decision to make. I love and miss everyone in the United States, but I'm also in love with Leon and development work. So I will be here until August, helping people, improving my Spanish, and (hopefully) getting an awesome tan.

I'm way grateful for this super awesome opportunity and I hope that my efforts as Country Director will have an even bigger positive impact on the people of Nicaragua than my efforts as a volunteer.