last day of school

Today was the last day of school. I will miss my kids tons....

Love all you guys.

58 days

I leave in 58 days. 

Today my mom tried to talk me out of going into the Peace Corps. She's starting to freak out because I guess she is realizing how close it is getting. 

When I was studying abroad in the fall of 2007, I made a list of ambitions and things that I want to do in my life. A few of them included:

-Get a master's degree

-Be a teacher

-Live outside of the U.S. for a period of time

I graduate from graduate school next weekend with my masters degree in education. I have been a 7th grade teacher for the past year, and I love it, and I am about to embark on a journey of living outside the U.S. for a period of time. 27 months to be exact. None of these things were put on that list in hopes of accomplishing them in the near future, more so down the road, but suddenly 3 of the major ones have been crossed off the list. And almost effortlessly. How has that even happened? 

I need to make more lists. Maybe those things will fall into place just as easily. (hopefully hopeful.)

I am moving out of my apartment in about 3 more weeks in preparation to move to Honduras 4 weeks after that. I will be keeping my stuff in a storage unit for 2 years for a total of about $1700. Is it worth it? I am beginning to think that I should sell it all. 

Lista

Last week was spring break and my friend Callie and I ventured down to Puerto Rico. I forgot how much I have missed Latin culture and also all the frustrations that come along with it... I was really excited to get to practice my Spanish, but almost everyone on the island spoke English as well, so when I did try to speak Spanish, they would look at me like I was retarded and answer me in English. Why is that such a source of pride for some people? You really and truly aren't even speaking your true native language, but rather one of the oppressors. Why is there room to be prideful about a gringa speaking your so-called "first language"?

Puerto Ricans were the most on-time Latins that I have ever come in contact with. They try to be on time to events and things like a ferry leaving the port. I was very surprised by this. Not everyone held true to this though.... they say, "I am not slow, you are just in a hurry." True. It is so interesting to take a step back and look at culture: my own and someone else's. America is such a culture of instaneous reactions and results. Time moves faster here in the States.

Another thing I had forgotten about Latin culture is how social everything in life is. You can't just read a sign for directions, you have to ask someone. Then that person gives you directions to a half-way point, where you find another person to get you a little further along the road. You have to ask people for anything and everything you need, and nothing is ever as easily found as it would have been labeled at home. So along the way, you meet people. You interact with them, learn their names, and enter into their world, if only for a glimpse.

All this makes me excited and ready to be venturing into a new culture. I am ready to begin forming new relationships and live in a culture with so much social interaction, that I am probably going to be screaming for solitude.

95 days until packing up my life for Honduras.

HONDURAS!

I received my invitation today and I will be headed to Honduras on June 30, 2009 and I will serve until September 16, 2011. 

Wow. Is this really happening?

Yayyyyy!

It's official (well, almost)

Yesterday I received a call from the Peace Corps office in Washington, D.C. After a brief talk with my placement officer, she wished me congratulations and said that my invitation to serve is in the mail! I have a leave date of late June to Central or South America. I should hear any day now!

Apparently my timeline went rather quickly. I hear that it takes most people much, much longer to complete this grueling application process. Mine went:

-November(ish): completed application and references
-December 23, 2008: interview with recruiter
-December 30, 2008: nomination for the PC
-January 13, 2009: received my medical packet
-January 14, 2009: went to the doctor, dentist, and eyedoctor
-end of January 2009: repeat of many tests, blood work, etc.
-February 7, 2009: Peace Corps received my medical packet
-February 10(ish), 2009: dental clearance
-Febrary 19, 2009: medical clearance
-March 2, 2009: I'm invited!!!
-March 3, 2009: waiting for invitation :)

I'm very excited and emotional about all of this. I sat down and wrote my resignation today and turned it into my school principal. It's weird that I am leaving and not coming back here (at least for a few years).

Now the packing begins.....

:)

I leave in a little over 3 months. This is going to fly by.

Medical review

My file is "under medical review." How long could this possibly take?!? I am dying to find out where I am going.

Nerves

I have never felt how I feel right now. I am stuck in between two worlds: the one I'm living in now and the one I'm waiting to join (for 27 months).

I have applied and been nominated to serve in the Peace Corps with a prospective leave date of late June 2009 to either Central or South America. I have sent in my medical and dental reviews and I am just ready and waiting for what will come next.

So what do I do in the meantime? Well, I am continuing my job teaching Spanish to 7th graders in a public middle school in Huntsville, AL. I am so torn because every day I deepen relationships here and love my job more and more, but I know that in a few short months, I will be leaving all of this to start something brand new. This brings about such mixed emotions. I am nervous and excited all the same. I feel so lonely and disconnected already because I guess I am preparing myself, my emotions to leave all that I know and love here. How do you prepare yourself for this?

I honestly don't know, nor can I describe how I feel right now and the millions of thoughts that run through my head on a daily basis.

I guess this is a test of patience as I wait to see what is next: where I will go and when I will do so.....