Stuff I got for Zambia

I had an amazing Christmas, as you can tell from the pictures.  I have more pictures on facebook.  

I also got a Marmont Sleeping Bag for 20 degree weather and the one in the picture is for 40 degree weather and only weighs 1 lb.  Not sure which one I am going to take yet. The camelback I might exchange for a solar shower bag.  I got some books, a sewing kit, some spools of thread, an 18 in 1 tool that has scissors, can opener, etc.  I got some travel books about Egypt and Greece, places I want to go after my service.  I also got a gift card for a bookstore and have a list of several books that I need to get about Zambia.  I also went through my closet and started packing up clothes, making piles of clothes to take to, and clothes to donate.  Its weird putting your life on hold for 2 years.  

Be kind to one another.  

Random Thoughts...

Thought #1

So my older sister has been in a relationship for the past 5 years and they are living together.  She is not engaged but keeps asking me what I plan on doing IF they get married while I am gone.  I told her I don't think I would come back for the wedding.  Not because I don't agree with it or because I want to miss the most important day of her life, BUT because I feel like if I return home the family might focus on my return and not HER big day.  I also don't know how many days I would allowed to be home for, and I know my friends and family would want to get together before the wedding.  I don't want me coming home to overshadow my sister getting married.  Also, the cost of the flight to get back home is out of this world.

Thought #2

The older I get (I'm only 25) the more I appreciate family, holidays and traditions.  Reason behind revelation:
I have been spinning at my gym for the past several months and I sit next to the same girl damn near every time.  We haven't talked until 2 weeks ago, just idle chit-chat-as much chatting that can be done while spinning.  Until last night, we found out that we both used to work for the same company.  We exchanged names and talked about mutual friends we knew.  When she left she wished me a Merry Christmas.  So did most of the other people in the class when leaving.  It made me happy.

Thought #3

I had a dream last night that I was flying back to Colorado before I left for the PC.  On the bus ride up to the mountains, I was telling people that I was leaving for Zambia at the end of January and what I would be doing.  I also was telling them that I have been following PC peoples blogs and a facebook group about other people who are leaving the same time as me.  I told them that I have not found anyone in my area that is doing the PC.  Then this guy told me he was from the Indy area and he too was doing the PC and leaving when I was leaving!!!

Thought #4

I throughly enjoy watching YouTube videos about people opening their PC invitations, staging, life in Zambia and any other videos related to the PC/Zambia.  It makes my heart happy.

Thought #5

Don't worry about anything, instead pray about everything.

Be kind to one another.

ZaMovie: Peace Corps Zambia: Part 1 of 2

This video is amazing. I cannot wait for my life to be like this.

I showed these videos to my mom...she couldn't stop crying.

I then showed it to my sister and my mom cried...AGAIN.

I'm riding solo.

So I'm treating myself to a mini vacation to Denver, Colorado this wed. through sunday.  My cousin and step-sister both live out there and so I am visiting them before I leave in January.  I am so excited for time away from work and spending it with family but this is the first vacation I have paid for all on my own.  I bought the plane ticket myself and this is the first time I will be flying alone.  Everything was paid for by my hard work at the daycare.  And it feels good.  

Be kind to one another. 

Why the Peace Corps?

I have had a lot of people tell me what I am doing is going to be amazing, life changing, a challenge. And I am not doing the PC for those types of reasons.   I have also heard people say WOW! I don't have the courage to do what your doing.  I also have heard...'no offense, but you don't seem like the type of person to do the peace corps.'  OUCH.


Well I feel like putting into words the "why" of this whole process is kind of hard because in my bones it just feels like what should be happening in my life, and verbalizing that kind of feeling is difficult. I've read a couple of others' "reasons" and I feel a sense of camaraderie with what's being said. A list of reasons feels, to me, like justifications to other people. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it doesn't get at the heart of it quite like a couple of quotes I've found:

"I think of my reason for joining the Peace Corps as more of a feeling, a state of being, or a calling that I rationalized with words and that is something you just can't verbalize to someone."

"It's just something I have to do."

The opportunity to travel.  I have been extremely lucky growing up as a child that we were given so many chances to travel.  I remember going on a vacation every year for spring break with my dad to the Cayman Islands.  That started when I was 8 or 9 - on our way to the airport for our first trip to an island, I asked my dad if islands could sink?  I didn't know, I was young and going to a new place.  I have also been lucky enough to experience Europe twice before the age of 18.  I went once on vacation with my family to Italy for two weeks and then went back a year later with my school as a sophomore in high school.  With my high school, we went to 7 different countries in two weeks.  AMAZING. I fantasize about filling my passport with tons of stamps.

The opportunity to do something for someone else that I have never meet before. 

I have been raised pretty well off. I'm not rich, but I've been very fortunate in a lot of other areas of my life. I'm pretty liberal when it comes to politics and I subscribe to the idea of "it's my responsibility to give something back." I know not everyone agrees with this, and I'm starting to be OK with that, but I want to "be the change" so to speak, so I'm starting with me. I can't afford to donate money to charities or my alma mater or start a foundation in my name, but I can give my time, my ideas, and my knowledge. I want to go to bed at night, every night of my life, knowing that I did something to help another person that day. I NEVER want to work solely for the money or for where it will get me, and I NEVER want my occupation to conflict with my morals.  I know that an education is one of the most important things in life.   It gives people opportunities they would never have otherwise, it unlocks and opens doors that weren't just closed before, but were invisible. I love that this is my chosen line of work, and I want to explore an aspect of it that is all at once extraordinary, inspiring, intimidating, formidable, and promising. 

To take advantage of an opportunity not everyone has.

I have been very well taken care of growing up as a child and put through college without myself having to worry about taking out loans or having massive amounts of debt when leaving college.  I figure why not do this amazing, incredible path in life that not everyone is brave enough to take on.  That not everyone is committed to doing something for someone else.  I am OK with doing something that only a select few have done in the past 50 years the PC has been around. 

I'd rather do something out of the ordinary and embrace the path my life IS on than complain about the path it ISN'T on. 

I can't think of a single reason NOT to do this.

Sleepless in Indiana.

I find myself daydreaming of Zambia in all moments that i’m not busy. I daydream of the friends I’m going to make within the other volunteers.  People I don’t know right now, but will surely change my life. I daydream of Zambian people that I hope will love me as much as I love them. I daydream of the heat and the rain and the feeling of hope that wells up inside of me when i think of the next 2+ years of my life.  I loose sleep at night because of these thoughts...and I'm OK with that.  

I also think that I went to school for 5 years (don't judge) to be a teacher and now I get a chance to share that knowledge with the people of Zambia, but it almost doesn't seem fair....they only get 2+ years of what I know...

will I even make a difference?

Packing List

So far for Africa I have :
1 Backpack-for extended travel maybe for long weekends
1 headlamp
1 little flashlight
1 multi-purpose tool-it has wire cutters, scissors, can opener, etc, all in one

Some of my coworkers have suggested disposal underwear...?  I kind of like the idea....I am also not exactly sure how it works, do you bury them when your finished?

Stayed tuned...

changes.

I would not be writing this blog if it weren't for my past relationship.  I am SO THANKFUL for the way my relationship has ended.
I was in a relationship for about a 1yearish on and off.  We meet while it was my last year in college and continued until I moved home in march.  I moved into his house about 4 months after being together and it was all down hill from there.  The day I moved in was the day we had our first major fight, and it never stopped until I moved out.  I think I lived with him for about 3 months and couldn't take it anymore.  I don't even know why this one fight was the one that ended it all but it did and I couldn't be more thankful.  I actually am thankful for meeting him and thankful for him being him.  I am glad he had his flaws and his issues because if he had been perfect and HAD been the one for me I wouldn't be writing this blog about my new adventures in the PC!!  I most likely would have been married, living in Chandler, Indiana and working at a piece of shit job that I would HATE going to.  YUCK.

Support.

I have the BEST support system for my choice in joining the PC.  I have told all my parents at work and they are so thrilled for my new adventures!!!  One of my parents told me about this organization called One Laptop Per Child.  It is a company/organization thats main goal is to give one classroom in a community a laptop for every child in that class.  They are computers that are meant for areas like Africa, durable, dirt proof, etc.  They are powered by a towns person on a bike.  Which is awesome because the program not only gives laptops to children in schools but it gives a towns person a job!!!  I know I don't have my own classroom that I will be teaching but anything I can do is better than nothing.  And knowing this website before I leave is helpful, too.  Check out the website below to learn more...

http://laptop.org/

Africa, Baby!!!

Hello!!!
Well as you all most likely know I have joined the Peace Corps and will be leaving for Zambia, Africa January 31, 2011.  My job title is a Community Education Specialist working with the Rural Education Project.  I will be gone for 27 months.  The first 3 months is for training and then the 2 years is for my service.  Hence the title 730 days in Africa (even though 27 months is more than 730 days, that number sounds nicer than what the 27 months does)  I couldn't be more excited!!!!
I guess I should start from the beginning about how this all started....

I have wanted to do the Peace Corps since I was in high school.  I think because the travel aspect really interested me.  I had been to Europe twice before and Mexico for missions trips while still in high school and the PC combined travel AND the ability to change lives.

So high school came and went and on to bigger and better things....COLLEGE!!!  I remember seeing a poster somewhere on campus my freshman year about an informational meeting about the PC.  It was held via satellite with a returned PC volunteer.  Going into the meeting I did not know exactly what the PC did but leaving that meeting I knew I wanted to be a part of it.

I always told my family and friends that I wanted to join the PC but I think they thought it would never actually happen.  Neither did I.

Time went on and so did college and before I knew it I was student teaching, graduating and had a job at the school I did my student teaching with.  While I was student teaching, I started filling out applications for teaching jobs near home and I also started my PC application.  After graduation I did not move home, I stayed to take the job as a Special Education Resource Assistant.  I hated the job.  So needless to say I quit the job mid March 2010 and moved back home.  I got a job at the best daycare ever as a Lead Toddler Teacher and continued to work on my PC application.

I submitted my application maybe at the end of March.  Even though the process has taken me almost 10 months from start to finish....I know that it will be worth it in the end.


I had my phone interview with my recruiter in Chicago, then was sent a nomination.  I was sent my nomination along with general information about where I would be going and what I would be doing.  Orginally it was the Pacific Islands and I would be a Primary Education Teacher.  They also told me my departure was for October 5 2010.  (3 days before my 25th birthday)  Then,  I was sent my medical packet-which besides the application, to me, was the longest part of the entire process.  Since I had doctors while I was away at college I had to have several items faxed from them and doctors from when I was in high school or younger that I might not have seen for several years, paperwork from them.  It was tedious but so worth it.  I couldn't manage to get my medical/dental paperwork done in time so I was obviously placed elsewhere.  Which I think is a sign...not sure for what but I believe everything happens for a reason.

After ALL my paperwork was done I had to have one more little phone interview just confirming my information one more time and if anything about me has changed.  She asked me how I felt about Africa? me: AMAZING Then, she sent me an email asking how I think I would do with daily bike rides of up to 40km? me: AMAZING
I got an email back THAT DAY saying she would like to extend an invitation for me to serve as a PC volunteer!!!!!! More information would be coming in the mail.  Waiting for that Welcome Packet to arrive was exhausting.  Once it did WOW!!! I was a kid in a candy store!!!  I cried.  Called my mom and told her where and when I would be leaving and what I would be doing and her response: Well so this is really happening!!! me: Umm yea it is!!! I then called my dad and his response to my fantastic news was: So this is really going to happen??? me: Umm yea it is!!!

I was extremely excited to send my formal email accepting my invitation to serve in Zambia.  I was equally as excited to read about my new job descriptions and read my Zambia Welcome Book!!!!  It was a little odd having to fill out who I wanted my beneficiaries to be and if I wanted life insurance at the age 25 ( I opted to HAVE life insurance while gone).
So now I am just waiting for my staging information to arrive.  Staging is basically like orientation in the states and for us to get our passports, flight information and other last minute items we might need like shots etc.  I should be receiving that information around late December early January.

So now I am trying to sell my car before I leave.  I tried Craigslist like 5 times and a friend of mine also tried it and no luck.  I know I am technologically disadvantaged but really??!?!?!?
I have put in my 2 weeks at work and they are finding a replacement lead for me and I will hopefully help her with lesson planning etc...
I think thats it for now...Stayed tuned for more updates!!!