yo

I'm in Nicaragua and it's awesome. I'm moving in with my host fam tomorrow to start PST (la segunda vez). Wish me luck. I'll blog when I can.
So far it reminds me a lot of Guinea but of course it's very different and new. It's rainy and green, and in some ways it reminds me of Mexico as well. The Spanish is different and harder to understand.
I am open and ready. Let's do this!

crazy vivid dreams and packing boxes

The mind tends to create strangely vivid dreams when a person travels, or even when a person is about to travel. Some of the most interesting dreams I can remember, I've dreamt in France or Africa, or right before coming or going to either one. Maybe it's the mind trying to make sense of life's changes. Maybe it's the mind trying to cope with subconscious fear of these changes.
Why fear? Why do our minds tend to resist change in all its inevitability?
Lately I've been having half-Spanish apocalyptic dreams. Subconsciously, perhaps, I'm trying to deal with the fact that I know that in about 16 days, my life is about to change in a big way and I don't know what it will look like.
Since I've come back from West Africa, I have settled into a pretty comfortable existence, even though I knew it'd be temporary, only until my next assignment. I created a routine that probably made my subconscious mind feel secure and safe and now I'm throwing myself back out of this comfort zone, into the vast unknown world. I'm doing it on purpose, yet a part of me resists.
Sorry subconscious mind, but I'm sure it's all for the best...

I've been packing my things for Nicaragua and getting rid of things I don't need. I'm storing some of my stuff in boxes in Joy's garage. I am labeling and organizing, which makes me feel calm. When I left for Guinea, it was all in a frenzy and I sort of threw my stuff together without rhyme or reason.
This time around, I feel like I have a better idea of what I'll need and what I won't. I also have a better idea of what I'd like to come home to in 2 years: not chaos! When I was evacuated from Guinea, I came home to a few boxes of things thrown together, many of which I had no immediate use for. This time I know what I'll want when I come back. Things that will comfort me in the re-adjustment process: sweatpants, Snuggies, running shoes, old t-shirts, photos, books and journals.
Every time I travel, I get better at it ;)
This time, I'm definitely bringing my yoga mat.

5 weeks to takeoff

Wow, time flies. I'm leaving for Nicaragua in 5 weeks. I'm posting my mailing address below. This address will only be valid for the first three months (September 2010 - end of November 2010), while I'm in training. After that, I'll post a new address when I move to my site.

Jessica (my last name), PCT
Voluntario del Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 3256
Managua, Nicaragua
Central America

Letters are especially appreciated during the stressful months of training!
If and when I have internet access, I'll update my blog and post photos on Flickr.

another slightly nostalgic entry about Guinea

It was a year ago today that I said my tearful goodbyes at the airport and flew to my Peace Corps Guinea staging in Philadelphia. (See entry for June 5, 2009) I would have never imagined what was to come. (See subsequent entries on evacuation, etc..)

Life is funny and unpredictable. I would have never thought that a year later I'd be back in Phoenix, waiting to embark on a new assignment in Nicaragua (leaving in 56 days!) I am filled with awe and gratitude for all of the little twists and turns that have steered me to where I am today, and I am open to the changes that the future will bring.

I am grateful for my brief experience with Peace Corps Guinea, and for all of the wonderful people I met there. (G-18, I love you!) I am grateful for learning how to bucket bathe, teach math in French, greet people in Fulani, fetch water from a well, and hand wash clothes. Not to mention having learned to integrate myself into a culture that is vastly different from my own.

I am grateful also for the time I've spent back at home after the evacuation. I have made new friends and done wonderful things in the past nine months, and I've had the opportunity to spend more time with friends and family.

I have learned so much in the past year-- much more that I could have imagined-- about myself and the world. I have grown and blossomed in too many ways to count.

Let's see where I'll be a year from now! If all goes as planned, I'll be in Nicaragua, using my summer vacation to work on English curriculum for my students. But you never know...

practicando español

¡hola!

I have about three months left in the US!

Since I am not really doing anything this summer, I've started brushing up on my Spanish by using the following techniques:

1. Talking to Mexicans!

2. Watching movies in Spanish

3. Listening to Spanish music

4. Talking to my Venezuelan cousin Ricardo on skype

5. Doing grammar exercises in a Spanish grammar workbook

6. Reading over my Spanish notes from college... back in 2003 (hace mucho tiempo)

I find that I understand most of the Spanish that I hear, but my responses are far from fluid. Sometimes I try to think of the best way to say something and my mind reverts to French.

Oh and I went to a used bookstore and traded in a bunch of my old books for some books in Spanish, including a yoga book. Maybe I can use it to start a yoga club at my school in Nicaragua! Wouldn't that be awesome?

Well, seeya later!

doing the same stuff I did before...

Last spring, when I got my invitation to Guinea, I had to do a whole bunch of stuff after accepting my invitation, like write an aspiration statement, update my resume and apply for a government passport and visa, not to mention the slew of other personal things to do like getting rid of stuff, storing stuff, canceling Netflix, selling car, etc...

Well now I'm doing the same stuff all over again, except this time most of it is done already. I don't have to get a government passport because I already have one! I just had to update my resume and sort of tweak my aspiration statement that I'd written for Guinea.

I felt like I was sort of cheating at first, but then I realized my aspirations haven't changed much since last year. For example:

My strategies for adapting to a new culture include:
- Withholding judgment and staying in the moment
- Remembering that cultural adjustment takes time and being patient with myself and others during that adjustment period
- Being accepting of and patient with different cultural behaviors, even ones that I may find puzzling
- Trying not to compare to the new culture to my own cultural background, and when I do, celebrating the differences

By the end of my service, I think that I will have gained an insatiable thirst for knowledge, traveling, and new experiences. This may shape my life differently or push me in directions that I cannot yet imagine. I hope that I will have been inspired to continue to engage in activities that will help communities and people in need. I hope that I will have grown into a more compassionate, more open, more aware and wiser person. I hope that I will have developed lasting and meaningful friendships.

So that was just a sample. Pretty good, huh? Don't copy me, other future PCVs! Haha!

Anyway, I also got rid of most of my things before serving in Guinea, but now I have the opportunity to re-assess what I should store and what I should take along and what I really don't need. Today I've been trying to organize my things that have been stored in Joy and Tony's garage. (They are sooo good to me!) I am getting rid of 90% of my substantial book collection, which sort of breaks my heart, but then I remember that it's just paper so get over it! I am getting rid of clothes I never wear. I am cleaning and simplifying and it feels good.

Another thing I'll have to do all over again is PST (Pre-Service Training). Hmmm. I've been reading about the PST in Nicaragua and it seems similar to the one I did in Guinea. It is a community-based training, which means I'll be living with a host family. I will have sessions on cross cultural stuff, health, language, teaching, etc...

Sometimes I think about going through the whole thing again and I'm like wooooaahh I'm crazy for doing this. But I must remember to be patient because it will be different and new this time and I'll do a stellar job because I've learned so much already in Guinea.

Also I'm excited about meeting my new training group. I know they will never be like G-18, but I'm sure they'll be awesome and smart and I'll love them all!

Can you feel it in the air? Everything is changing! I am blessed.

Next step: study Spanish! I've been slacking...

officially accepted my invitation!

I got my invitation packet in the mail today and read the job/country descriptions. I was right: it's a TEFL job in Nicaragua!
And of course I sent my acceptance email right away!

Here is a link to the Nicaragua Welcome Book: http://www.peacecorps.gov/welcomebooks/niwb524.pdf

In other news, some of my Peace Corps Guinea buddies will be coming to visit me in AZ next weekend. YAY!