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!

invitation on the way!

I got an email today from Peace Corps telling me to check my online toolkit and it said that there is an invitation kit on the way!
Once I get the invitation, I have ten days to accept or reject the assignment. The kit will contain information about my country and about the job I'll be doing there.

Now I'm not supposed to know this, but I am almost 100 percent sure that it is Nicaragua. I talked to a placement officer on the phone a few days ago and she told me that it's a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) program. She also said that I would be leaving in the end of August and I happen to know that Nicaragua has this program and the staging date is August 31.
I should be getting the invitation this week, so I'll write more when I get it.

For now, here's some info on Nicaragua: http://www.peacecorpswiki.org/Nicaragua

Peace!

medical clearance, por fin!

Dang that's a big deal! Now that I am dentally and medically cleared (again!), I should be getting a new assignment very soon. YAY!

got my stuff back from Africa

About an hour ago, I heard a knock at the door and I opened it to find a huge box sitting on the doorstep and a FedEx lady walking away. I knew immediately what it was: my long-awaited box of stuff I left in Guinea when I was evacuated in October of last year.
I opened it eagerly, feeling like it was Christmas. I was excited to get certain things back-- like my good shoes and my Camelbak water backpack, and I was also anticipating seeing the other things I had forgotten about. I opened it and the smell of West Africa came wafting out to meet my nostrils. I tore open my suitcase inside to see the colorful fabrics of my African clothes and some slightly moldy books I had left there, like the Tao Te Ching and some Peace Corps language books. My French press was inside as well, along with an unopened pound of Starbucks coffee that Joy had sent me in a care package.
As I dug through my things, the feeling of Christmas faded and I was flooded with memories, like my last day in Timbo when I was frantically packing my things and wondering if/when I'd come back to get them. Like locking my door when the Peace Corps bus came the next morning to drive me to Mali. Like saying goodbye to my host brother, and all the "petits" in my compound, telling them that I'd most likely be back in two weeks to start teaching.
I have been back in Arizona now for over four months and the feeling of living in Africa has faded into a story of the past that has very little to do with my everyday reality. Opening this box has made my Guinea memories come back into the present with a realness that reminds me that this part of my life is real and tangible. For some reason this hit me with a wave of sadness for my village in Guinea and my students that may or may not have a math teacher now and for my own Peace Corps experience that was cut so short by the unexpected violence in Conakry on September 28th. It also reminded me that Guinea is still over there, still struggling for survival and democracy and peace.
I am sending a silent prayer to Guinea and to all the people I met in my short Peace Corps Guinea experience. I love and miss you all.
On est ensemble!

but hey...

I got my letter in the mail confirming my dental clearance! And I didn't even have to do anything this time...

As for medical clearance, I guess it's processing now that a huge error in communication has been corrected. I won't even go into it because the past is past and the future is now!