No Really, I'm Cool

So, I’ve noticed that the blog roll seems to slow down to an almost complete halt on the weekends. I assume that’s because all you bloggers are major socialites and too consumed by your busy party-going schedule to sit down, write, and publish a blog. Or…

Maybe, like me, you’ve noticed the slowdown and don’t want to be that loser that actually has time to post something on the weekend. I’ve literally thought, “Oh. No one else wrote a blog. Hmmm. Maybe I should wait and post mine on Monday so people think I’m as cool as they are.” Yup, I’ve actually waited.

But today, since I’ve had a very lazy day (expect for those few hours when my mom and sister came over to help me pack all my clothes with those plastic bag things that you suck all the air out of with a vacuum – those are awesome!) intermittently tackling Wuthering Heights, I’ve had some serious downtime to check facebook, not read any blogs cuz no one posted any, and decide that I’m gonna just go ahead and post this SOB. On a Saturday night. Cuz I’m actually really cool and really well-liked and sometimes all that pressure just means I have to stay in on a Saturday, turn off my phone, and just breathe. Man, I wish that was true.

On a side note, I missed this week’s “Peace Corps Thursday” so I thought I’d share the fact that my entire life now fits into two suitcases on my bedroom floor. Surreal. My few worldly possessions that I could not take with me are tucked away at my parents house and my very precious stack of DVD’s will stay with my friends though I made sure to label them so they don’t become a part of their overflowing collection. DVD stealers.

I can’t believe I have one week left. A week from today I will have my Going Away party with about 40 family and friends. Because I have to be at the airport the next morning at 5:00am, my friends and I decided we would party the whole night through. I’ll get on the plane bound for Philly sleep deprived and more than likely hungover. Can’t think of a better way to leave the states than with a bang.

Well, there you have it, the rare and elusive Weekend Post. You’re welcome.

My whole "life"

Proof - Empty closet

-Age

Peace Corps Thursday!

I’m going to copy a post idea for this edition of Peace Corps Thursday from my friend Alexa over at Peace, Love…and Bulgaria.


Things I’ll Miss:

Long, hot showers

Seeing my friends every day

The babies from my work

Getting pedi’s with my mom

Friday lunches with dad

Jeans (I’m very sad about this)

Flip flops

The Office

Complete independence

Being an articulate speaker of the native language

Ice-cold, filtered water

Baker’s burritos

Calvary Chapel Sunday Service

Boozing it up after a long week (Ironic, I know)


Things I won't miss:

The unrelenting desire to do something more impactful with my life

(This was such a good idea, Alexa!)

-Age

Peace Corps (Friday) Thursday!

So, I’ve been reading this book (when I can find the time) called “Bury Me Standing.” It’s about present day Gypsy culture with a little history thrown in to keep things fun. The Author, Isabel Fonseca, spent time with different Roma (Gypsy) groups in the early ‘90’s and wrote about her experiences. So far it’s been pretty interesting.

I have known for some months that I could possibly be working within the Roma population. Most people know that Gypsy’s are a nomadic people, separated by choice. They are very committed to their families and preserving their culture with as little influence from the outside world as possible. This alienation, coupled with a misunderstanding of their differences that has given them an often unfair reputation, has led to some pretty serious prejudice against the Roma population in many European countries.

But, of course, I’m American and, though we have some Gypsy’s here in the States (apparently), for the most part I have only seen them romanticized in movies like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Chocolat.

In my mind they have:

pretty, dark features,

they are excellent dancers,

and they drive one of these:

Though I’m only 50 pages into “Bury Me Standing”, I’ve realized that my view of them is a bit skewed. What I do know is that even though I may work very closely within their population, I will never truly be accepted by them. It’s just their way.

Ultimately, I will be working with Bulgarians. They will be the one’s working in and running the school where I will be teaching. From my (limited) understanding, the Bulgarians are the one’s offering education to the minority Turkish and Gypsy groups. But, if I do teach and live near the Roma, I know that we will be spending quite a bit of time together and their culture is one I will want to become familiar with along with my Bulgarian counterparts. This seems a bit daunting but I’m ready for the challenge.

I suddenly have so much to do between now and when I leave including delving deeper into my knowledge of the Bulgarian language (which I’m kinda freaking out about!), but I definitely hope to finish this book. Even if I don’t end up working with Gypsy’s, it’s a fascinating culture and well worth learning more about.

I encourage you all to pick up a copy.

-Age

Peace Corps Thursday!

So it’s Peace Corps Thursday. Oh, wait. Nope. It’s Friday. Sorry ‘bout that. Too busy yesterday. Too busy today too but I really wanted to share the exciting news!

First, through this blog I have met three girls: Kate, Alexa, and Alexandria that are also going to Bulgaria with the Peace Corps on May 10! That means we will probably meet during orientation and train together for those first three months in Bulgaria. I’m excited to already know some people!

Secondly, I received my staging information. All this time I was so sure that my orientation would be in Washington DC. Turns out I’m going to Philly. Can’t tell you how excited I am about that. We all know It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

I’ll be there for two days to be oriented and turn in all my paperwork. From there we will drive over 2 hours to fly out of JFK. Weird, I know. But I’m kinda looking forward to the drive. I’ll get to see a lot of America before I leave it for two years.

Then it’s hours and hours and hours of flying and poor sleep with a quick stop in Munich before I finally arrive in Bulgaria!

So, this is really happening. I think it’s a good sign that while I was reading the email I was also grinning from ear to ear.

The more I read about the Peace Corps and about current and past volunteers the more intimidated I become. But I also look forward to the challenge. I want to make the same kinds of long-lasting impacts that other volunteers are making. I want to push myself farther than I’ve ever been pushed before. I wanna sweat and cry and scream and come out of this knowing I gave it my all and I really made an impression on the world. No matter how small.
I can’t wait.

-Age

Peace Corps Thursday

I graduated with my Teaching Credential a couple years ago. Actually, it’s coming up on two years this June that I have been with a Credential but without a job that actually requires one. While I was student teaching, the state was just beginning to make their budget cuts to education and many of the teacher’s I was working with were stressing out over the threat of pink slips. I had a feeling that finding a cushy job as a second-grade teacher was gonna be a little more difficult than I had originally thought.

Since then, I have been working hard just to make ends meet. I often have two jobs and for a little while there I actually had three which, needless to say, was a little much. I’m not complaining, I know that most people my age are going through something similar. We had these dreams of being wealthy World-Changers by 26 but instead we are hoping our rent check clears. It’s just life. Stories we’ll tell are grandchildren to impress them with our past work-ethic and ingenuity.

This is what drove me to explore other employment options. The Peace Corps was one of many ideas I had back in November but it was the one I felt God was pushing me toward and who am I to say, “Uh, God, are you sure about this?” Of course He’s sure. He’s God. He made the heavens and the earth and narwhals.

Anyway, I thought I’d share with y’all what I’ll be doing in Bulgaria.

I’m going to be teaching English to elementary/middle school students. I’ll also be training teachers at the school different techniques regarding English as a Second Language instruction. Also, most Peace Corps volunteers have a second job or project. I will only be able to work at the school 18 hours a week so I will have down time to work on other things.

Some of the other projects mentioned in my packet involved working with youth in terms of sex-trafficking prevention. I am VERY interested in these types of projects. The rights and education of women has always been very important to me, I may have even been called a feminist once or twice (or 217 times) After reading Half the Sky and learning of the terrible things that can happen to girls all over the world, I hope to educate and inspire the young girls in Bulgaria to have higher expectations for their lives.

But before I can do any of this, I have to go through training. I will spend three months living with a host family in a larger city in Bulgaria, possibly Sofia, learning how to speak Bulgarian and receive TEFEL training that will help to sharpen my teaching skills. They also show us how to apply for grants to receive funding for those secondary projects. I will train with a group of Peace Corps volunteers and will hopefully make friends in the process. Unless they think I’m a weirdo. Or maybe they are all weirdoes too.

The three groups I could potentially be working with are: Bulgarians, Roma (gypsies), or Turkish immigrants. Of course, I am fascinated by the possibility of working with gypsies and have been learning a lot about them since, before this, I didn’t know they still existed as a race of people. Their history is so shrouded in mystery and intrigue. I hope I’m able to meet some Roma people even if I don’t work with them directly.

I will also have to come up with summer projects while the kids are out of school. I’m thinking maybe a sports-based or arts-based camp but I really don’t know for sure. So much is still up in the air.

Basically, my work will be focused on the youth; building their knowledge base and self-esteem so that they can go on and become successful in the new free-market economy that Bulgaria is struggling to promote. I will work tirelessly and it will be full of struggles and hardship but I am going to learn so much and grow as a person in ways I can’t even begin to predict.

Very excited!

But not as excited as this guy:

-Age

Peace Corps Thursday

It’s Peace Corps Thursday again and this week I’ve been studying the Bulgarian language. The Peace Corps website has fun tutorials and I’ve been on Lesson 1 for awhile now.

It’s the Cyrillic alphabet which looks like this:

Аа --- Aa as in "father"

Б б --- B b as in "bug"

В в --- V v as in "vet"

Г г --- G g as in "god"

Д д --- D d as in "dog"

Е е --- E e as in "best"

Ж ж --- Ž ž as in "treasure"

З з --- Z z as in "zoo"

И и --- I i as in "see"

Й й --- J j as in "yes"

К к --- K k as in "cat"

Л л --- L l as in "call"

М м --- M m as in "man"

Н н --- N n as in "normal"

О о --- O o as in "order"

П п --- P p as in "pet"

Р р --- R r as in "restaurant"

С с --- S s as in "sound"

Т т --- T t as in "top"

У у --- U u as in "tool"

Ф ф --- F f as in "food"

Х х --- H h as in Scottish "loch"

Ц ц --- C c as in "fits"

Ч ч --- Č č as in "chip"

Ш ш --- Š š as in "shot"

Щ щ --- Ŝ ŝ as in "shtick"

Ъ ъ --- Ă ă as in "turn"

Ю ю --- Û û as in "menu"

Я я --- Â â as in "yarn"

Notice how the letters that actually look like ours are pronounced completely differently? Can you imagine how difficult it will be to see an X and pronounce it like an H? Not easy.

That’s all I got for ya today.

-Age

Peace Corps Thursday!

There are a lot of special topics out there in the blog world for Thursdays. TMI Thursday is a popular one and I’ve even seen Thankful Thursday which is pretty great. I’ve decided to hop on the bandwagon and have a special Thursday topic as well, though it doesn’t flow with quite the same level of cool as the others but here we go: Peace Corps Thursdays.

Eventually (in 7 ½ weeks to be precise), it will be Peace Corps Everyday but for now I’ll only bombard you all with it once a week. I’ll let you know what new discoveries I’ve made and how I am preparing.

A quick re-cap:

I was officially invited to the Peace Corps in mid-February and I’m leaving for “staging” in Washington DC on May 10th. After a few days in our nation’s capital for orientation, I’m on my way to Bulgaria! I’ll spend the first three months in the capital, Sofia, for pre-service training before being sworn in as an official volunteer. From there, based on how well I’ve mastered the training and language, I’ll be transferred to the community I will be living and serving in for the next two years. Whew!

Okay. Here’s the latest: I have a personal passport that’s still valid for the next two years (I went on a mission’s trip to Guatemala after high school and a dream vacation to Italy while I was in college) but now I need a government passport so I had to have new pictures taken and send them in to the Peace Corps travel agency, SATO.

I thought to myself, “Where in the world do I get passport photos taken?” The last time I got them taken it was with a disposable camera in Homeroom during my Senior year of high school. Miss Lisa, my high school secretary, would probably think it was weird if I showed up with a disposable camera and asked her to take my picture again so I asked around. Apparently they take them just about anywhere you can find a picture kiosk thingy.

So I go to CVS and the picture guy is on lunch and I’m welcomed to wait for 30 minutes. No thanks. So I go to Rite Aid and the lady says, “Sure, no problem,” and I think “Great, this is gonna be easy!” Hmmmm…

She takes this dinosaur of a camera out from the deep unseen recesses of the shelves, blows years worth of dust off the top, and asks me to stand in front of an old, rusty, grey filing cabinet. She then proceeds to point the thing at me while backing up one step, two steps, five six seven steps until she’s ridiculously far away muttering, “I can’t seem to get you in the frame.” So she’s basically calling me fat. Like the biggest, fattest girl she’s ever taken a picture of. So fat she has to take my picture from the other end of the store. And this is supposed to be just my face. So here I am standing awkwardly in front of a filing cabinet feeling like some sort of circus attraction.

“Come one, come all and behold Moon-Face Girl! Her Macy’s Day Parade balloon of a head affects the tides and can be seen from space! Be careful not to get too close, she could swallow you whole!”

“Say cheese,” she says. I don’t but I smile. She pushes the button and…nothing. It was out of batteries.

After she steals batteries from the store and puts them in the camera, she tries again. Click. OK, great. She hands me my photos, I give her $7.49, and I go home.

When I get home and compare these photos to my old passport photos I notice a discrepancy. The photos she took of me were from the waste up and my old passport just had my face. Uh oh. I want to make sure to get these right. So I scan them, blow up the image and print them.

Then I remember that I also need pictures for my Bulgarian Visa. I find the paperwork and see that the little example square that shows how big the picture is supposed to be is about ¾” x ¾”. SO SMALL. So I shrink the image on my computer and print. Too big. Shrink some more. Still too big. About five tries later I get it to the right size.

There are pictures of my face spread all over my room and I’m trying to decide which ones to send in to the Peace Corps. I’m pretty indecisive so I just send all of them. The envelope is jam-packed, full of my big, fat face and I’m thinking, “Whoever gets these is either gonna think I’m really full of myself or an idiot. Stupid Rite Aid lady.”

I mail it in.

A few days later I get a call. It’s a Peace Corps official with SATO travel. There’s a problem with my passport photo.

“Your passport photo is not regulation size, we can’t use them.”

“Oh. Um, are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“None of them will work?”

"No. None of these pictures will work.”

“Bummer.”

So I have to re-take them. I go to CVS. The picture guy is out to lunch and I’m welcomed to wait 30 minutes. Fine, I’ll wait. 30 minutes later I get my picture taken with a normal camera, at a normal distance, and they are printed and perfect in less than 5 minutes.

I Fed-Exed them about an hour ago.

Moral of the story: Rite Aid is Stupid and CVS is awesome. Also, the Mail Mart on Mt. Vernon in Grand Terrace is wonderful and every one there should be given “I’m an Awesome Mail Shipping Person” badges or a kiss, their choice.

That’s all. Til next week!

-Age