Sunburnt and still alive

So, I've survived my first two weeks in my village. That sounds so weird; my village is not something I would ever get to say back home. Here's what it's looked like so far.

The school year ended yesterday, and the students just started a long holiday break. Teachers were preparing their end of the year reports, and students were doing nothing. My dear teacher friends, imagine working on your end of the year business, and being aloud to just let kids play in the field all day long. It's actually beautiful, because you have time to get stuff done! Granted, I had no work to do, so I played with the kids for a few hours at a time. It was like being a daycamp counselor at the YMCA again, but I don't speak the same language as any of the children (my Samoan is still emberassing). I taught them games I could model like duck-duck-goose, ring around the rosies and thumb wrestling. I started a round of DOWN BY THE BANKS, and before it was ever, almost every child in that school had joined in. Playing with kids who I don't understand, who are confused and amazed by my sunburnt skin, and with no other adult supervision gets a little overwhelming to say the least, so I would go make up excuses to sit in the staff lounge. Every now and then, another teacher would ask me to use a calculator to double check her grade book, and I was happy for the work. However, it made my heart hurt. Imagine how much easier these teachers life would be with an excel spreadsheet! Just one of the many, many moments I'm thankful for all the privileges I've had.
After school, I go home, take a blessedly cold shower (it's hot here; have I mentioned that yet?) and then I read or watch a movie for a little while. In the evenings, the church bells ring, and that means that everyone (should) stop what they are doing and sing hymns and pray with the family. At the very least, you can't walk on the road during this time. I either join one of my neighbors, or sit in the open part of my home and listen to all my neighbors. It really is one of those "wow, I'm in Samoa" moments when half a dozen  Samoan hymns are being belted out all  around me. Then, if I'm lucky, someone will feed me, otherwise I cook my own dinner (rice, sandwich, ramens).
At this point, things are a little boring. I wish my Samoan was better, and I had better relationships in the village already, but I know that these things take time, and I am definitely headed in the right direction.

Training

Still alive, still well. I had the sudden realization that training is almost over though. This year, peace corps split training into two phases. I am almost finished with phase I, then I will go to my permanent site until after new years. Then, we will all come back together for three more weeks of training before the new school year starts. But it's crazy because we swear in after phase I, which ends around thanksgiving. I can't believe how fast things have started moving. I find out my permanent site! I am so anxious! But also excited! I have very few expectations about my placement because it really could be anything, but I just hope it winds up being a good fit!

Chickengunya free

Quick check in!
I'm still alive! I hurt my ankle when I fell down the stairs in the rain. But it is healing quickly. There has been an outbreak of chickengunya in my village. My host sister and nephew got it but I think I have been spared. It's a disease transferred by mosquitoes and gives rashes, fever and achey bones. A couple other volunteers got it and they were miserable!

Training is going well. Language learning is frustrating but I wouldn't expect less.  I have to give a presentation in Samoan tomorrow, and I am nervous. But staff has been great! They planned events like a sports day and a campfire with scary stories. That wad fun because it was the weirdest mix of American and Samoan. The language instructors would tell a story and sing a song and maybe do a dance.  Then we took turns telling stories. I told Popo's story about the old lady pulling legs and it was great to have a new audience for that one! Then we all sang all star by smash mouth while one of the volunteers danced with her LED hulahoop.

On Monday I go visit a current volunteer and I am really looking forward to it! Hopefully I will let you know how that goes.

Love and miss a lot of people but enjoying myself none the less.

I am alive! I'm working on my phone, so I will try to keep it short.  Samoa is beautiful and my host family is awesome!  I love my fellow trainees, and it is safe to say I am definitely in the honeymoon period. Learning the language is hard but i love it.  I just try to be patient with myself. My favourite thing so far is coming home and sitting outside on a night like this is

.  The breeze feels amazing, the sound of the ocean and the wind in the palm fronds plus the salty smell is the best way to end the night. I will try to post more photos about life here but for now I will leave you with these.

FAQs

I can’t believe I leave home in less than two days!

Every time I talk to someone, I have the same conversation, so I thought I would fill some frequently asked questions.

1.      Are you so excited?

Absolutely! It’ll be amazing!

2.      Are you nervous?

Yeah, I am. It’s kind of a big deal.

3.      Aren’t you scared?

This is kind of like the last one, but sure I am. Don’t plan on letting that stop me though.

4.      But aren’t you SO excited?

Yes. I am. Thank you for asking… again.

5.      You’re going to lose a lot of weight, aren’t you?

I honestly don’t know. They say women typically gain weight in the Peace Corps, but with the sudden loss of Chipotle, Buffalo Wild Wings and McDonalds from my diet, anything is possible.

More importantly, is it weird that I’m slightly offended people keep asking me about this?

6.      I hear the men are gorgeous. Is that true?

At this point, I haven’t actually ever been there, but I’ve heard the same rumors and done the same Google searches as you J

7.      You must be really, really, really excited. You are, aren’t you?

So excited! For the 400^th time today, I’m excited. Can you not tell? I’m screaming at the top of my lungs, clearly excited! Now stop asking, people!

8.      Think you’re going to cry when you leave?

Think that’s kind of a weird question (I even had a stranger ask me this)? Besides, it’s too late. I blame my ten year old cousin, Dylan, and his rib crushing bear hugs.

9.      I wish I would have done that when I was younger, or I could never do that.

I know these aren’t questions, but they are a pretty common point of conversation that I still don’t know how to answer. I could say, sorry I’m living you’re dream, or yeah I’m living the life you wish you could if it weren’t for kids, bills, careers, etc. When someone says, “I could never do that,” I feel like the translation for that is, “Girl, you don’t even realize how crazy you seem right now.” I just don’t know a polite way to respond.

10.   How long are you going to be gone?

27 months. I realize some of my friends and family members aren’t so good at math because I had several people answer, “What? That’s got to be like… 3 years!” And I realize maybe I shouldn’t leave because my services as a teacher might be more needed here.

The last four months has been a never ending cycle of these questions, and I can’t believe I’m done answering them and I’m really, truly, undoubtedly going on Wednesday! 

Medical Clearance (or Fingers in Funny Places)

Coming in to the application process for the Peace Corps, the part that scared me the most was getting medical and dental clearance. When I read blogs from other volunteers, it was a subject that seemed woefully under addressed, and I didn’t know what I was getting into. It’s not like I have any pre existing conditions that I thought could prevent me from serving. In fact, I had no medical history at all. I never had a physical or a dental check up.  I didn’t need one. Those things can be expensive, and since I’ve always been healthy, I never bothered. However, as soon as I accepted my invitation, I was rushing to navigate my way through scheduled appointments and trying to figure out how to pay for all of it.

I am pretty lucky I came across some useful resources. The first thing I did was get my dental exam. There is a group of dentists out there in the wide world who all agreed to offer free exams for future volunteers (http://www.usa-icd.org/projects/peace-corps/CO.html). I expected an office that is offering any free services to be busy, and most likely understaffed. To my surprise, they fit me in right away, and it was one of the nicest offices I’ve ever been in. The staff was also very friendly, but a little confused about me. You tell a dentist (or even a receptionist at a dentist’s office) that you’ve never seen a dentist before, and they don’t know how to respond. They approach you like a child who was raised by wolves. Like at any second I could bite off his fingers. Luckily, despite my horrific neglect, my teeth were fine.

I even came across a clinic with employees who helped me figure out how to apply for Medicaid. I was so blessed to suddenly be able to afford most of the other medical assignments.

Peace Corps required I get a ton of vaccinations (Peace Corps doesn’t require you get a lot of travel vaccines, but they require that you prove you are up to date on childhood vaccines; I wasn’t). They also asked for about half a dozen blood tests, a PAP smear and an eye exam. I had to get one of my blood tests redone because my platelets were high, but apparently they are always high. Then I was done. :) 

I wanted to discuss the whole medical clearance process for anyone out there getting ready to start, but I realize my view is a little skewed because of my total lack of experience with health care. Overall, I just feel exhausted by the whole thing. I’ve had a stranger’s fingers in basically every hole in my body. I’ve been stabbed by needles over 30 times (now I know that I have hard to find veins, and I was shamefully behind on my vaccines). My insurance constantly surprised me by what it did cover and what it did not. Mostly, I was just stressed and embarrassed because I had no idea what I was doing at any point. I didn’t even realize I was going to need to pee in a cup at the physical! It all just felt awkward and foreign.

As strange as it all was, I’m DONE! The last obstacle to my service has been knocked down. I have 28 days until I leave Denver for staging, and then Samoa!

Crazy!

Hobbit-Likeness

58 days until I leave Colorado and join the Peace Corps. It’s been all excitement and annoyance about the medical tasks up until this point; that was until the countdown app showed that I had less than sixty days left to get my life in order, pack up all my belongings, and spend quality time with my friends and family. What is this new emotion? Am I actually… nervous?

Yeah. A little.

To distract myself, I wanted to try rereading some of my old favorite books. I picked up The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, and I couldn’t stop laughing after I read this paragraph:

“what is a hobbit? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, since they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off. They are inclined to be fat in the stomach; they dress in bright colours (chiefly green and yellow); wear no shoes, because their feet grow natural leathery soles and thick warm brown hair like the stuff on their heads (which is curly); have long clever brown fingers, good-natured faces, and laugh deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner, which they have twice a day when they can get it).”

It’s official. I’m Bilbo Baggins. Based on this description, I’m a hobbit. I’m little, have no beard or magic, dressed in bright colors with no shoes, curly brown hair, and a big laugh after my second dinner. My dad laughed way too hard at this for my liking.

Anyway, the story is about a hobbit who goes on an adventure and calls his story, “There and Back Again.” I know it is cliché, but I most definitely feel like I’m preparing for an adventure. I am moving to a country none of my friends and family ever heard of after all.

Standard conversation with my brother:

Brother: When are you going to Somalia, again?

Me: Ummm… Never?

Brother: You’re quitting Peace Corps already?

Me: Did you mean Samoa?

Brother: Yeah, where is that?

Me: In the middle of the South Pacific.

Brother: Cool. Where is that?

I’m going to title this blog “Where? And Back Again,” to honor my hobbit-likeness and my family’s lack of geography skills. 

When one door closes...

A couple weeks ago, I got a call from Washington DC, and I was pretty excited. Any news from Peace Corps about my service must be exciting, right? WRONG-O.  They mean it when they say “no news is good news.”

Turns out, there have been some major safety concerns in Kenya lately, and because of this, they are no longer accepting the new training group. I will be given priority in finding a new country… I should be prepared to not find a placement until January… We appreciate your flexibility… Blah…. Blah… blah…

I’m ashamed to say, I’ve been more emotional about the whole thing than I would care to admit. It didn’t help that my family’s response was “oh praise God.” I know everyone was worried, but supportive, they were not.

But now it’s my turn to say, “oh praise God,” because I just got my new invitation in my inbox! Come October, I will be an “English Literacy Resource Person” in Samoa. I checked it at work, and for some reason my big kids couldn’t care less, but my kindergarteners (who had no idea what I was talking about) were really excited for me. I tried to show it to my kiddos on our world map, but it’s so small that it doesn’t even show up. Now my five year olds think I will be living in the ocean.

 As sad as I am to miss out on teaching Deaf Education (since I am now a Special Education teacher), I am more than stoked to join the beach corps. Seriously, do Google images search of this country!

The only question for now is: who is coming to visit me in paradise?

THE TIMELINE

May 16, 2014

               I’ve had my invitation for a whole two days. I am still ridiculously excited! At the end of September, I am going to Kenya to teach Deaf Education. Samoa to teach literacy. It’s all I ever want to talk about, and I have to reel myself back, or else I will exhaust all my loved ones. I’m trying to cut back to bringing it up only once every hour… Tough stuff.

              

If there are any future PCVs out there who want to know about my application process, here is my (rough) timeline.

May 2013- Finished the online application and the Health History Form

June 2013- Had my interview with a recruiter (this was way less stressful than I anticipated. We met in a small restaurant, and he typed my answers up for me. He said he would nominate me when he found a special education opening).

August 2013- I bugged my recruiter for that nomination (apparently most countries are not asking for special education teachers)

September 2013- I was nominated for an English teaching position in July 2014 (no country or region mentioned)

October 2013- I received my legal kit and sent it in

November 2013- Asked my recruiter why no one had received my legal kit (I was told it was because of the government shut down)

December 2013- Received an email from placement saying that my legal kit was destroyed and I needed to do it again (morale of the story: when they say “don’t use USPS,” they mean it!)

January 2014- Sent in my legal kit (again, using FedEx this time!)

April 28, 2014- Received and sent in my placement questionnaire (the email also had additional questions like, would you be willing to serve in the Pacific Islands or Africa? Would you be willing to work in special education or teacher training?)

May 14, 2014- Received my invitation! Exactly 16 days after sending in my questionnaire, I found out where I will be living and working for two whole years!

September 28, 2014- I leave for staging (assuming everything runs smoothly from here).

June 15 (ish), 2014- Received a call from Peace Corps. Due to safety and security issues, no new volunteers are allowed in Kenya. I will receive a new placement soon.

June 23, 2014- New invitation! Samoa!

October 3, 2013- I leave for staging (assuming everything runs smoothly from here).

WHY I'M BLOGGING

May 15, 2014

I don't think I ever would have survived as long as I have through the Peace Corps application process if I didn't have the ability to read current Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) blogs. Honestly, I felt a bit like a stalker, trying to find out how a stranger a few thousand miles away was washing her clothes or going to the bathroom in a hole.

Reading all those blogs may have seemed weird or obsessive to my family and friends, but it definitely kept me sane through the long application process (which I'm not entirely finished with yet). I am so thankful that the internet was full of resources for me to read through in my moments of doubt or restlessness, I feel obligated to pay it forward.

So here it is: a blog chronicling my whole Peace Corps journey. Whether you are a friend or family member, or if you are a potential Peace Corps applicant who is shamelessly stalking Peace Corps Volunteers the way I did, I hope you enjoy it. I pledge to do my best to keep this honest and interesting.