Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork

I have officially accepted my invitation to go to Tanzania (big surprise there, huh?). Now I am swamped with paperwork, and essays to write, and resumes to reorganize. I have completed most of the "official paperwork". I have sent my visa application and my passport application (I get a new official, Peace Corps passport) into the Peace Corps.

I am currently in the process of writing my "Aspiration Statement" and Resume. At first, I was having a great deal of difficulty writing my resume. I felt relatively unqualified to teach physics. However, as I began writing it, I realized that I'm not nearly as unqualified as I thought I was. I have been a TA for classes at UMass, I have worked in a labe for 2.5 years, giving students background information on the goals of the lab, I have prepared, and successfully given, a 45-minute lecture for my senior honor's thesis, and I have take 4 physics classes. I am by no means an expert in physics, but I have a solid base to work from. Plus...I really just need to be a chapter ahead of my students, right? As for the "aspiration statement", I'm stuck. Knowing that everything will be so different, and that in order to make a real difference I am going to need input, support, and trust from the community that I am serving in, how can I really know "what aspirations I hope to fulfill". Generalize. I'll just be very general.

Besides giving me paperwork to fill out, the Peace Corps provides invitees with a subscription to Rosetta Stone. So I have been dutifully working hard through Swahili lessons. Peace Corps asks that you spend at least 40-hours working through Rosetta Stone before your departure. However, I really want to finish the entire course before I leave...which I am estimating is a good 60-80 hours. I still am in disbelief that I will be fluent in Swahili soon.