Of all the things that can go wrong.

So, my PC application process was not the smoothest process of all, but I managed. I got through it. I was pretty sure all the application headaches were behind me, and I just had to look forward to headaches caused by African heat, dehydration, and malaria. I was prepared for those headaches.

But no. Not quite yet. Passport Application DENIED. DUN Dun dun... and why? Because I sent them the same passport photographs that I used for my personal passport, 5 months ago. You're not supposed to do that. I didn't get that memo. I sent my passport information in last Thursday, I am found this out today. At around 1:00 pm. While I was at work. I am leaving for Tanzania 5 weeks from today and my passport application was denied. Great!

But, ok. I can handle this. I am going to be a Peace Corps volunteer. There will be much more complicated/frustrating situations in the next 2 year than this. So I am talking to the man from the PC that is telling me this. I am obviously concerned, and am listening to him closely. He's giving me the instructions: I need to mail three photos (one for my Visa, because passport and visa photos need to match) to such and such an address, in an envelope, with my name and country of service written on the back, and they need to recieve it by 10am tomorrow. WAIT. WHAT!?! It's 1pm today. I need to finish work, get new photos taken, and make sure that they are in Washington DC in 21 hours. Oh man. Headache.

So FedEx is obviously the way this is going to happen. So I get my 3 2"x2" photographs taken at CVS, then rush over to FedEx with my envelope that contains the photographs, and pounce at the woman at the counter:
Her: "Can I help you" (or something very generic like that)
Me: "YES! I need this envelope to reach Washington DC by 10 am tomorrow. It's really, really, really important. Is that possible? I'm so sorry. I just found out today that this needed to be there tomorrow" And I'm pretty sure I started talking faster and more high pitched as my dialog went on.

But good news. $57 later (for 3 2" photos to be mailed), the kind woman assured me that it would be there in time. Crisis averted. Hopefully. I'll find out tomorrow when I check the tracking number...

Lessons learned:
1-Spend the $7 to get new photos taken at CVS.
2-The passport agency is ridiculous.
3-FedEx is really expensive.
4-My parents are awesome.

But for the good news. Which pretty much made my day good. I got another from Brian. He sent me a memory card with photos of Niger. He looks like he's have a great time, so that was really encouraging and exciting. Pretty soon we'll be under the same African sky. Just really far apart, still.

Shopping

My mother took me shopping today to start getting stuff that I'll need. Headlamp(which I've already broken and need to exchange...), rainjacket, flashlight, luggage, watch, binoculars(in case I see a giraffe or something like that), some good sandals...and the list goes on.

It was really difficult to shop. It's hard to imagine what I'll need for 27 months in Africa. The PC gives you a packing list, but I'm doubting the necessity of everything on it (what do you think, do I really need a plastic egg carton?) Plus it is hard to jugge what I should bring with me and what I should buy in Tanzania. I'm guessing clothing won't be too hard or expensive to find but what about shoes. Do I really want to bring a pair of hiking/walking shoes, a pair of nice sandals, two pairs of professional shoes, and a pair of dressy shoes. That 5 pairs of shoes...and I only get two bags of a combined total of 80 pounds. I don't want to use it all up on shoes!

Two bags. 80 pounds. For 27 months. It crazy that I'll have to condense my life into 2 checked luggage bags...

Aspirations

So I've finished my aspiration statement and resume, and emailed the to the Peace Corps. I thought it would be cool to post my aspiration statement, so that I can go back and look at it while I'm in Tanzania and see if I am fulfilling my aspirations. Each letter is a specific question that I had to answer. These were the questions:

A-The professional attributes that you plan to use, and what aspirations you hope to fulfill during your PC service
B-Strategies for working effectively with country partners to meet needs
C-Strategies for adapting to new culure
D-Skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training to best serve your community and project
E- How PC will influence your personal and professional aspiration after your service ends.

So this is what I had:

A: I am an energetic, organized, hard-working, and self-motivated individual. I hope to utilize these attributes to provide an effective and enjoyable learning environment for students. I hope to design an interesting and engaging lesson plan and to use my creativity to enhance student’s interest in physics by using a variety of educational approaches, to accommodate student’s interests and educational needs. I hope that these attributes, and also through my respectful and personable nature and my commitment to serve the community, I will be able gain the trust and confidence of the community I will be serving. If I can gain the trust, confidence, and enthusiasm of my local counterparts, I really hope that I will be able to make a difference that will endure even after I am gone.

B: I hope to develop positive, professional relationships with both local teachers and with community members. These relationships with help me to assess the needs and desires of the community and the school, and will allow me to most effectively serve the community. To build these relationships, I plan to work hard to obtain a good understand of Tanzanian culture and language. Doing so will allow me to become fully integrated into the community, so that I can behave professionally and appropriately, within the context of Tanzanian culture.

C: I realize that adapting to a new culture will be very difficult and is also an integral aspect of being an effective Peace Corps volunteer. During this transition, I will need to keep and open-mind and be patient. To fully adapt to Tanzanian culture may take a while and will be full of challenges. Through each challenge, I will try to stay positive and will try to look at it from an objective point of view. Hopefully, this will enable me to take each day and each challenge in stride; so that each challenge will teach me something and help me become more adapted to Tanzanian culture. Through observation of Tanzanian behavior, I hope to pinpoint any aspects of my own behavior that may not be appropriate in Tanzania. Once I can pinpoint these behaviors, I will work hard to alter them.

D: During pre-service training, I hope to develop a better working knowledge of Kiswahil and of Tanzanian culture, so that I can behave appropriately and communicate effectively when my service begins. Further, I hope to learn more about the Tanzanian school structure and strengthen skills relevant to teaching in Tanzania; including designing effective lesson plans and organizing out-of-class activities. Also, I hope that pre-service training will serve as a transitional stepping stone from being emerged in American culture to being emerged in Tanzanian culture. During pre-service training, I hope to adjust to life without the conveniences that I am accustomed to. I will need to learn simple tasks such as doing laundry without a washing machine, preparing food without an oven, and getting around without a car. I hope to learn these skills during pre-service training so that I can be more adapted once pre-service training ends.

E: I think my Peace Corps service will be tremendously influential to me, both personally and professionally. Most notable, I think I will learn a lot about myself during my 2-year service: I will learn more about what my strengths and weaknesses are and I will learn more about how I, personally, deal with adversity. I think that this self-knowledge will help me decided what course of action, whether it be going graduate school or beginning a career, I want pursue when I return. Additionally, I think I will gain skills and knowledge during my service that will be personally, socially, and professionally beneficial when I return.

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.

The Beginning

I have never blogged before, so bear with me as I figure out how to use a blog and how to say what I want to say. I will try to keep this blog updated as much as possible about my Peace Corps experience. However, I can not guarantee frequent updates.

To begin, I applied to the Peace Corps about a year ago now, and was nominated to teach in Sub-Saharan Africa last November, with my expected departure date being November 2009. The last year has been hectic: I've been busy finishing up at UMass Amherst, getting medical/dental clearance for the Peace Corps- breaking my ankle in March really put a damper on my medical clearance, and of course waiting. I've come to realize just how important patience can be.

I just recieved my invitation to serve, earlier today (August 5). I will be going to Tanzania on September 23, 2009 (2 months before I expected!) as a Secondary School Physics Teacher. I'm so excited to face the challenges that this assignment has in store: I was a biology major, so I will need to master a new topic, while mastering a new language: Swahili. I was on top of the world when I recieved my invitation and immediately drove home to tell my parents, bought a Swahili dictionary and a "Physics for Dummies" book. Too bad that don't have a "Physics in Swahili for Dummies" book, but I will make due. Then I settled down to read the 104-page packet that I need to read before I can accept my invitation. As I said, I was thrilled when I recieved the invitation to Tanzania. After reading the packet, learning more about the country, the culture, and my particular assignment, I could not be more happy with my assignment. Everything that I read, just made me more and more excited.

The next few weeks, I am sure, will fly by in a daze. I still need to move out of my old apartment, get everything that I need, pack, and of course study. I thought that I was ready to be done with studying once I graduated, but I am looking forward to learning Swahili and reading about physics so much. I never thought that I could get this excited about physics.