Things standing in the way of me and SWAZILAND

Here is a list I compiled on Wednesday of things I need to take care of before JUNE 26, 2012!! If it's been x-ed out, it means I've done it already. Alas, the list is still long.

(updated 5.26.12)
X passport photos
X Send passport app
X yellow fever vaccine
X figure out readings course
X Mideast research proposal due
X Econ Decentralization presentation (4.10)
X Food Justice conference observation paper (4.10)
X Mideast class presentation on Syria (4.11)
X Stats asn 3 (4.12)
X Final report on Poli Sci 2012 assessments
X Food Justice exit paper (4.17)
X Mideast reflection 2 (4.25)
X Food Justice final paper (4.29)
X Stats asn 4 (5.7)
X Mideast final paper (5.9)
X Econ final
X grade papers for Modern Political Theory (5.10)
X capstone topics
X find capstone adviser
• Final grant (5.29)
• Summer Econ final (5.31)
• business cards
• prescription sunglasses
• USP reunion

P.S. Today was a beautiful day! Took these on the quad at ISU.

Bumps in the road: vaccines and capstone options

So I decided to be proactive (haven't sent off my Peace Corps passport details yet, oops!), and figure out where I can get my yellow fever vaccine for around the price Peace Corps will cover for it. Peace Corps covers up to $150, but the local Travel Clinic will cost around $300-350. So it seems like I may have to head out to Peoria for the vaccine. Only problems there is a.) I have to find a way to Peoria which is an hour away when I don't have a car, and b.) they don't want to do the vaccine because their documents say Swaziland is not at risk of yellow fever. So tomorrow I'll be faxing them the Peace Corps documents to them in hopes that they would change their mind and do the shot for me. *breath*

The other issue is my capstone. It's turning into very much the chicken and egg process.
1.) It's hard to pick a capstone topic before I find out what I'm doing in the Peace Corps if I'm meant to relate the topic to my assignment. It's hard to find out my assignment before I go through Peace Corps training. It's hard to do preliminary research on my topic while in the Peace Corps.
2.) I'm encouraged to pick a faculty who I feel will fit my capstone topic to be my advisor. Refer to (problem 1).
3.) Doing youth development, I will most likely need to do an IRB review for my capstone project. It will be hard to do this in the Peace Corps. If I had a professor to be my advisor, they would be able to help me through the IRB process. Refer to (problem 2).
*sigh*

"Go slow! You're not in New York, anymore!"

"Go slow." Something that was called to me often during my week long stay on the beach paradise in Caye Caulker, Belize. It was the perfect beginning to my winter break Central America trip, because I'm not the kind of person who's good at going slow. I like walking fast, and I'm always in a hurry to get somewhere, never really taking in my surroundings and enjoying the moment. Learning to go allowed me to stay a few extra days in a town I liked.

And then I came back from winter break this semester, and back into the thick of things. Everything moves so fast. It feels like time has absolutely FLOWN since August when I first became a grad student, and am now just waiting to finish up classes and start my Peace Corps in just three months!

It's funny that here in Normal everyone else moves so fast that my friends here think I actually walk pretty slow, talk pretty slow, move pretty slow. But I've been taking it all the wrong way. As if these qualities I've been striving for the past couple years I've now become embarrassed of. While I used to practice talking slower and clearer, and moving slower and more calm, these are things I've once again come to take for granted in the United States.

Well it's not the way for me. In Swaziland, I'm sure things will be a lot slower, and so I wanna start here and now. Focus on stressing less about school, which after the exam this morning, and paper I've turned in this afternoon, I've officially hit the halfway mark. Just a little bit left to go, and it's really not that important in the scope of what's ahead. The next exciting chapter in my life, a new continent to conquer. I just need to concentrate and get it out of the way, and then back to "going slow" for me. =)

Sawubona! (hello)

It's official! I got SWAZILAND!!! Now... time to work on my siSwati. =D

The invitation arrived on Thursday when I was in Chicago, and Greg texted me to tell me it arrived at the house. I told him not to open it, but then Buj went to look at it and said that you can see the invitation without even opening it, and it said Swaziland... So yeah, no surprise for me....

The roommate wall of Peace Corps invitation packaging for Buj, Greg, and me.

Invite......? Am I DREAMING?

So my placement officer said this'd be in the mail mid to late April, but....


SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!! REALLY??? OMG, I CAN'T WAIT! I won't be back til Friday night.


In other news, I'm in Seattle right now visiting Jamie, a neighbor from Korea.

Finally!!!?

Katie, Kate, and I were sitting in the beautiful library 4th floor nook (they have a nice comfy nook with big windows on the four corners of 4th floor) when my phone suddenly rang. I picked it up to see who the 202 number was, and ran to the fire escape as if the place had been set ablaze. It was my placement officer, calling to give me my final interview and see where I'd be going to in the Peace Corps. Originally, he said I'd be good for Southeast Asia or Eastern Europe, but I was secretly hoping neither of those. He was pretty lenient and said he'd let me choose from my options, and unless he called me back chances were that I'd be going to the region I chose. I told him I'd been hoping for something south of the equator, and would take anything there.

"Well, you said you'd be willing to leave after June 30. Are you willing to bump it up 5 days?"
"It depends..........."
"Well I have one in Sub-Saharan Africa that leaves 5 days before."
"/calm/ Really? /calm/"
"Yes."
"Sure!"

So.... here things are. I had no idea where I'd be going only that I knew it'd be Sub-Saharan Africa at the end of June. Oh, and he told me I should receive my invitation either the second or third week of April. Right after we got off the phone, Katie and Kate received the same call. I was so excited for the both of them! Katie is either looking at Eastern Europe or the Carribean. Kate is looking at Sub-Saharan Africa as well (excited!!) but not leaving til September, so not the same place.

After I got out of the class I TA for, I got a call from Lauren saying that she was told her and I are going to the same country! She got some extra details such as it's an Anglophone country, and I'd be doing Youth Development while she's doing Health. YAY! Lauren and I are together!

So I looked online at the Peace Corps Wiki (the Peace Corps equivalent of Wikipedia) to look at their timeline, and the 3 countries around that date are Benin, The Gambia, and Swaziland. Now I'm really hoping it's not the first two, because I don't want to go to West Africa. But I'm SUPER excited about Swaziland, AND it's the only country that has both programs we've been assigned for.

Now... Lauren and I have pretty much accepted that we are going there, googling everything in the world about it and prepping ourselves to learn siSwati. We've also been reading a chunk of Peace Corps blogs about Swaziland. I promised I wouldn't get too excited til I got my invitation in April, but it's hard not to get excited. Both of my roommates (Greg and Ambuj) have now received theirs. They're both doing economic development in the Dominican Republic!! It's awesome that they'll be together like Lauren and me.

Here's what I know so far about Swaziland:
Capital: Lobamba (royal and legislative) and Mbabane (administrative and largest city). The international airport is in Manzini, always important information.
Area of the country: 6,704 sq mi
Population: 1,185,000. Roughly half of whom are married to or sired from the king....... JOKES!! (or is it?)
Official languages: English and siSwati
King with absolute power: King Mswati III (with 14 wives and 26 kids)
It used to be a British colony until 1968 when it gained independence.



Disclaimer: Nothing is set in stone until I get my invitation hopefully by the 3rd week of April. *fingers crossed*