Quick Update

Since receiving and accepting my official Peace Corps invite I have stayed very busy! Its amazing how much you realize has to be done to prepare for moving across the world when you actually have to do it! The sheer amount of paperwork it requires to cancel memberships, power of attorney for financial affairs, student loans, passport, visa, resume, questionnaires, letters of resignation, life insurance, and packing lists is exhausting.

Secondly, the actual packing part is equally as annoying. Figuring out what to do with your stuff for over two years is a pain. Luckily, I don't have that much stuff. It makes me curious about how people who own much more than I do (which is most people) handle packing. Also, I am leaving Salt Lake City for two years and truthfully will probably never come back other than to visit; there are a lot of people that I want to spend my time with before I leave. I am also working until the end of the month and it therefore takes up more of my time that I would like to give. I suppose it is a necessary evil as this job was necessary to enable myself to do the Peace Corps.

On top of all of those things (as if they are not enough) I rolled Djibouti and he/she (haven't given a gender to the name yet) didn't survive. I, on the other hand, escaped relatively unscathed! Not sure how I managed to walk away from rolling my car twice, however I am grateful non-the less. My parents were kind enough to let me borrow one of their cars for the remainder of the month that I stay in Salt Lake City. As I am leaving in less then two months, it seems silly to buy a new car. Renting one for that time frame would be far more expensive than it is worth. So, although I rolled Djibouti (my car if you have not figured it out yet), I did walk away with extra cash for my travels. A blessing in disguise I suppose.

Anyhow, not much more is going on except the above mentioned items. I am leaving Salt Lake City on March 4th. I will post my address and contact information for Ukraine about a month prior to departure (just in case it changes). Thanks for stopping by!

Official Peace Corps Invitee

It has been an inordinate amount of time since I last posted. Again, my life has fallen into something of what I deem a boring routine. This is all about to change very shortly however. After having spent the last 18 months as a corporate drone, I am finally leaving! The following lyrics drummed through my head for the last few months. I think that it sort of pertains.

Map of the World

By

Monsters of Folk

There's a map of the world
on the wall in your room
Green pins where ya wanna go
White pins where ya been
there isn't even ten,
you're already feeling old
Pretty faces stare back
from a magazine stack
that you read when
you're feeling bored
Look through a telescope lens
it doesn't make sense
you think you've been there before

Some far off feelings
Some up close kind of ache
White screen reason to
look the other way

There's a place by the lake
that you go when it's late
it was summer and the crowds were gone
and you sit all alone with
With your thoughts, gettin stoned
just waitin for some peace to come

Like the thing thatcha
tried that you thought that you liked
for a minute then it all felt wrong
So your changing again
All your clothes, all your friends
It's the same as it ever was

That far off feeling
That up close kind of ache
Some white screen reason to
look the other way

It's a road that you've paved
over Indian graves and
you wonder why your dreams are crazed
So you cling to your wife,
your kids, and you life
There's nothing that you're gonna save
Put the razor to your face,
Hot water for a shave
Kill the shadow of yesterday
Clean shirt, clean pants,
clean slate second chance

You're going by another name

Some far off feeling
Some up close kind of ache
That instant karma
That always comes too late

I applied for the Peace Corps in July of 2009 and recently received/accepted my invitation to serve in Ukraine. Barring some unforeseeable disaster or something of the like, I will be leaving March 29^th. The time it is taking to depart seems to be idly pacing itself at the slowest possible rate. Looking back however, the application process seemed to fly by! The time frame in which I submitted my application and received my actual invite was approximately 7 months; it will be a total of about 9 months from the click her to submit and the “I’m Leaving On a Jet Plane” outcome. Apparently the 9 months it took me is about the shortest time it takes most volunteers. Many of the other upcoming volunteers I have spoken with applied 1 to 2 years prior before actually receiving their invite! I am thankful it did not take me that long.

My job title will be Youth Developer. I’m still not really sure what that means. The Peace Corps tends to be very vague in almost everything. It could range from working in secondary schools teach HIV and Drug Abuse Prevention, creating outside activities for kids to be involved in, mentoring at risk youth and orphans, to maybe teaching some English. I don’t even know where in Ukraine I will be! The first three months will be living with a host family while I train. After that I will be sent to my placement site for the remainder of the two years. I will be learning either Ukrainian or Russian. I am hoping to pick up both. I have recently started to study Ukrainian in an attempt to not sound like a complete idiot when I move in with my host family. Yes, it is true. I will spend only 2 days at “staging” in the US. I will then immediately fly to Ukraine and be placed with my host family. I would like to have at least a few necessary words and phrases down before I arrive.

Anyhow, I will likely be making my blog private shortly. I have been told that this might be necessary with being in the Peace Corps. Let me know if you will want to be added. I will post again soon with updates on things like address, finalized items and whatever else may be of interest. Cheers!

I concur!

I agree fully. Enough said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-karel-bouley/its-not-maine-its-the-pro_b_345248.html

Portraits

Looking through my photos I came across a bunch of portrait type of photos and thought they looked really cool. People fascinate me and I really like portraits, so I decided to post some of my favorite portraits of friends, people I have met traveling, and just fun ones.

Nostalgia at it's finest

Recently I was chatting with a friend about how things have changed and stayed the same. Many of my good friends and I met my freshman year of college, and although that is a relatively short time frame for many, it is a long time for me. Generally speaking, I would argue that most people change and come in to themselves the most between ages 18 and 25, thus the time gap we have known each other seems quite significant.

Getting back to the point, there have been a lot of great times. Casandra found a document, or whatever one would call it, describing a party that a Casandra, Bri, and I had gone to freshman year. Although we have been to plenty since, this party has sort of gone down in the books as famous. I don't know if it was because we were so young, if it was the crowd that was throwing it, or if it was purely one of the first parties we had ever attended; but it was a phenomenal party at the time. With that being said, after reading the document about our experience I find it amazing how much can be lost or forgotten if not recorded. Casandra sent me this, and there were so many things on there that I had totally forgotten about, and I remembered anew the utter excitement of attending that party. So, without further adieu I have posted the document. I hope everyone gets as much entertainment from this as I did!

Outline of Party Piracy Mayhem October 25 – 26

I. Casandra’s Horrible Lie (4: 10 am)

II. The “Yelling in the Background” phone call

III. Shopping:

A. Toys ‘R’ Us

B. Pary Land (Better swords)

C. Shopko

D. Closed DI

E. Pib’s exchange (costume was too expensive, but ended up less expensive than outfits: Casandra = Fashion Diva)

F. Walk back from Pibs.... “ok RUN!!!”

IV. Called Kelly (alcohol v. freeloading)

V. Drove past house and Jesse looked out the window @ our car (9:20 pm)

VI. Called Dustin and asked about the 7 ppl who were there/costumes

VII. The Impossible Crush

VIII. Got Dressed (took forever)

IX. Goal to go to car to get boots.

X. Andrew stopped by to ask Bri out on a date.

XI. Call Dustin and find out it’s a big party

XII. Go to party and there’s this peeing guy outside...Casandra threw a fit...and a new wave acid boy who told us our costumes were underdressed.

XIII. Found Dustin, (Casandra got cherries and a coke). Darren had a mind of his own with Bri and the Beer.

XIV. Everything runs together – different stories.

XV. Casandra went outside to get Twister and Robin saw a police car go by...she said it was fine.

XVI. We all met in dance room and somebody said there was a cop. We took off through the back and tried to convince Spencer/John (aka hot blonde boy) not to drive drunk.

XVII. Bri changed in the middle of the sidewalk.

XVIII. Walked home....fought about whether to go up or down on Virginia St...Matt’s Frat House.

XIX. Ran into a bunch of guys in ties (Jessica thought they were from the party).

XX. Bri peed in the OSH building bushes.

XXI. Stole treats from Pyjama Party

XXII. Visited Kelsy and Joshua.

XXIII. Called Dustin & Alex.

XXIV. Alex and friend came to dorms (got a speeding ticket on the way).

XXV. Went back to house to get twister, sword, camera, and keys...Dustin waiting on couch with only twister.

XXVI. Sneaking through naked bodies looking for keys...look for keys at car, but get locked out of house. Call Alex, but no answer.

XXVII. Snuggle up on couch and alex calls us. Jessica doesn’t know what he said...we’ll just wait for everybody to wake up.

XXVIII. Alex took us home. (5:40 am)

Speed Scrabble with a Twist

Friday night Casandra, Natalie, and I attended a mutual friend of ours "non-baby baby shower." One might question what sort of party that is. Too shed light on it, he was having a vasectomy the following day. I won't go into the details surrounding his decision but will state it was/is a positive thing for him. Anyhow, when we arrived they were playing scrabble. It was not the normal scrabble however it was speed scrabble with a twist!


Those of you who are not familiar with speed scrabble it is a version not including the board. All of the scrabble pieces are placed in the middle of the table. Everyone picks five pieces and has to try and create scrabble with the five pieces. When one person has accomplished using all five pieces he/she yells go! Everyone then continues to pick two more until again someone yells go. When all of the pieces are done, rather than count words everyone creates a story using their board.


I thoroughly enjoyed playing this. I generally like normal scrabble, however the time it takes to play makes it a bit taxing at times. This version is quick and the story adds a lot of humor. Following a few glasses of wine the stories become pretty hilarious. I thought I would add this snippet of information on to everyone in case someone wants to give it a try. It is my new favorite game and I could not be more thrilled. I am planning on going home to Colorado tomorrow to visit the family for a bit and fully intend on introducing them to it as well. Cheers!

Mexico

I recently went to Mexico with my friend's Juliann and Chelly. Shirin also came for part of the time. I had a fantastic time. Our fun ranged from beach hopping, disco, horseback/donkey rides, fishing, and having a generally good time. Below are some of the photos from the trip.