One week. In one week I will have gone through a day of training and preparation in Philadelphia and will be heading to JFK with a one way ticket to Africa (Eeee!). Madagascar will soon be the place I call home.
Part of the timing of my departure that has helped me is that in a way it feels like a natural change. Many of my friends have began their lives post college, many have gone back to school and I am still use to leaving family and friends in the fall since I have done that the past four years. That's not to say though that goodbyes aren't hard. And they usually don't hit me until later on when I have time to start thinking about all that is going to change. It's hard not knowing exactly what life will be like when I get back and what has changed while I am gone. However technology is awesome and so hopefully I will be able to stay in touch some.
I get asked if I am nervous all the time. I'm usually honest and say yes of course but then I quickly follow that I am even more excited. Ever since I've applied I have just had this great sense of peace where I know I am doing the right thing. Sometimes when your purpose and your passions line up things just fall into place. The future is always a little scary but I am so ready to become immersed in the Malagasy culture. There's just always so much to learn and grow from when you interact with people different from yourself. This is bound to be a life changing experience and I am beyond excited for this journey to begin!
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Monday, August 27, 2018
Roots Before Branches
I feel incredibly lucky with the timing of my departure to Madagascar. Leaving in September and graduating in May meant that I have had the whole summer to make countless journeys to spend time with the people I care most about in the world. This summer was packed with traveling which once again only reminded me that it is not where you go but rather the people that make traveling the adventure.
The challenge to myself this summer was to be super intentional with my time with people and make it a point to say yes to as much as possible. The summer was basically my last hurrah before leaving. The past couple months have been so good for my soul and I'm hoping that all the love I felt this summer stays present with me throughout my service.
My First Last Hurrah of the summer (I like oxymoron's- or maybe just the word oxymoron, who knows...): Mom, Dad, Chris, and I did a bus trip to a Cubs game as a late birthday gift for Chris along with the Kecks and Hoffars.
Last Hurrah 2: Dad and I drove out east for a week for a backpacking trip along the Appalachian and the Smokey's. It was some good quality time with my dad and what a better place than hiking in the great outdoors.
Last Hurrah 3: Drove up to Grand Rapids to celebrate with Jax at her bachelorette party and got to spend time with my college friends
Last Hurrah 4: Celebrated Clint and Claire at their rehearsal dinner where the whole "family" was together
Last Hurrah 5: Drove back up to GR for two beautiful weddings in one day (but unfortunately had to miss the Hoffar wedding which was the same day)
Last Hurrah 6: Spent a week up in Minneapolis with my mom and my aunts and cousins. It was so good to spend time with all of them and especially my little cousins whose first couple years of life I am going to miss which will be hard.
Last Hurrah 7: Back up to GR again for Jax and James' beautiful wedding then spent time on Lake Michigan with college friends. Weddings are always a blast because all of my soccer girls are there and we always have a good time together
Last Hurrah 8: Last trip up to GR for a while for Kelly and Garrett's wedding (noticing a theme yet about my summer? Hint: a lot of my friends got married)
Last Hurrah 9: Spent a week at Momentum Youth Conference with a group of students from Kendallville UMC and heard from so many amazing speakers all while getting to worship with around 3000 other believers
Last Hurrah 10: Flew to Seattle with a friend from high school to visit a friend from college and hiked at Mt. Rainier and traveled along the Washington coast through Olympic National Park. It was definitely one of the highlights of my summer. Washington is a beautiful state
Last Hurrah 11: For my last visit to GR I spent an afternoon with the Hall's and then in the evening caught up with Corrie and Tamryn and even got to play soccer for the first time since I retired in the fall (the final goodbyes are beginning so it was definitely a bittersweet trip. Lots of good conversations and quality time but knowing it would be the last time I see them all for a while was hard)
Last Hurrah 12: A long weekend trip to Virginia where I spent time with my other "brothers" rock climbing, playing ultimate Frisbee and doing my best not to get picked on too much. This was my last trip of the summer. Once I got back I subbed at the high school for one more week. My final week at home I spent packing and doing final preparations and have had a couple send offs with family and close friends.
As I reflect now on my summer, and well just my life thus far, the song Roots Before Branches comes to mind. I'm so incredibly grateful for all the people who are my roots; those who have taught me to be strong and have encouraged me to take chances so I can grow my branches. I wouldn't be who I am today without each and every person in my life.
https://youtu.be/4kQvCFTNpw4
Lyrics:
I gotta have
Roots before branches
To know who I am
Before I know
Who I wanna be
And faith
To take chances
To live like I see
A place in this world for me
The challenge to myself this summer was to be super intentional with my time with people and make it a point to say yes to as much as possible. The summer was basically my last hurrah before leaving. The past couple months have been so good for my soul and I'm hoping that all the love I felt this summer stays present with me throughout my service.
My First Last Hurrah of the summer (I like oxymoron's- or maybe just the word oxymoron, who knows...): Mom, Dad, Chris, and I did a bus trip to a Cubs game as a late birthday gift for Chris along with the Kecks and Hoffars.
Last Hurrah 2: Dad and I drove out east for a week for a backpacking trip along the Appalachian and the Smokey's. It was some good quality time with my dad and what a better place than hiking in the great outdoors.
Last Hurrah 3: Drove up to Grand Rapids to celebrate with Jax at her bachelorette party and got to spend time with my college friends
Last Hurrah 4: Celebrated Clint and Claire at their rehearsal dinner where the whole "family" was together
Last Hurrah 6: Spent a week up in Minneapolis with my mom and my aunts and cousins. It was so good to spend time with all of them and especially my little cousins whose first couple years of life I am going to miss which will be hard.
Last Hurrah 7: Back up to GR again for Jax and James' beautiful wedding then spent time on Lake Michigan with college friends. Weddings are always a blast because all of my soccer girls are there and we always have a good time together
Last Hurrah 8: Last trip up to GR for a while for Kelly and Garrett's wedding (noticing a theme yet about my summer? Hint: a lot of my friends got married)
Last Hurrah 9: Spent a week at Momentum Youth Conference with a group of students from Kendallville UMC and heard from so many amazing speakers all while getting to worship with around 3000 other believers
Last Hurrah 10: Flew to Seattle with a friend from high school to visit a friend from college and hiked at Mt. Rainier and traveled along the Washington coast through Olympic National Park. It was definitely one of the highlights of my summer. Washington is a beautiful state
Last Hurrah 11: For my last visit to GR I spent an afternoon with the Hall's and then in the evening caught up with Corrie and Tamryn and even got to play soccer for the first time since I retired in the fall (the final goodbyes are beginning so it was definitely a bittersweet trip. Lots of good conversations and quality time but knowing it would be the last time I see them all for a while was hard)
Last Hurrah 12: A long weekend trip to Virginia where I spent time with my other "brothers" rock climbing, playing ultimate Frisbee and doing my best not to get picked on too much. This was my last trip of the summer. Once I got back I subbed at the high school for one more week. My final week at home I spent packing and doing final preparations and have had a couple send offs with family and close friends.
As I reflect now on my summer, and well just my life thus far, the song Roots Before Branches comes to mind. I'm so incredibly grateful for all the people who are my roots; those who have taught me to be strong and have encouraged me to take chances so I can grow my branches. I wouldn't be who I am today without each and every person in my life.
https://youtu.be/4kQvCFTNpw4
Lyrics:
I gotta have
Roots before branches
To know who I am
Before I know
Who I wanna be
And faith
To take chances
To live like I see
A place in this world for me
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
What is the Peace Corps you ask?
So, now maybe you’re wondering what exactly the Peace
Corps is or what my life is possibly going to look like during the 27 months
I’ll be in Madagascar. To be honest I don’t know a whole lot. I’ve read
everything the Peace Corps has given me and I’ve read plenty of other blogs but
I’m trying to go in without too many expectations and I’m just going to do my
best to be flexible and go with the flow. So as far as my assignment goes here’s
what I know thus far:
Primary
duties:
As an TEFL English teacher, your primary assignment will be to teach English at a lycĂ©e (high school) and/or at a CEG (middle school) for a minimum of sixteen (16) hours each week. Eighteen hours is the maximum for Malagasy high school teachers. You will also work with local English teachers at your school or surrounding schools for six hours each week so that they can improve their English and learn different teaching techniques from you. You will be asked to identify a counterpart, another English teacher, with whom you can work closely to make sure that you are covering the required course content. Additionally, you may organize evening English classes for interested community members and work with other English teachers on developing these classes into income-generating activities. Several Volunteers broadcast English shows on the local radio stations, combining a mixture of music and simple English lessons for the community at large. Another of your responsibilities will be to get to know the local communities and help with extracurricular activities that will strengthen students’ understanding of community and their future roles in the community. Through activities such as AIDS awareness, girls’ empowerment, and environment clubs, students can be encouraged to go out and help in the community and bring their learning back into the classroom. In the interest of community engagement, you will also encourage involvement of students’ parents and other community members in school improvement and student learning. Education Volunteers are also required to do summer vacation activities when all the Malagasy schools go on break from late July to early October. This time will be an opportunity to follow up on your primary assignments by linking them to more hands-on activities, like organizing field trips with counterparts and students or teaching English to national park workers. Some Volunteers will be called upon to help with pre-service training sessions. You will be asked to submit not only a vacation plan but also a consistent work plan for summer projects.
As an TEFL English teacher, your primary assignment will be to teach English at a lycĂ©e (high school) and/or at a CEG (middle school) for a minimum of sixteen (16) hours each week. Eighteen hours is the maximum for Malagasy high school teachers. You will also work with local English teachers at your school or surrounding schools for six hours each week so that they can improve their English and learn different teaching techniques from you. You will be asked to identify a counterpart, another English teacher, with whom you can work closely to make sure that you are covering the required course content. Additionally, you may organize evening English classes for interested community members and work with other English teachers on developing these classes into income-generating activities. Several Volunteers broadcast English shows on the local radio stations, combining a mixture of music and simple English lessons for the community at large. Another of your responsibilities will be to get to know the local communities and help with extracurricular activities that will strengthen students’ understanding of community and their future roles in the community. Through activities such as AIDS awareness, girls’ empowerment, and environment clubs, students can be encouraged to go out and help in the community and bring their learning back into the classroom. In the interest of community engagement, you will also encourage involvement of students’ parents and other community members in school improvement and student learning. Education Volunteers are also required to do summer vacation activities when all the Malagasy schools go on break from late July to early October. This time will be an opportunity to follow up on your primary assignments by linking them to more hands-on activities, like organizing field trips with counterparts and students or teaching English to national park workers. Some Volunteers will be called upon to help with pre-service training sessions. You will be asked to submit not only a vacation plan but also a consistent work plan for summer projects.
Living
Conditions:
Volunteers are posted throughout the country and are usually clustered in certain regions. Housing conditions vary from palm huts to modern cement houses with running water and electricity. Education Volunteers generally live in areas of greater population density. Most Volunteers have only a pit toilet and an outdoor shed for taking bucket showers. During the first two-thirds of training, you will live with and have most of your meals with a host family. A homestay is considered one of the most important aspects of the training program and is required for this period. All trainees stay in a town close to the training center, so you will not be far from your fellow trainees. And although the homestay experience can be challenging at first, it is an invaluable resource for language and cultural learning. Volunteers often form strong and lasting friendships with their host families, and many continue to visit their host families during their service. During the last third of training, you will live and attend training sessions at the Peace Corps training center, located on beautiful Lake Mantasoa.
Volunteers are posted throughout the country and are usually clustered in certain regions. Housing conditions vary from palm huts to modern cement houses with running water and electricity. Education Volunteers generally live in areas of greater population density. Most Volunteers have only a pit toilet and an outdoor shed for taking bucket showers. During the first two-thirds of training, you will live with and have most of your meals with a host family. A homestay is considered one of the most important aspects of the training program and is required for this period. All trainees stay in a town close to the training center, so you will not be far from your fellow trainees. And although the homestay experience can be challenging at first, it is an invaluable resource for language and cultural learning. Volunteers often form strong and lasting friendships with their host families, and many continue to visit their host families during their service. During the last third of training, you will live and attend training sessions at the Peace Corps training center, located on beautiful Lake Mantasoa.
The staple food in Madagascar is rice, which is eaten
with vegetables, beans, or meat. In fact, rice consumption per capita in
Madagascar is the highest in the world. Many fruits and vegetables grow in
Madagascar, and the coastal regions boast an abundance of delicious,
inexpensive tropical fruit and seafood. Most Volunteers prepare their own food.
Meat and dairy products are available in the larger towns, but they can be
expensive. Beans, lentils, eggs, and peanuts are all widely available, even in
small towns.
In just six months this is a glimpse of what some of
my life is possibly going to look like!
The Peace Corps mission is: To
promote world peace and friendship by fulfilling three goals:
- To help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
- To help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
- To help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
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