One year ago today, I left my friends and family to begin my journey with the Peace Corps. I got on that plane to leave for my staging event in Philadelphia before leaving for Moldova the following day. I had no idea what to expect, and I remember being so nervous and feeling completely naïve and unprepared.
It’s hard to believe one year has already passed. This year has been full of ups and downs and in betweens. Looking back at myself one year ago, I can’t help but laugh, and I don't really know why. I guess it's because in some way, I feel like this year has just changed me so much, and in other ways, I know that I have so many more ways to mature. I never expected the ways I would or wouldn’t react to certain things. I’m not sure what the next year will bring, but I’m ready for it. Here’s to my next year in Peace Corps.
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Showing posts with label change. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Goodbye, Herbal Essence
When I was taking my shower today, I finished the last bit of my Herbal Essence conditioner. I bet you’re thinking two things. 1. OMG, it took her 4 months to finish a bottle of conditioner!! How often does that smelly girl shower? 2. So you finished a bottle of conditioner. It’s just conditioner! Throw the bottle away, buy a new one, and stop pouting, you big baby.
To the first comment, I shower enough for now, okay?!?! I even get to shower more than some of the other volunteers. Once winter comes along and the pipes freeze, I’ll shower less than now. It’s an unfortunate “experience” that comes with working in the Peace Corps. But it’s not like I came here with the expectations of having the same standard of living as I did in America.
And to the second comment, it was a sad moment. I love Herbal Essence conditioner. It took me several years to find the conditioner I liked best, and I have been using it ever since. And now, it is no more. I must use Moldovan conditioner. Additionally, my herbal essence conditioner was one of the last things with a smell that reminded me of America/home. And while I’m getting used to Moldovan smells, I miss the ones that remind me of home. Although I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the smell of burning trash. Yuck.
Because I recognized this momentous occasion would soon take place, I prepped myself for this unfortunate event by buying new conditioner a couple weeks ago, which was not an easy task in Moldova. I could only find shampoo. And anytime there was a bottle that looked like it might be conditioner, it was written in Russian, so I had no way of reading it. I’m still half worried I bought lotion instead. That will not help with the greasy mess I now call my hair! But despite the fact I was “ready” for this, when I squeezed out the very last drop, my shoulders dropped and I was sad.
Change happens. Sometimes, change is not good or bad. It is just change. But sometimes, I hold on so tightly to small, insignificant things, that I begin to taint an experience or lose perspective. I’m so busy looking back that I don’t see what is right in front of me, or the possibilities that could be coming. I let myself be distracted from the bigger picture, and I let myself get in my own way. I may not like the change, but dealing with it is just a part of life, and it is most definitely a part of the Peace Corps.
I will be perfectly fine with Moldovan conditioner. In fact, after a couple weeks, I won’t even think about what kind of conditioner I’m using any other time than when I’m showering. When I shower, I will remember that I’m using some make-do conditioner, and not MY conditioner. And I’ll pout, but then I’ll move on.
You know, I think I love Herbal Essence even more now since it’s helping me grow up and mature. Maybe they should include that function in their next commercial.
To the first comment, I shower enough for now, okay?!?! I even get to shower more than some of the other volunteers. Once winter comes along and the pipes freeze, I’ll shower less than now. It’s an unfortunate “experience” that comes with working in the Peace Corps. But it’s not like I came here with the expectations of having the same standard of living as I did in America.
And to the second comment, it was a sad moment. I love Herbal Essence conditioner. It took me several years to find the conditioner I liked best, and I have been using it ever since. And now, it is no more. I must use Moldovan conditioner. Additionally, my herbal essence conditioner was one of the last things with a smell that reminded me of America/home. And while I’m getting used to Moldovan smells, I miss the ones that remind me of home. Although I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the smell of burning trash. Yuck.
Because I recognized this momentous occasion would soon take place, I prepped myself for this unfortunate event by buying new conditioner a couple weeks ago, which was not an easy task in Moldova. I could only find shampoo. And anytime there was a bottle that looked like it might be conditioner, it was written in Russian, so I had no way of reading it. I’m still half worried I bought lotion instead. That will not help with the greasy mess I now call my hair! But despite the fact I was “ready” for this, when I squeezed out the very last drop, my shoulders dropped and I was sad.
Change happens. Sometimes, change is not good or bad. It is just change. But sometimes, I hold on so tightly to small, insignificant things, that I begin to taint an experience or lose perspective. I’m so busy looking back that I don’t see what is right in front of me, or the possibilities that could be coming. I let myself be distracted from the bigger picture, and I let myself get in my own way. I may not like the change, but dealing with it is just a part of life, and it is most definitely a part of the Peace Corps.
I will be perfectly fine with Moldovan conditioner. In fact, after a couple weeks, I won’t even think about what kind of conditioner I’m using any other time than when I’m showering. When I shower, I will remember that I’m using some make-do conditioner, and not MY conditioner. And I’ll pout, but then I’ll move on.
You know, I think I love Herbal Essence even more now since it’s helping me grow up and mature. Maybe they should include that function in their next commercial.
Friday, September 9, 2011
If You Want To Make God Laugh, Make A Plan
With all the time I have to myself, I do a lot of thinking and reflecting. Sometimes it’s hard, and it can feel lonely. But I have come up with some things that I enjoy thinking about. And today I was thinking about myself five years ago and what my plans and expectations were for the future.
Five years ago, I was moving into the basement of the Wesley Foundation and starting my junior year of college. My plans for the next five years were to finish undergrad in the next two years and stay at Virginia Tech for another year to get a master’s in education. I was accumulating quite a bit of things, especially for my kitchen, because the next move in my future was going to be to my own apartment. After grad school, I would find that perfect elementary teaching job, preferably at an inner-city school. I would move into my own apartment, pick out the perfect furniture, adopt a dog, and begin that fabulous life as a young, single, independent woman. I would be spending my money wisely, yet still having fun, and I would be saving up to buy my own house within a couple years.
Well, I went to William and Mary for grad school. My first job was teaching math at a middle school. And then I decided to join the Peace Corps, so I quit my job and took sporadic sub jobs and worked at a daycare while waiting to leave the country. And I have yet to have my own apartment.
I like thinking about the future. It’s fun to imagine the different directions life might take me. I think about what I might do after the Peace Corps. Maybe I’ll go back to America and find that elementary teaching job. Or after teaching older students for two years, I will want to teach in a middle or high school. Or perhaps I will want to keep teaching abroad, so perhaps I’ll find a job teaching in China or Kenya or India. I might go back to school to become a professor. Maybe I won’t be teaching at all.
As I sit here and think about my future, I can’t help but reflect on my past self thinking about the future. Five years ago, I didn’t even consider the Peace Corps as something I wanted, and now I can’t imagine being somewhere else. I wonder where life might lead me next. I wonder what plans I’m making now that my future self will look back at and laugh at.
Five years ago, I was moving into the basement of the Wesley Foundation and starting my junior year of college. My plans for the next five years were to finish undergrad in the next two years and stay at Virginia Tech for another year to get a master’s in education. I was accumulating quite a bit of things, especially for my kitchen, because the next move in my future was going to be to my own apartment. After grad school, I would find that perfect elementary teaching job, preferably at an inner-city school. I would move into my own apartment, pick out the perfect furniture, adopt a dog, and begin that fabulous life as a young, single, independent woman. I would be spending my money wisely, yet still having fun, and I would be saving up to buy my own house within a couple years.
Well, I went to William and Mary for grad school. My first job was teaching math at a middle school. And then I decided to join the Peace Corps, so I quit my job and took sporadic sub jobs and worked at a daycare while waiting to leave the country. And I have yet to have my own apartment.
I like thinking about the future. It’s fun to imagine the different directions life might take me. I think about what I might do after the Peace Corps. Maybe I’ll go back to America and find that elementary teaching job. Or after teaching older students for two years, I will want to teach in a middle or high school. Or perhaps I will want to keep teaching abroad, so perhaps I’ll find a job teaching in China or Kenya or India. I might go back to school to become a professor. Maybe I won’t be teaching at all.
As I sit here and think about my future, I can’t help but reflect on my past self thinking about the future. Five years ago, I didn’t even consider the Peace Corps as something I wanted, and now I can’t imagine being somewhere else. I wonder where life might lead me next. I wonder what plans I’m making now that my future self will look back at and laugh at.
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