The Saturday after Thanksgiving, 6 of us (Tom and Leah, Jessie and I, Sammy, Molly) met up in San Juan for a belated-Thanksgiving celebration. It was decidedly un-Thanksgiving like. This is the first time Jessie and I have celebrated somewhere where it wasn't cold and truly Fall. It was still awesome, though.
We stayed at a cool little hotel that was more someone's really nice house converted. The grounds also had outdoor huts that we would stay at sometime in the future. The coolest thing, though, was that the owner allowed us to cook our own dinner there. We went to the market and bought a couple of already dead chickens, vegetables and drinks...headed back to the hotel and cooked, talked and drank. It was perfect.
I have pictures somewhere...I will try to post in the future.
On Sunday, I tried surfing again. Man is it hard! Maybe someday I will get good at it.
Okay, that's all I have the energy for.
Pis.
Showing posts with label couples. Show all posts
Showing posts with label couples. Show all posts
Friday, December 4, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Training is Done
Week 11
11/01/09 - 11/08/09
Week 11 was our last week of training here in La Union. For most people that means moving onto a different site after swearing in on November 13, but for us it just means starting are permanent jobs here. We are both really excited about it, though it this point there is not much to say. Lots of potential...
This week also had us doing our Language Proficiency Interview (LPI). Jessie is an ace and did just fine. I was nervous because I had a practice interview at the beginning of the week and totally blanked on all that I had learned. That got me reviewing...and got me a little freaked out. Thankfully, I knew more than I thought and did just fine. This morning I briefly talked to my LPI interviewer and she said that I "passed." I will get more detailed notes later in the week.
Either way, training is done now. It's weird, I feel like I have been here forever, but at the same time, everything is flying by so quickly. It has been great, though.
Tomorrow we travel to Manila for Counterparts Conference and then Swearing In.
After this post, I will probably not give weekly updates. I feel like I don't always have something good to say in a given week. I will still update regularly through Twitter, though, so keep looking to the right hand column of this screen!
Pis Out
11/01/09 - 11/08/09
Week 11 was our last week of training here in La Union. For most people that means moving onto a different site after swearing in on November 13, but for us it just means starting are permanent jobs here. We are both really excited about it, though it this point there is not much to say. Lots of potential...
This week also had us doing our Language Proficiency Interview (LPI). Jessie is an ace and did just fine. I was nervous because I had a practice interview at the beginning of the week and totally blanked on all that I had learned. That got me reviewing...and got me a little freaked out. Thankfully, I knew more than I thought and did just fine. This morning I briefly talked to my LPI interviewer and she said that I "passed." I will get more detailed notes later in the week.
Either way, training is done now. It's weird, I feel like I have been here forever, but at the same time, everything is flying by so quickly. It has been great, though.
Tomorrow we travel to Manila for Counterparts Conference and then Swearing In.
After this post, I will probably not give weekly updates. I feel like I don't always have something good to say in a given week. I will still update regularly through Twitter, though, so keep looking to the right hand column of this screen!
Pis Out
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Back to Training
Week 9
10/18/09 - 10/25/09
After the fun of Manila and Supervisor's Conference, week 9 was a bit boring. It was tough getting back into the language after being in areas where we didn't have much chance to practice. By the end of the week, I felt back up to speed, though.
One highlight of this week was that it was Jessie and my 1-year legal anniversary. We had two weddings last year. There was our ceremony in Mexico with all our friends and family in February of 2009. Prior to that, though, we had a secret legal wedding on October 18 in front of a judge in Chicago. It was a really fun experience for us. Since getting here, we have been telling people that that is our anniversary date.
Our host parents decided to have a party for us. It was really great. A lot of the other trainees came by. They got us a fried pig's head. It looks a lot more exotic than it tastes. It was really quite delicious. We loved the whole day and appreciated what our host parents did for us.
We also were able to come back home to our beautiful sunsets. We are very fortunate that we can witness this kind of beauty every night (though we don't take advantage of it every night). We certainly haven't gotten tired of that!
Okay, I will try and shoot my last blog out soon to be all caught up.
Pis
10/18/09 - 10/25/09
After the fun of Manila and Supervisor's Conference, week 9 was a bit boring. It was tough getting back into the language after being in areas where we didn't have much chance to practice. By the end of the week, I felt back up to speed, though.
One highlight of this week was that it was Jessie and my 1-year legal anniversary. We had two weddings last year. There was our ceremony in Mexico with all our friends and family in February of 2009. Prior to that, though, we had a secret legal wedding on October 18 in front of a judge in Chicago. It was a really fun experience for us. Since getting here, we have been telling people that that is our anniversary date.
Our host parents decided to have a party for us. It was really great. A lot of the other trainees came by. They got us a fried pig's head. It looks a lot more exotic than it tastes. It was really quite delicious. We loved the whole day and appreciated what our host parents did for us.
We also were able to come back home to our beautiful sunsets. We are very fortunate that we can witness this kind of beauty every night (though we don't take advantage of it every night). We certainly haven't gotten tired of that!
Okay, I will try and shoot my last blog out soon to be all caught up.
Pis
Monday, September 7, 2009
Week 2
08/30/09 - 09/06/09
All is well here. We have now been living with our host family for a week. It feels like longer. That is not a bad thing. It's just that time is so different during this whole experience.
I am going to try and limit the focus of this week's blog. Today, I will be talking about my daily schedule.
My cluster (5 CYF trainees) has training Monday through Saturday. Jessie's schedule is not much different. We have language training in the morning. The language in the region we are in is called Ilokano. We are told that it is nothing like Tagalog. I didn't learn enough Tagalog from Rosetta Stone to make any really strong comparisons between the two. There are some Spanish words (really only nouns) that have made there way into most of the languages in this country. That is kind of nice for learning. We have only been at it for a week, so I don't know much. It is certainly daunting, but ultimately our instructors are all very capable and will do a great job with us.
After language training, we have about an hour for lunch. The other 4 trainees in my cluster go to their respective host family homes for lunch. My host family is about a 25 minute walk away from our training site, so I either bring a lunch or go and visit them at the store they own, which is only a 10 minute walk.
In the afternoon, we have our technical training. This has included lessons on the theory behind what we are doing, documentary and video watching (to see what issues Filipino children face), and visiting our "practicum" site. The practicum site is the facility that we go to once a week to do hands on work with children. Our first visit was last Friday. The kids there are seem really great. They are all boys (young men) who have gotten into some trouble with the law. The facility allows them to get life skills training, counseling, school, and other services. When they have completed enough, they are released and their record is cleared. That is not really the whole story, but should give you a slight sense of the program.
Okay, so that is what my days are going to be like for the next 3 months.
If you want daily updates, check out my twitter page here.
We also went on a pretty awesome hike on Sunday. Here is a picture from the top of the mountain we hiked up:
All is well here. We have now been living with our host family for a week. It feels like longer. That is not a bad thing. It's just that time is so different during this whole experience.
I am going to try and limit the focus of this week's blog. Today, I will be talking about my daily schedule.
My cluster (5 CYF trainees) has training Monday through Saturday. Jessie's schedule is not much different. We have language training in the morning. The language in the region we are in is called Ilokano. We are told that it is nothing like Tagalog. I didn't learn enough Tagalog from Rosetta Stone to make any really strong comparisons between the two. There are some Spanish words (really only nouns) that have made there way into most of the languages in this country. That is kind of nice for learning. We have only been at it for a week, so I don't know much. It is certainly daunting, but ultimately our instructors are all very capable and will do a great job with us.
After language training, we have about an hour for lunch. The other 4 trainees in my cluster go to their respective host family homes for lunch. My host family is about a 25 minute walk away from our training site, so I either bring a lunch or go and visit them at the store they own, which is only a 10 minute walk.
In the afternoon, we have our technical training. This has included lessons on the theory behind what we are doing, documentary and video watching (to see what issues Filipino children face), and visiting our "practicum" site. The practicum site is the facility that we go to once a week to do hands on work with children. Our first visit was last Friday. The kids there are seem really great. They are all boys (young men) who have gotten into some trouble with the law. The facility allows them to get life skills training, counseling, school, and other services. When they have completed enough, they are released and their record is cleared. That is not really the whole story, but should give you a slight sense of the program.
Okay, so that is what my days are going to be like for the next 3 months.
If you want daily updates, check out my twitter page here.
We also went on a pretty awesome hike on Sunday. Here is a picture from the top of the mountain we hiked up:
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Peace Corps Application Process - Part 12
Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of our Peace Corps interview! I can't believe how fast this past 12 months has gone by.
I can't believe that in another 6 weeks, or so, we are going to be departing for the Philippines for 27 months.
I am so excited!
I can't believe that in another 6 weeks, or so, we are going to be departing for the Philippines for 27 months.
I am so excited!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
8 Weeks/12 Weeks to Go
I am going to be done working at my current job in 8 weeks. I can't describe how exciting to me that is right now. I love the work that I do. I love the people that I work with. But after almost 5 years as a public defender, I am ready for a change...
Which leads me to the more exciting countdown. Jessie and I will be leaving for the Philippines in about 12 weeks!!! The time has been moving much faster than I expected, but that is a good thing. When I am not busy and can sit down and think about it, I start to get antsy to leave and 12 weeks seems like forever.
So, what are we doing to get ready for this awesome experience? Well, we have a shopping list of gear/clothing that we need to get. We are trying to balance the things that we actually need with the things we want to bring. For example, I need decent, nice-looking, warm weather clothing. I have lots of t-shirts and shorts, but still need the nicer stuff that I will wear to work. On the other side of things, I also bought a travel guitar (Little Martin). I know I don't need it, but I really want to have something musical with me. Either way, it is fun to go shopping.
Jessie and I have also been working on Rosetta Stone for Tagalog. After not having actively learned a language in over a decade, it actually doesn't seem so bad...but then again I am still only learning to count and say "the boy jumps" so things could get a lot more complicated and soon.
Jessie is leaving for Phoenix in a week to help lead Teach For America training for new teachers. It will be good experience for her and a bit of extra money for us, which is nice. It is also good for me because I have to study for the MCAT, which I am hoping to take at the beginning of August before we leave.
So, we are looking at a very busy and crazy summer. Hopefully some fun will be had too!
Oh, and we still have to pack up all of our belongings and deposit them in our parents basements. Fun...
Which leads me to the more exciting countdown. Jessie and I will be leaving for the Philippines in about 12 weeks!!! The time has been moving much faster than I expected, but that is a good thing. When I am not busy and can sit down and think about it, I start to get antsy to leave and 12 weeks seems like forever.
So, what are we doing to get ready for this awesome experience? Well, we have a shopping list of gear/clothing that we need to get. We are trying to balance the things that we actually need with the things we want to bring. For example, I need decent, nice-looking, warm weather clothing. I have lots of t-shirts and shorts, but still need the nicer stuff that I will wear to work. On the other side of things, I also bought a travel guitar (Little Martin). I know I don't need it, but I really want to have something musical with me. Either way, it is fun to go shopping.
Jessie and I have also been working on Rosetta Stone for Tagalog. After not having actively learned a language in over a decade, it actually doesn't seem so bad...but then again I am still only learning to count and say "the boy jumps" so things could get a lot more complicated and soon.
Jessie is leaving for Phoenix in a week to help lead Teach For America training for new teachers. It will be good experience for her and a bit of extra money for us, which is nice. It is also good for me because I have to study for the MCAT, which I am hoping to take at the beginning of August before we leave.
So, we are looking at a very busy and crazy summer. Hopefully some fun will be had too!
Oh, and we still have to pack up all of our belongings and deposit them in our parents basements. Fun...
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Peace Corps Application - Part 11
Jessie and I have been invited to volunteer in Philippines!!!
Wait, what happened to Turkmenistan and Central Asia? Let's backtrack a little.
At the beginning of February, while we were in Mexico, Jessie and I were contacted by our placement officer by email. She said that we were still on track to be volunteers but due to the necessity of medical accommodations (probably Jessie's asthma), we couldn't be placed at the location we were originally nominated for. This was fine with me because I wasn't exactly excited about it. Don't get me wrong...I would have done it no matter where we were sent. But let's face it, some places are more interesting/desirable, for some people, than others.
When we got back, I called our placement officer on February 12. She told me that she had a list of countries that could probably accommodate us and had already been in contact with one of them. It was a country in Asia, Jessie was still going to be a teacher-trainer, I was going to be switched to youth development, and we would be leaving in mid-August. Looking at the list of possible Peace Corps countries in Asia (Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand), we figured it was probably the Philippines because that country's recruits left last year in mid-August and they had the programs were were nominated for, minus the health extension, which was my original nomination.
It turns out we were right! Except we still had to wait a bit...
On March 3, we received an email from our placement officer indicating that we had, in fact, been invited to that particular program. They still couldn't tell us what country, because it is Peace Corps policy not to let you know the specific country until the actual invitation is in your hand. We were super excited, though, and figured that it was a matter of days until we got the invitation.
Wrong.
It didn't land in our mailbox until yesterday, March 18. If you are currently an applicant for the Peace Corps, you know that it can be exciting/stressful to wait for updates and new information. Jessie and I generally didn't have that problem. We knew the process was slow and were really calm about it...until we knew we were getting an invite. We were excitedly checking the mail every day...it was really quite a pathetic sight. I would always call or text Jessie to see if we got it yet. When she said no, I would swear a little bit, wondering what could be taking so long. I know it sounds dumb, but you would understand if you have gone through this. Remember when you were applying for college and were expecting your acceptance/rejection in the mail? Multiply that by 10.
Anyway, we are super excited now. We have a packet with all sorts of information (maybe for a future post) and have a lot to take care of in the next 5 months. I will try to post more regularly about that aspect of the process.
Until then...
Wait, what happened to Turkmenistan and Central Asia? Let's backtrack a little.
At the beginning of February, while we were in Mexico, Jessie and I were contacted by our placement officer by email. She said that we were still on track to be volunteers but due to the necessity of medical accommodations (probably Jessie's asthma), we couldn't be placed at the location we were originally nominated for. This was fine with me because I wasn't exactly excited about it. Don't get me wrong...I would have done it no matter where we were sent. But let's face it, some places are more interesting/desirable, for some people, than others.
When we got back, I called our placement officer on February 12. She told me that she had a list of countries that could probably accommodate us and had already been in contact with one of them. It was a country in Asia, Jessie was still going to be a teacher-trainer, I was going to be switched to youth development, and we would be leaving in mid-August. Looking at the list of possible Peace Corps countries in Asia (Cambodia, China, Mongolia, Philippines, Thailand), we figured it was probably the Philippines because that country's recruits left last year in mid-August and they had the programs were were nominated for, minus the health extension, which was my original nomination.
It turns out we were right! Except we still had to wait a bit...
On March 3, we received an email from our placement officer indicating that we had, in fact, been invited to that particular program. They still couldn't tell us what country, because it is Peace Corps policy not to let you know the specific country until the actual invitation is in your hand. We were super excited, though, and figured that it was a matter of days until we got the invitation.
Wrong.
It didn't land in our mailbox until yesterday, March 18. If you are currently an applicant for the Peace Corps, you know that it can be exciting/stressful to wait for updates and new information. Jessie and I generally didn't have that problem. We knew the process was slow and were really calm about it...until we knew we were getting an invite. We were excitedly checking the mail every day...it was really quite a pathetic sight. I would always call or text Jessie to see if we got it yet. When she said no, I would swear a little bit, wondering what could be taking so long. I know it sounds dumb, but you would understand if you have gone through this. Remember when you were applying for college and were expecting your acceptance/rejection in the mail? Multiply that by 10.
Anyway, we are super excited now. We have a packet with all sorts of information (maybe for a future post) and have a lot to take care of in the next 5 months. I will try to post more regularly about that aspect of the process.
Until then...
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Peace Corps Application - Part 10
We Have Been Medically Cleared!!
On December 8, 2008, the Peace Corps sent Jessie and I letters in the mail indicating that we are now medically cleared. Jessie's letter is slightly different than mine. She is "provisionally qualified for service that support individuals with asthma." While her asthma isn't particularly bad, she still needs to be in a country where she can get advair, albuterol, or any other meds she may need. We have no idea if this affects our original nomination. I wonder if there are countries that we automatically can't be placed in, or if we just need to be placed in a location that is near a medical facility. I suppose that is a question for our placement officer.
Overall, the road to medical clearance was not terrible, with two exceptions. First, on November 5, 2008, I was sent a follow-up letter from the Medical Office. They wanted me to go back to my doctor because I am overweight and they want to make sure it wouldn't affect my service. Those of you who know me, know that while I am not skinny by any means, I am certainly not dangerously overweight. The problem is, the Peace Corps Medical Office has never met me before. So, they ran my height and weight into a BMI calculator to determine how fat I am. Unfortunately, I scored over a 30 on the BMI scale, which labels me as obese! Now, if you look anywhere on the Internet, you can see that Body Mass Index (BMI) is the most ridiculous way to measure a person's health. It doesn't take muscle mass vs. body fat into account. It is just weight vs. height (with age and sex thrown in for good measure). By the BMI standard, for me to be in the normal weight range, I should weight 155 pounds. I would look anorexic if I did that.
Anyway, after a brief bought of anger/annoyance/amusement, I made an appointment with my doctor to check my fatness and to get some more blood work (I had a couple of slightly out of range liver levels). He said that I am not obese and filled out the form that they sent me. My blood work came back normal. I faxed everything back to the medical office about two weeks after that.
The second issue that Jessie and I had came up about a week ago. You see, Jessie is much more diligent than I am about calling to find out what is going on with our status. Thank goodness for that. When she called to find out if they had received all of our faxes, they checked her file first. Medical had marked her file and said that all faxes were received and they were waiting for my file to be complete. So, they check my file. Medical had marked my file and said that all faxes were received and that they were waiting for her file to be complete! Unfortunately no one had cross-referenced the two files yet, so they were both on hold. Again, good thing Jessie had called in, otherwise who knows how long it would have been before anyone noticed.
Where are we at now? Well, I believe we are now in for a long waiting game. Since we are not set to leave until next September, we really can't get an invite for another 3 months at the soonest (unless they move up our nomination). We could end up waiting all the way up until about 6 weeks before our departure date. So, we have a long way to go. Hopefully the wait is all we have to deal with. If there are budget issues, are departure could get screwed up too. Hopefully we won't have to worry about that, though...
On December 8, 2008, the Peace Corps sent Jessie and I letters in the mail indicating that we are now medically cleared. Jessie's letter is slightly different than mine. She is "provisionally qualified for service that support individuals with asthma." While her asthma isn't particularly bad, she still needs to be in a country where she can get advair, albuterol, or any other meds she may need. We have no idea if this affects our original nomination. I wonder if there are countries that we automatically can't be placed in, or if we just need to be placed in a location that is near a medical facility. I suppose that is a question for our placement officer.
Overall, the road to medical clearance was not terrible, with two exceptions. First, on November 5, 2008, I was sent a follow-up letter from the Medical Office. They wanted me to go back to my doctor because I am overweight and they want to make sure it wouldn't affect my service. Those of you who know me, know that while I am not skinny by any means, I am certainly not dangerously overweight. The problem is, the Peace Corps Medical Office has never met me before. So, they ran my height and weight into a BMI calculator to determine how fat I am. Unfortunately, I scored over a 30 on the BMI scale, which labels me as obese! Now, if you look anywhere on the Internet, you can see that Body Mass Index (BMI) is the most ridiculous way to measure a person's health. It doesn't take muscle mass vs. body fat into account. It is just weight vs. height (with age and sex thrown in for good measure). By the BMI standard, for me to be in the normal weight range, I should weight 155 pounds. I would look anorexic if I did that.
Anyway, after a brief bought of anger/annoyance/amusement, I made an appointment with my doctor to check my fatness and to get some more blood work (I had a couple of slightly out of range liver levels). He said that I am not obese and filled out the form that they sent me. My blood work came back normal. I faxed everything back to the medical office about two weeks after that.
The second issue that Jessie and I had came up about a week ago. You see, Jessie is much more diligent than I am about calling to find out what is going on with our status. Thank goodness for that. When she called to find out if they had received all of our faxes, they checked her file first. Medical had marked her file and said that all faxes were received and they were waiting for my file to be complete. So, they check my file. Medical had marked my file and said that all faxes were received and that they were waiting for her file to be complete! Unfortunately no one had cross-referenced the two files yet, so they were both on hold. Again, good thing Jessie had called in, otherwise who knows how long it would have been before anyone noticed.
Where are we at now? Well, I believe we are now in for a long waiting game. Since we are not set to leave until next September, we really can't get an invite for another 3 months at the soonest (unless they move up our nomination). We could end up waiting all the way up until about 6 weeks before our departure date. So, we have a long way to go. Hopefully the wait is all we have to deal with. If there are budget issues, are departure could get screwed up too. Hopefully we won't have to worry about that, though...
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