Waiting (6/7 months to go)

Ah, yes. The infamous in-between time. The time when you've been nominated, are frantically scrambling to get any possible information about your medical help together, and almost forget a minor linchpin of the Peace Corps application:

What have you been doing since you've been nominated that should make us vote for you? I mean, invite you..

It is a critical period in the whole process, because prior to the nomination a large segment of the applicant population is finishing up university. What makes you, who has now graduated, a relevant applicant? What have you done that makes you a competitive character? Or, another way--what consideration should we give to you, a highly experienced/well-educated post-college person? What have you done to make you Worthwhile?

For some, it could be a few months. For me, it was almost a year from nomination to invitation. At my primary interview, they asked me what I predicted would go on over the following year. I told them, I probably will be attempting to get a job, move into a new community, volunteer some, and if education (it was either education or business) was the option, I'd go get an English Teaching license.

They said, good. Go do that. So I did, more or less...

At the moment, I'm back home after a year away teaching in an after-school program for children of low-income families.

Now, I'm about to start volunteering at the African Community Center that welcomes in new immigrants and settles them in/explains this INSANE culture; Nannying, that will turn into substitute teaching for middle/high school students in a week; practicing at an Arabic Language meetup group weekly; taking Capoeira twice a week; doing Yoga as often as possible--and maybe, when I have the time, salsa dancing.

Because I have these 6/7 months of free time, I decided to take up a few areas of study that have always interested me but I've never had the opportunity. Those are: American Sign Language (ASL) and Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Between the two of them, I'm being driven into the ground--but every day is exciting, and I definitely enjoy the study.

The schedule doesn't leave much room for error, but I'm the kind of person that has to keep busy. Every so often there's a bit of down time, and that's enough for me.

P.S. 5 DAYS!

And, for a feel good moment: