In the bag

I didn't get nearly as much done last week as I had hoped, but that doesn't really surprise me. I've grown to trust myself when it comes to stuff like this. Studying and preparing for an exam, writing a twenty page paper for a class, packing up all of my stuff to move...it'll get done when the time is right. I used to really worry about it and force myself to sit down and start before there was any tangible need to, but I now realize that I work better under a little bit of pressure. When I start waking up at 3am with my heart racing, feeling like I'm going to puke and unable to fall back asleep due to worry and anxiety, I know it's time. Time to get serious and get to it. After three nights of the previously described symptoms, I was in the mood to get something done and that something turned out to be clothing. Today I went through all of my clothes and shoes and other decorative accoutrements that go along with apparel and there are now exactly 16 paper bags full of my old garb cluttering up my living room. I never really thought of myself as a clothes horse...maybe a clothes shetland pony, but by completely emptying the contents of my closet onto my bed and folding it all and putting it all systematically into paper bags and winding up with 16 of the things, I am forced to reconsider my pony status. A good deal of the stuff, though, I've had since high school and don't wear anymore and have kept simply because I could. But I can't keep it anymore. So...anybody need anything? Shirts? Shoes? Belts? Bags? I hate to be a salesperson, but I've got it all and I'd be more than happy to sell it to you for a very reasonable price. Seriously, it's got to go and anything I can't sell/give away to friends and neighbors will go to good will.

Because I have a bunch of other stuff I'd like to sell (see items listed to the right), here's what I'm thinking:
Semi-open apartment garage sale thingy on Saturday and Sunday of next week (the 26th and 27th), in the afternoon. If you're interested in attending what's sure to be the most awesome sale EVER, email me (go to my profile and click Email) with a time on Saturday or Sunday that would work for you (if that weekend doesn't work, we can set up a different time, I'm flexible and motivated) and I will send you directions to my apartment. If I have time, I'll bake cookies and for every 10 dollars you spend, you'll get two free cookies! (Incentives. My business classes are finally proving semi-useful.)
So is anybody interested in this thing?

Remember...if you're short on cash and are a nice person, many of the items here may just happen to be free when you stop by. So don't let that keep you away.

All right...that's it. No more lame pitches from me. I'd make a terrible sales person because I'd feel quite annoying the whole time.

Trinkets

This was it. My official first day of preparing for departure. Although I've been preparing for the past year, today was the first real day that my focus, my "job", was to get ready. Get packed. Get informed. Get prepared. And how did I do? I think I did okay. Earlier in the day I had it in mind to just put it all off for another day or two and read, relax, sip a caramel latte, take a long walk through the icy streets, but by 2pm, the lackadaisical vibe was gone and replaced by the itch to get something done. Just from today, I can tell what aspects of preparing I thoroughly enjoy and what aspects I thoroughly do not enjoy.

Enjoyment: learning about the country and everything that goes into it, practicing the little Romanian phrases provided by the PC, and reading about the volunteer experience in Romania.

Non-enjoyment: going through my possessions and placing them in the Keep for Future Use, Take to Romania, and Sell/Donate/Give Away as Gifts (ha! kidding...sorta) piles accordingly.

I'm trying to be very strict with myself, resisting the temptation to put everything in a storage box for two years, because I know how much easier it'll be to come back to a clean slate, free of trinkets that will seem unnecessary by then. The tough part is that the majority of my trinkets have some silly meaning behind them and that's why I've kept them this long. They aren't gifts from people (those will go in the Keep pile), they're just things I've had forever, like the mugs I've had since moving out for the first time, the cookie tray I've baked hundreds of batches of cookies on, the calculator that got me through all of my college math classes. Silly as it sounds, the hard part is thinking about the good life those trinkets have had up until now and now I'm just casting them away to who knows what, crushing their little hearts and upping their chances of a hard-knock life on the streets. Craziness, I know, but that's how my mind works.

Anyways...I feel like I got a start today. I'm hoping to spend 3 hours, at the very least, each day (weekends off, of course) getting this show on the road...just a little over a month to go.

Sorry for all the sappy sentimentality.

Home. For now.

Well. My mom, Ozzie, and I made it home just in time. There's a thick blanket of snow now accumulating outside my apartment window and the walk I (rather stupidly) took earlier ended in frozen pants, a runny nose, and persistent sneezing. Although a cold is guaranteed to take hold very soon, I'm perfectly content to bundle up and hunker down with some hot chockie, a good book, and the falling snow for the next few days. The trip is (sadly) done, my job is over, and I've got an unlimited pile of things to do, but I'll get to it soon enough. Reno in winter and winter in Reno. Too good to resist. And I don't even like to ski.

seventy degrees

I am currently sitting in an air conditioned living room in Miami Beach, Florida and as much as I love my flip flops and seeing my lovely sister and her boyfriend, walking around in humidity filled heat in the middle of winter is odd. This little trip has reminded me just how stoked I am about being placed in a country that goes through all four seasons, especially winter. I've heard that Reno doesn't experience "real" cold and that my tune will most likely change after being under a never ceasing grey sky and surrounded by walls of dirty snow for months, but, as I walk through crowds of scantily clad swimmers traipsing through a tropical paradise, I feel distinctly out of step with normality and crave my mittens and scarf.

My mom and I will be driving back to Reno from Miami Beach soon. It's a heckuva long drive, but I'm thoroughly looking forward to it. I've never driven across the country and it seems like a pretty decent way to say fair well to the good ol' US for a couple of years.

The Spoon is Mightier than the Eraser.

Something I've discovered recently: in Bulgaria, nodding your head up and down means "no" and shaking your head left to right means "yes". Try it. Think "yes, that is correct" and shake your head side to side. Now think "no, that's not right" and nod. Feels a bit weird, eh? Well, it does to me. So not only do you get the spoken language barrier, but the body language barrier, as well, making life in a new culture that much easier. No, I won't be in Bulgaria, but it's right next door. It's those little things that I never think about, like nodding in agreement with someone when they're talking, that'll make the cross cultural experience so interesting and challenging. I'm curious to see what Romanians do that's totally different from Americans. Maybe they wave with their foot instead of their hand. Maybe they smile when they're angry and frown when happy. Who knows. If there's a country out there where nodding means "no", I'm preparing myself for anything. You want me to eat with the knife and cut with the spoon? Ok, I'm down!

This is my last week of work. Then it's off to Florida for a few days of family time and winter sunshine, followed by a month of preparing, packing, and panicking, and then it's go time. Oh yes.

Dates

With my departure being two months away, dates have taken on new meaning. Each date I hear or see is added to either the "still here" or the "gone" list. For instance, I bought groceries today and the juice I tossed in the cart had an expiry date of February 20th, instantaneously adding it to the "gone" list. Although I'll probably finish it before then, I will no longer be in Reno when that juice has officially passed its prime. I also got my car's oil changed and the new sticker they attached to the windshield says the car is due for its next service on March 8th. Not only will I no longer be here, but I will no longer own the car. It's a bit of an odd feeling, taking in all these dates that are being handed to me as if my life in three, four, five months will be just as it is now and knowing it will be anything but.

A Direction

All right. I now know the purpose of this blog. It will be a means to record and remember my Peace Corps experience that's available to friends, family, and anyone else who feels like reading about it. As I am not leaving until mid-February, I'm not sure how exciting this will be until then.

Here's what I know so far:

I'll be departing on February 19th for three days of training in a major US city (I'm hoping for DC because I've never been there), known as the "staging" event, which I've heard is a flurry of paperwork and information. After the staging event, my fellow trainees and I will fly to Ploiesti (about 30 miles north of Bucharest), Romania for three months of in-country training, known as pre-service training (PST). PST includes language, culture, individual program, and safety training and during that time, the Peace Corps Romania staff will determine which town and specific program each trainee is best suited for. I already know that I'll be working as an Environmental Youth Adviser, focusing on helping to increase awareness on environmental issues in the community, especially the youth. When the PST is over, each trainee will be delivered to their new community to hopefully integrate, make some great friends, help out in any way possible, and fulfill 2 years of service.

I am as excited as I am nervous. The Reno area has been home for nearly my entire life and I feel a protective attachment to this big-little city, but it is high time for something new. My little beacon of neon and 24 hour diners will always be here. Besides, every single person I've talked to who's served as a Peace Corps volunteer says it's the best thing they've done in their life and that they come back as a different, stronger person. I hope I can say the same in three years.

I've been in the process of applying and waiting for nearly a year now and I've come to know a little bit about the Peace Corps, so if any reader has a question, please please feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to answer. I didn't think I'd do the whole Peace Corps blog thing, but it's become clear that people are curious about it, and I'm all for spreading information. So ask/comment away. Even if you think the Peace Corps stinks, I'd like to hear from you, as long as you're respectful about it.

Guess that's it for now.