I'm Gonna Miss This

Want to really appreciate how good your life is? Apply for the Peace Corps.

Long before I hit the "enter" key to send my application on November 26,2009, I researched and thought about how my life would change. Putting aside for a minute all the enormous emotional, psychological life-changing stuff that will no doubt come from living in a different culture, let's think about the small things we take for granted. Or, perhaps I'm the only one who takes for granted all the creature comforts most of us have.

Yesterday, I put my laptop down so I could toss a load of laundry into the washer. Took another load out of the dryer. Walked back into the cool, clean, quiet family room where my computer was still connected to the Wi-Fi.

A bit later, stepped outside to turn on the gas grill. Threw some ribs on to cook, then turned on the stove inside to sauté some fresh sweetcorn. Took salad fixings out of the fridge - romaine, strawberries, blue cheese. Tossed on a few almonds for good measure. Poured a glass of pretty good red wine.

Later, put down Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" and turned out the light. Stretched out on clean sheets, with the temperature/humidity perfectly controlled. The silence was so loud I could hear it.

After a great night's sleep, I got up early this morning and headed out for a walk. I saw ducks and a great blue heron. Enjoyed a view of the lake while talking with a friend on my cell phone. Avoided getting run over in the crosswalk by an impatient young woman who ran a red light.

Got home and took two tons (ok, maybe a few hundred lbs) of trash out to the curb. Between the walk and hauling out all the stuff I'd cleaned out of my garage I was really feeling the heat/humidity. Took off my sweaty clothes and dropped them in the washer. Walked through the house and hit the pool for a short, refreshing swim.

Back in the house for a hot shower. Then, hopped in the convertible to head to the store to stock up on groceries. After work today, I'll be getting a massage.

I have a very, very good life. I'll miss all the creature comforts that I've taken for granted for most of my life. Having electricity at the flip of a switch. Clean water at the turn of a faucet. Air-conditioning. A flush toilet and hot shower. A huge variety of food. Control over my environment and schedule.

I'll miss all that. I won't miss dodging impatient drivers in cross-walks.

Six months from now, when I'm whining in this blog about mosquitoes, humidity and roosters, feel free to tell me to suck it up and remind me that I chose to leave my cushy life in Florida. I'll be working on focusing on the bigger and more important stuff so I don't notice I don't have a flush toilet.


Photos were all taken near City Hall in Lake Mary, FL.

Guatemala

In 2007 I spent two months studying Spanish in Guatemala. I loved Guatemala and my vocabulary improved although irregular verbs kicked my butt. I met some wonderful people, including a retired American couple who had served as PCV in Guatemala. They were a big factor in my decision to spend my 60th birthday in the Peace Corps.

Last Friday, the Pacaya volcano erupted. Saturday, a tropical storm hit. People died, homes were destroyed and more damage is expected. I sent an email to my friends Mily and Jorge Mario from Escuela de Espanol Cooperacion in Antigua yesterday but haven't gotten a response yet. I'm hoping it's because they're safe at home, without internet access. One thing I'm sure of is that Guatemaltecos are tough and will come through this. I'll be praying that their recovery is swift.

Here are some photos from my time there.

The hills near Antigua are covered with fields of produce. It was tough to come back to the expensive, so-so stuff at Publix after shopping at the mercado every day for locally grown produce sold for pennies.

I became friends with Nino in Santiago de Atitlan. He founded this pre-school and took me there to join the kids in creating special masks for Valentine's Day. They were performing a chicken dance in this shot.

At the mercado in Solola (near Lake Atitlan) many of the men wore traditional dress. The fabric is woven on back-strap looms and hand-embroidered.

Lake Atitlan is in the Guatemalan highlands. There are several villages surrounding the lake. San Antonio Palapo was especially hard hit by the weekend storm, with a number of lives lost.

It is difficult to walk down a street in Antigua and not see a volcano.

Clean Closets Thanks to the Peace Corps

I probably won't get my formal invitation to the PC until July - six weeks out from my departure. That's when I'll know for sure which country I'll be going to. That sounded like a long way away until I realized that it will be June next week. And since it was January yesterday, I figured I'd better get a move on in preparing to leave for 27 months.

I'm planning to have a house sitter while I'm gone and it occurred to me that they might be bringing more than a tooth brush and would need a place to put their stuff. So, the closet/garage cleaning began. It feels good to get rid of stuff that's been lurking in corners, unused and forgotten, for years. It also felt good to use www.freecycle.org to give the stuff away.

Most of the items I trashed or donated were easy. Old work documents, games I hadn't played in 10 years, etc. But then there were things that were harder to let go of. They had sentimental value. Like photos from the 80's when I had big hair and a small butt. An enormous turkey platter that I've used once in 30 years, but was a gift from someone I love.

After six hours of sweating in the garage yesterday, it was almost done. This morning I went out to sort through the remaining "small stuff", thinking it would be a quick job. It was, right up until I found an old Rubbermaid container that had been shoved into a corner when I moved into this house in 1994.

At first I thought it was just more work stuff and old photos of me without a wattle and bat wing arms, but then I dug a little deeper. It was a treasure chest. Safe in that plastic storage bin was a lifetime of memories. Letters my dad sent my mom while he served in the Pacific in World War II. Pictures of my grandfather who died in 1956. My mom's corsage from her wedding in 1946. Original newspapers, announcing "War is Over", "Man Walks on Moon" and "President Kennedy Assassinated". My Girl Scout sash and report cards from elementary school. A newspaper article about my cousin Cheryl who won an essay contest in 1962 by writing about why she wanted to join the Peace Corps.

I don't need to have the "stuff" to keep the memories I cherish, but it's nice to have. I'll be keeping that box in the garage. The memories and love they represent I'll be taking with me to wherever the PC sends me.

Photos!

No new news from the PC, so here are some photos of previous travels. The first shot is from Easter Island (in the Pacific, half way between Chile and Tahiti). The next shots show my favorite mode of transportation. Yes, I'm a geek. The first was taken in the glass elevator at the Hyatt in San Francisco, the second was in front of the White House and the third was in a park in Madrid.

Thanks for those with the interest, patience and time to keep coming back to see what's up.

News!

My family always opened all of our presents on Christmas Eve. I have a long history of not dealing well with delayed gratification so it's been really hard to not see progress on my Peace Corps application.

Peace Corps applicants can log in to the PC web site to find out what's up with their clearance progress. Mine has shown no progress since March 31. Nada. Zip. Zilch. The exact same thing, every day. And yes, I check it every day. Still on hold for legal clearance and although they had received all my medical paperwork, they hadn't looked at it.

Yesterday I couldn't stand it and decided to bug my wonderful Peace Corps recruiter. She's a former volunteer and works for the PC in Atlanta. The fact that she responded to my email at 7:20 p.m. on a Friday night says a lot about her dedication and work load.

The exciting news is that she's been "following" me. Seems I've cleared legal and they have begun the medical clearance process. Also, seems that my placement hasn't changed, which means I'm on for the Pacific Islands in early September. While my recruiter can't confirm anything, reading between the lines, it looks like I'll be heading to Vanuatu the first week of September. But, because the PC is swamped, I probably won't have confirmation of that until six weeks before I depart.

Which is all good with me. Can't wait. Of course, things could change completely at any time and I could end up in Cameroon or Kazakhstan. Even though I'll have to wait until mid-July to find out for sure where I'm going, at least it feels good to know that my file isn't just gathering dust.

Living Your Dreams

I walked with a friend recently and we talked about people we know who live their dreams and people who postpone them or don't think they're possible.

I'm big on going beyond what feels safe and comfortable to make your dreams come true, even if it feels really scary. One of my favorite quotes is from Mark Twain:

So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

In an earlier post I mentioned my friend Kim who left the corporate world to live her dream of being a singer/songwriter. Good for you, Kim!

Today, I'd like to congratulate another friend who's making her dreams come true. Gail Aldrich "retired" from corporate life, with the dream of making a difference by working on Boards of charitable organizations. She's doing just that. Congratulations to Gail, who was recently elected Vice Chair of AARP. That's a HUGE accomplishment and I'm proud you're my friend. You can read about Gail in this newspaper article

Those are just two women I know who threw off the bowlines and headed into open waters. Neither of their dreams involve living with no electricity or running water. Once again shows I may be a few fries short of a Happy Meal.

A Few Photos

I've been spending way too much of my free time with my laptop, reading every blog written by PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) who are currently in places I might serve. I confess, I always look at the pictures first.

Since I'm still in Lake Mary, with no new exciting photos to share, I figure I'd post some pictures from previous travels. I hope you like 'em. These are all photos taken from my month in the Cook Islands, South Pacific.

One blogger described Tonga as being like "a perpetual screensaver" because it's so beautiful. The Cooks are much the same. Enjoy!


Sunset view from the deck of the small house I rented in Rarotonga.


Vicki, Greg and I spent two days and one night on One Foot Island, a deserted island in the lagoon of Aitutaki. No electricity. An outhouse. Amazing.


Rainbows were a daily occurrence on Rarotonga.

Any questions about why I'm so impatient to get back to a Pacific island?