Be careful what you wish for.

The most difficult thing for me through the course of this whole process has not been all the paperwork, the waiting, or even the needles (ugh). The hardest part is having the name of a country and not being certain that it is where I will actually be going. I want to go crazy with it...I want to learn everything I can about the language and the culture and what the current PCV's are up to. 
So, I am trying to do it in moderation. One of my Armenian students has been teaching me the Cyrillic alphabet, which comes in handy for understanding pronunciation hang-ups in my classroom ("C" in Cyrillic sounds like an English "S," etc.). Very, very useful. So, if my placement should change, at least I will have gotten real use out of knowing that alphabet. I've downloaded a few language programs but am trying to use them sparingly...meanwhile, I've gone back to focusing on French to keep myself occupied, haha.
I came across this video today from an ESL PCV in Mongolia. I'm trying to stay away from this kind of stuff but couldn't help the indulgence. :P

Alright, that's all for now. So, those of you with a region placement who are wishing to know more...seriously, be careful what you wish for. You might just get it. 
Cheers!

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*twiddles thumbs*

So, October 1st marked the "something like 8 months to go" mark in this little Peace Corps waiting adventure. That's really all I am doing now and have settled myself down into expecting to do a lot of it over the next 4 months or so. Conveniently, I am going back to working 7 days a week (ugh) and the holidays are fast approaching so I should be occupied enough not to notice those 4 months so much. Nothing exciting at all to report. Still waiting on test results, still have my fingers constantly crossed that my medical papers haven't disappeared into a paper-consuming black hole at the clinic.

I'm starting a volunteer stint on Monday with the ABE/GED program through the local community college. I miss working with this age demographic and I figure, the more useful things I have to send on my updated resume when PC asks for it, the better.  I'll be tutouring an adult in ABE (Adult Basic Education) or GED and I'm crossing my fingers that I won't have to spend too much of that time working in the math sections. It's gonna be bad when the tutour has to be tutoured in basic algebra, haha. Yeeeaaah, about the GRE, lol.


In other exciting news, I went to Bengali Durga Puja at the Hindu center in Charlotte last weekend with my friend Shaoli. Durga Puja, I was told, is sort of like the Hindu version of Christmas. They celebrate the goddess Durga and her victory over the most evil man in all creation. I'm thinking that the Peace Corps needs to re-open a program in India so that I can go there and learn how to make myself spectacular curries...not to mention wear a sari as often as I could manage to get away with it. 

Happy Saturday! :)

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