I’m switching over to a tumblr, which seems like something I may be more likely to maintain. Check it out: http://withtheraindogs.tumblr.com

So, I woke up this morning to a toolkit update; thinking nothing of it, given the conversation I had yesterday with the Placement Specialist about waiting for the budget, I calmly opened it.  In my Invitation section there is a big red exclamation point and next to it: Peace Corps sent you an invitation kit [...]

So, I had my placement interview. It went well. I imagine in any other normal situation it would’ve been ended with “OK we’re sending out your invitation in two weeks…” Instead I had my Placement Specialist tell me that she has to wait two weeks until the Federal Budget numbers come in to see if [...]

HAPPY POST ALERT: I was happily chugging away reading a godawful-boring book for class when I took a break to open my e-mail and lo and behold! Peace Corp e-mailed me. My Placement Specialist (since when did I get one of those? last time it was a Placement Assistant) e-mailed me with a list of [...]

Lest you think I only sit around and think about the PC, here is what I’m busy doing in addition to the usual senior year of college shenanigans: 1) Organizing a production of the Vagina Monologues. Directing this would be a lot of work on any campus, but try on a Catholic campus that has [...]

So, I just got hit with the scope of a sad reality: my ESL classes will end in two weeks. The classes in the program I helped create and cultivate, that will hopefully have a legacy of actually for-reals educating people and not just making we Spanish majors feel good about our Spanish skills. Oh [...]

Thursday night I came home from a lovely banquet with my mentoring program, opened my inbox all innocent-like and saw an e-mail from my lovely placement assistant with a subject line of  ”Peace Corps Check In” oh. em. gee. Here is how I deal with this. 1) Excitement: skim the e-mail. No immediate sense of [...]

So, I’ve been a bit delinquent in updating this, about which I shall talk later. However, to brass tacks, with some math (fair warning: I’m an English major). March 17: Received the e-mail from the Education Placement Desk congratulating me on medical clearance, and explaining the process. In that e-mail it said they will review [...]

This is not my full paranoid rant about placement. That will come later. For this post, I would like to discuss the second phase of Restless Applicant Syndrome (RAS): Invitation Jealousy (IJ). I love Peace Corps Journals. This site has been ridiculously helpful in all stages of the applicant process. HOWEVER. As I approach the [...]

To keep it short and sweet, March 17 I received one of those beloved cryptic 4 am status update e-mails. The letter wad in the mail though I could not receive it because I was put of town on Spring Break. Luckily I did not have to wait to go back to my apartment to [...]

The result of my lapse in patience was sweet, sweet contact with the Peace Corps. Seriously, I feel like an obsessed third grader with a crush on an unresponsive middle schooler. Any contact is a sign they looooooove meeeeee. Anyway, I e-mailed the contact I was given on my medical review packet but got a [...]

Except for a few minor slip-ups I have been doing so well. For three months I have restrained myself. I can count the number of e-mails sent to my PC recruiter and medical contact on one hand (2, for those interested). Both have been professional, warranted and contained nary a hint of impatience or anxiety. [...]

So, I am all trying to restrain my nerves about Peace Corps by not thinking about it too much. Easy when I have classes and lots to do, but less easy now that it is Spring Break and I have decided that for-sure for-sure it is what I want to do. Of course, the flip [...]

So, it should surprise no one that this blog has been abandoned. That lack of surprise should, of course, come from the fact that everyone who knows me knows that I keep myself plenty busy (thankyouverymuch) with school and school-related activities. In sum, blogging is not priority. HOWEVAH, it should please the court to know [...]

I did this run today in a bit of hurry between classes and didn’t get a chance to stretch and now my back is getting all twingey. Is this normal for runners? If it is, harumph, I am unsure of this. I like my back and don’t want it making angry feelings at me. Perhaps [...]

So I’ve been lazying out on the blogging, mostly because school started and because, frankly, the C25K thing hasn’t started to get difficult yet. Week 1 Day 2 was a bit difficult because of hitting the bar the night before, as was Week 2 Day 1, but in both cases they were difficult because of [...]

So this year I decided that I want to take up running. One of the main reasons for this is that once I graduate school I may have limited access to a gym and running is one of the (or the) cheapest workouts I can get. I have always hated running and made the “I’ll [...]

So, as it says in the about section this blog was started when I was traveling in Peru as a way of recording my experiences and sharing with my family. This new year I am thinking of rebooting the blog to encompass a few of the blog-able aspect of my life such as applying to [...]

The final vacation in Peru was to the jungle (Manu reserve). A 4 day/3 night trip, so not very deep into the jungle. Luckily, still super cool. Also I have 15 minutes to write this so we’ll see how it goes. Day 1 was mostly van ride to the first lodge, though we stopped in [...]

Arriving back from the jungle Sunday night, we returned home to no toilet paper. Our host mother assured us that she had forgotten to buy some, would purchase some tomorrow and in the meantime napkins aren’t bad, considering you don’t flush any tp here anyways. Breakfast the next day we asked if there was toilet [...]