JBB: An Artblog!
Sade Olutola
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Discoholic šŖ©
cherry valley forever
Andulka
todays bird
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Three Goblin Art
trying on a metaphor
ē„ę„ / Permanent Vacation
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
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Monterey Bay Aquarium
YOU ARE THE REASON
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Sweet Seals For You, Always
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@araypcv-blog
A Few Little Changes
Integrating is difficult, but its the smallest little things that make you feel accomplished. I made myself go to the store yesterday to buy some kanomes (snacks) for my family, and I felt so accomplished! I talked to the shop owner and told her why I was here. I keep telling myself:Ā āAĀ little at a time and everything will fall into place.āĀ
Funny Story
So I walk into my room and I go about my day as usual when all of a sudden I see a HUGE spider about the size of my hand. I know they wonāt hurt me, but my god was it terrifying! So I stare at it for a minute and I think,Ā āIāll just pretend like it isnāt there and Iāll go shower. Hopefully itās gone when I get back.āĀ
I come back; itās still there! So I think,Ā āIām just going to go tell my host sister to get it out for me.ā I walk outside and see her and I thought I saidĀ ātheres a spider in my room!ā She said,Ā āwhat? Well let me tell mom to get you some at the market.ā I say,Ā āthere is a spider in my room!ā she stares at me. So I tell her to follow me. She walks in and says,Ā āOhh! A spider!ā and I realized that I was saying watermelon the entire time.Ā
Then I sat on my bed and screamed and saidĀ āyou missed it! Itās right there!āĀ
Good time with language.
Week 8
Today is March 1st which means tomorrow is the first day of week 8 of 9. This week, we will be doing mostly language as well as our Language Proficiency Interview (LPI). I'm honestly not too concerned about it. I say that now, but I'll probably feel differently about it on Saturday :P.Ā
Next Thursday, the staff will be revealing our site locations for the next two years! I don't want to rush it, but I'm dying to know! We all kind of keep prying for more information, but they won't budge ;).Ā
My host family is awesome. The other day I came home and I was teaching her a little english. She puts the book down, looks at me, and says, "I'm going to miss you when you leave." Leaving is going to be rough, but it is all apart of the experience! I should really start blogging more often, or at least keep notes about my experiences. So much to write about!Ā
PST is intense and tiring, but I will have more time on my hands to blog when I get to site (no promises).
Thai-napping
Have you ever heard of the term "thainap"? Well me either until about a month ago. It's happened to me a couple times before, and it's probably going to happen to me again today! You learn to live with the idea! Being told you're going somewhere and not knowing where. Being told to get in the car with hardly any idea when you'll be back home. The results are usually amazing and an incredible exchange of culture!
When a bird poops on you, it means good luck
At last thats what they told me when I was getting my bike a few weeks ago. Now that I think about it, it actually feels like a long time ago! Time feels like it is going by so slowly, but also very fast. We are starting week four already! Four more weeks and I find out where my site is!
Now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. I still have a lot to learn and a lot to do. I am doing my teaching practicum the next two weeks! I feel good about it at times, but then again I'm pretty worried! It will be a good start though for sure.
Living with my host family was a little rough at first, but so far so good! I have an older and younger sister, and three nieces! I also have my own room and spotty wifi! (I'd rather have spotty wifi than no wifi any day.) Bucket baths are getting better haha. They are lovely at night when you get home after biking and you dump cold water on yourself. Not so much in the morning when you first wake up.
I bike around 26 km a day. Actually, don't quote me on that. I live around a few other volunteers though! They are all great to be around, and so are their families! Everyone kind of knows everyone, therefore you can't do anything without everyone knowing haha. It's all in good fun though.Ā
I've been struggling with ATT for the past week to get my phone unlocked and its infuriating me! I want to be able to use my iPhone here so I can get a data plan! Then I will be able to upload more pictures without worrying about being on wifi. They are literally a pain in the butt.Ā
Oh well. Sabai sabai.
Everything else is great though! There are a million things I'd love to write about, but I hate having a wall of text with no pictures. I don't want to have a boring blog post.
Oh yeah, it's hot as the dickens here.Ā
First day of PST
It's so hard to believe that less than 24 hours ago we were still on a plane to Bangkok. We arrived in Bangkok around 11:30 pm, I think we left the airport around 12:30am or maybe even 1:00am, then we took a bus ride to the hotel where we kicked off Pre-Service Training (PST). We arrived at the hotel around 3:45am, took our bags to our room and finally got settled in. I can't sleep on planes, so I was dragging my arms at that point! I think I fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow!
We had to get up early for training. So after only about 2.5 hours of sleep, we had breakfast, then we started with all the basics os PST. There was so much information in such a little amount of time. I can't promise that I won't forget something. One thing I know I will probably remember forever is how incredibly nice the PC staff is here in Thailand. I have never had such a warm welcome. After I received my invitation back in July, I was required to complete an aspiration statement. Well, today, everyone received a hand made greeting card from the language facilitators that had something to do about our aspiration statements! How amazing is that?! I've been emotional since I got to staging, but the warm hospitality of these teachers is sending me over the edge!Ā
We got shots, got our pictures taken for our ID cards, got our official Peace Corps Medical Kit, and learned basic greetings. It was fun, but now I am in a zombie state. I'm trying not to go to sleep because it is so early! Tomorrow we are supposed to start training at 8, and I'm way too tired to get up to see what is in store.Ā
I can't describe to you how happy I am to be here. I am so excited to start my real training.
I apologize if this isn't written very well. I'm too tired to edit, which is very unlike me.
Ā First day of PST!
Thai people are so incredibly thoughtful.
Information overload Ā
When my staging date just shows up out of nowhere.
Everyone always said that the date will be here before I knew it. Well, they were all correct. Like seriously, I cannot even believe I leave in two days. I still feel like I have tons to do and I donāt even know where to begin. I still have to finish packing and shopping. I still have people to see and gifts for my host family to buy. Phew. Honestly, I know Iām freaking out, but itās kind of hard not to. Oh well. Better get on the ball!!Ā
Me too, kid. I am going to miss that delicious goodness.
So much to do!
So a few weeks ago, I received my staging information. I will be leaving Cincinnati at 7:00am on January 9th. From there, I travel to Seattle via Minneapolis. I could hardly contain my excitement because I have never been to Seattle before! I also found out my flight information to Thailand! We leave January 10th around noon, then we go to Bangkok via Tokyo! It will definitely take a lot of adjusting to the time.Ā
I still cannot even believe all of this is happening! I have so much to do still. I've started getting things together, but I have also been kind of putting off packing a little. It will eventually all work itself out.Ā
This is my last week at work, and I am taking a week off before staging. I have a lot of people to see before I leave! I am so excited, but so nervous at the same time. I have countless questions, and they will all be answered in time. I haveĀ kind of started reviewing some language materials, but I've been putting it off a lot. Whoops! Most people say that it is best to wait because Thai is a tonal language. If I were to teach myself something wrong, it could be hard to forget. I'm pretty good with languages though, so I am not too worried about it.Ā
We were also told that access to email is limited, so I don't know how often I'll be able to keep in touch with everyone. I will try though! I'll most likely make another blog post or two before I head out. I'm not very disciplined when it comes to stuff like this, but I will try!
The feels!
My staging date is drawing closer and closer! While that excites me beyond belief, what doesnāt excite me is the fact that Iām going to be missing so much while Iām away. I cannot wait to be in the land of smiles, but one of the things I am so heartbroken over I will be the birth of my best friendās baby! That saddens me.
When I started the application process, I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew Iād be missing things that I didnāt want to miss. Iāll be missing births, weddings, family changes (positive or negative), I would even be missing deaths in the family. Some expenses will be covered for me to come back home temporarily, but not all. Immediate family deaths are covered; however, extended family (grandparents included), and friends, etc. are not.
Where is all this coming from? Well, now that you ask, I just moved back home from college just to save some money and spend time with friends and family before heading to the airport. As my mother and I were chatting today, my feelings began to surface. I told her it was going to be sad, but Iām beginning to come to terms with the emotions. I know that people will continue with their lives while Iām away. I also know that I will be living mine at the same time.
I am on an emotional roller coaster; itās only just begun. It will all be worth it though. Thereās no doubt in my mind about that.
Time is dragging!
I literally cannot wait until I leave! I know there are so many people to see and so many things to do, but just imagining myself getting on that plane to staging and meeting all of my fellow PCV trainees will be one of the most exciting things I will ever experience! I was medically cleared a few weeks ago so everything is a waiting game from here on out. I know I still have to wait to be legally cleared, but I'm not concerned about that. I'm a good kid ;).Ā
I'm going to Europe for the entire month of October! That will definitely help things fly by. Plus, I won't be lying to Peace Corps when I said I will need my passport to travel!Ā
So much will be happening within the next 5 months! Oh my gosh, I just checked to see if my calculations are correct. They're not. I have 4 MONTHS UNTIL I LEAVE FOR THAILAND! That quite literally sounds like I will be leaving tomorrow. So close, but yet so far.
Gotta be Riaproy
Today I was doing a bit of research on what kind of clothing I would be wearing in Thailand. According to Thai culture, you are supposed to wear a certain color on certain days!Ā
Obligatory first post.
Well, here I am! Now where to begin?
