Going out with a bang

In less than a week I’ll be heading to Philadelphia for staging, which is just a fancy word for orientation. I’m actually going up a couple days early to tour the city and visit some relatives, which is something I’ve been meaning to do this whole summer.

Towards the end of last week I started getting serious about packing, which was really me going to stores to buy things I didn’t have with money I don’t have. A shout-out to all of the people who have helped me financially prepare for this extended vacation. I honestly would be going over there either in debt or without many necessary items. Thanks a million for preventing both from happening. Right now, all of these items are in a chaotic spread throughout my room. I like to keep my room pretty neat, so this has been a source of stress for me. I’m awaiting my older brother to come back in town to pack my bag though. Thanks in advance, Andrew! :)

When I received my invitation in late August, my dad asked me to think of one place I would like to visit before I left. I want to travel many places, so usually this question would require a good amount of time and consideration, but the answer rolled off my tongue—I just want to be home. And home I have been. Leaving for so long to a place where I will actually have limited access to email has left me with being the focus of attention. There is a running joke in my family that I think the world revolves around me. My answer to that, is this:

(And they blame me for thinking this way?! Psh...)

So, the last two weeks or so I have been saying my ‘goodbyes’ to friends and family. These moments have ranged from the "We are not going to cry" dramatic to “I’m so excited…I’m so scared” dramatic (the latter was a cherished ‘Saved by the Bell’ reference minus the caffeine pills. Watch and learn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bflYjF90t7c). Ha. I'm just kidding. It hasn't been that dramatic. However, I do have a tendency to stir up the dust, just not a sandstorm. We laughed, we cried, we felt all the emotions (both good and bad). As much as people say they enjoy peace and quiet, I have a feeling they will miss my loud and emotional tendencies. On a good note, seeing people before I leave has given me the opportunity to check off many things from my ‘Now that I live in Atlanta again’ to-do list. I love multi-tasking and getting things done!

I would like to answer a question I’ve been getting lately regarding my blog:

What does ‘E to the Three’ mean?

Let me first begin by saying I should have probably addressed this issue in the first entry. One of the most valuable lessons I learned during my summer internship is to never assume people know what you are talking about, no matter how obvious it is to you. With that said—my bad. The title really stands for ‘Emily’s Ethiopian Experience.’ Think ‘E to the (power of) Three’ because there are three 'E's'. Due to a graphics issue though, I had to type it out. I thought ‘E to the Three’ was a little more catchy than ‘E to the Power of Three.’ I have heard some other interesting hypotheses of the meaning though. One including the implication that I was going to a third world country. That’s pretty legit. When I gave the title some more thought, I remembered a little fact about our group of volunteers. We are the third group of Peace Corps Volunteers to be re-entering Ethiopia for the third time (Now you see all these three's?!). We were/are there from 1962-1997, 1994-2000, and 2007-present. And there’s your history lesson for the day. Oh, and another interesting fact, Ethiopia is only in the year 2002.

Scratch that. Here is another history lesson for those of you who are interested on how me volunteering for the Peace Corps all came to be:

• About 6 years ago: Me: “Hey, I should join the Peace Corps”
• About 2 years ago: Visited the recruiter and attended some info sessions to discuss and learn about the process.
• On that same day: Realized I needed a degree to join. Good to know. I’ll just sit, wait, and wish a little longer.
• July 2008: Began the online application.
• Early November 2008: Finally submitted my online application. (There are a lot of excuses I can formulate to explain why it took me so long. One thing I will tell you is that it wasn’t uncertainty that was holding me up. It was more of me wanting to do everything just right.)
• December 2008: Interviewed with local recruiter. Nominated for program in South America.
• February 2009: Nominated for a different public health program in Sub-Saharan Africa expected to leave towards the end of the year. (Side note: this worked out to my favor. Africa was my ideal choice, but based on my language skills they wanted to send me to South America. I was lacking one Spanish class, so it ended up not working out.)
• Late February 2009: Sent in my medical, legal, and dental forms. I had been working on these forms for a little over a month.
• March 2009: Medically and dentally cleared. For me, this process was surprisingly easy. I had read and heard of all the things that could go wrong including lots of back and forth paperwork issues. Thankfully, I turned mine in once and didn’t have any troubles. Phew!
• April-May 2009: Practicing patience and flexibility.
• June 2009: Received an email from the Peace Corps telling me they would be reviewing my application again for placement (last step before being invited to serve) in 6-12 weeks.
• July 2009: The email I received asked me to send in some more information, like transcripts, volunteer experience, etc, so I was busy with that.
• August 24, 2009: After a family reunion in North Carolina, where I was being inquired by every family member about where exactly I was going to be in Africa and me explaining to them that I had no idea until I got my invitation—I got my invitation! Woot! I was invited to serve as a Community HIV/AIDS Advisor in Ethiopia starting in the beginning of October.
• September 2009: Preparing for a long-awaited journey!

Stay tuned for my I-have-to-fit-all-this-in-that (save the jokes) packing fiasco! I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so, I’m so…scared!!!