So my departure from the US is drawing insanely close...it is now 5 days to be exact. Holy crap! When did that happen? I still have so much adult stuff to do, like cancelling insurance policies and turning in my car tags and alerting my banks...
Yet in the midst of all my "adult things" to do, doctor's visits, studying Spanish, fear of moving to a foreign country...I can't help but think that my biggest concern right now is how am I POSSIBLY going to fit all of the junk I own into two 50 pound suitcases??
It seems like an impossible task. Especially as all the stuff that I'm packing gets put in the same place at Jon's parents' house. I thought I was close to done. Then I realized that the amount of stuff I have there doesn't include all the clothes I still have here in Atlanta, and all the last minute things I need to buy, not to mention the 10 pound box of granola bars my mom bought me. (Thanks mom :)).
Needless to say I'm going to have the arduous task over the next 4 days of packing my most valuable possessions into 2 bags and a carry on. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Hooray for Birthdays!
Today, June 23rd, is my wonderful boyfriend's golden birthday. Yes, he is becoming old and turning 23 on the 23rd. To celebrate, I offer a poem :)
Jonathan Capozzola is pretty great,
He is my best friend and a wonderful roommate.
Jon loves baseball and soccer, too
And wouldn't you know? His favorite color is blue.
He is the best boyfriend around
I hope he still loves me when I skip town (I promise I'll come back!) :)
Today is his golden birthday
I hope he's having a wonderful day!
Happy birthday love!
Jonathan Capozzola is pretty great,
He is my best friend and a wonderful roommate.
Jon loves baseball and soccer, too
And wouldn't you know? His favorite color is blue.
He is the best boyfriend around
I hope he still loves me when I skip town (I promise I'll come back!) :)
Today is his golden birthday
I hope he's having a wonderful day!
Happy birthday love!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
It's hot in the South
I thought Columbia was hot (after all, its slogan is "Famously Hot"), but it turns out that Atlanta is even hotter. After a few days of around 100 degree weather, I decided it was time to stay in and update my blog...after all, I am a few days behind...
To sum up, the past few days have consisted of: packing, graduating from City Year, leaving South Carolina, more packing, hanging out with my brothers, baseball, the pool, and the World Cup.
So my last few days in South Carolina were a little more emotional than I was expecting, but overall the only thought in my mind was "get me OUTTA HERE!" Graduation itself turned out to be a really nice dinner and I was proud of all my fellow CYers and their well deserved awards for great service throughout the year :).
After graduation, our apartment somehow turned into a giant party, complete with all of my co-workers, 3 of our staff members, tons of beer, jello shots, and who could forget Dyrell's apples? I was so happy that I was able to spend my last night with all of the people who had helped keep me sane throughout the year - I wouldn't have been able to survive without all of them!
I woke up the next morning and tried to head to Atlanta. I say "tried to" because I was delayed for quite a while due to a rather disturbing noise permeating from my car. After stopping at 2 different auto shops, the wonderful people at Richards Automotive in Cayce, SC were able to tell me that apparently one of my tires was loose! Thanks for that tire rotation a couple weeks back Midas - NOT :(. Regardless, the people there were SO nice and incredibly helpful and got me on my way in no time!
After arriving in Atlanta and spending some quality time with my boyfriend and my cat, Jon and I drove to his parents house so I could begin the long, arduous packing process for my move. Needless to say, it's not going too well...good thing I still have 12 days...
On Saturday, my wonderful brothers arrived in Atlanta to spend a few days with us :). Their time here consisted of: LOTS of World Cup games (I need to keep up for my time in Guate!), food, rockband, a trip to the Braves game on Sunday, and hanging out by the pool. The latter two being the reason for the title of this post. Atlanta is HOT. The Braves game seemed to take about 37 hours and they were playing the Kansas City Royals. Who REALLY wants to see a braves vs. royals game? And although the pool here is wonderful, it is TOO hot to be in the sun, and I am still feeling its effects a day later. Atlanta is hot. I wonder what Guatemala will be like?
To sum up, the past few days have consisted of: packing, graduating from City Year, leaving South Carolina, more packing, hanging out with my brothers, baseball, the pool, and the World Cup.
So my last few days in South Carolina were a little more emotional than I was expecting, but overall the only thought in my mind was "get me OUTTA HERE!" Graduation itself turned out to be a really nice dinner and I was proud of all my fellow CYers and their well deserved awards for great service throughout the year :).
After graduation, our apartment somehow turned into a giant party, complete with all of my co-workers, 3 of our staff members, tons of beer, jello shots, and who could forget Dyrell's apples? I was so happy that I was able to spend my last night with all of the people who had helped keep me sane throughout the year - I wouldn't have been able to survive without all of them!
I woke up the next morning and tried to head to Atlanta. I say "tried to" because I was delayed for quite a while due to a rather disturbing noise permeating from my car. After stopping at 2 different auto shops, the wonderful people at Richards Automotive in Cayce, SC were able to tell me that apparently one of my tires was loose! Thanks for that tire rotation a couple weeks back Midas - NOT :(. Regardless, the people there were SO nice and incredibly helpful and got me on my way in no time!
After arriving in Atlanta and spending some quality time with my boyfriend and my cat, Jon and I drove to his parents house so I could begin the long, arduous packing process for my move. Needless to say, it's not going too well...good thing I still have 12 days...
On Saturday, my wonderful brothers arrived in Atlanta to spend a few days with us :). Their time here consisted of: LOTS of World Cup games (I need to keep up for my time in Guate!), food, rockband, a trip to the Braves game on Sunday, and hanging out by the pool. The latter two being the reason for the title of this post. Atlanta is HOT. The Braves game seemed to take about 37 hours and they were playing the Kansas City Royals. Who REALLY wants to see a braves vs. royals game? And although the pool here is wonderful, it is TOO hot to be in the sun, and I am still feeling its effects a day later. Atlanta is hot. I wonder what Guatemala will be like?
Monday, June 14, 2010
Things never quite go according to plan...
So. Not having internet for the past few days in my apartment has been a major bummer, although I gess this is good practice for the coming year...boo!
Moving on! This was officially my last weekend in Columbia, SC. I have 3 more days of City Year and then it's PEACE OUT. On Friday, my friends and I decided we wanted to go to this awesome country and western club a few of us had been to once before for a friend's birthday. All of the people who had already been were stoked. Needless to say, the others were slightly less than enthused. We made a huge deal out of how awesome it was and how there were hundreds of people there last time, all line dancing and having a great time.
Then we got there and there were only 3 cars outside. excellent. Turns out the big night at the SKYLINE club is on Saturdays. WOO. Inside was a sorry sight. About 6 middle-aged couples sitting around drinking out of bud light cans. not exactly what we expected for our last big weekend out in Columbia, but despite all that, we decided to have a few drinks. Slowly but surely, we all started dancing to the live band and joining in with the locals, dosy-dowing 'round the floor. A night that started out ridiculously slow and boring turned into one that I won't forget with some good friends :)
C'est La Vie Columbia
Moving on! This was officially my last weekend in Columbia, SC. I have 3 more days of City Year and then it's PEACE OUT. On Friday, my friends and I decided we wanted to go to this awesome country and western club a few of us had been to once before for a friend's birthday. All of the people who had already been were stoked. Needless to say, the others were slightly less than enthused. We made a huge deal out of how awesome it was and how there were hundreds of people there last time, all line dancing and having a great time.
Then we got there and there were only 3 cars outside. excellent. Turns out the big night at the SKYLINE club is on Saturdays. WOO. Inside was a sorry sight. About 6 middle-aged couples sitting around drinking out of bud light cans. not exactly what we expected for our last big weekend out in Columbia, but despite all that, we decided to have a few drinks. Slowly but surely, we all started dancing to the live band and joining in with the locals, dosy-dowing 'round the floor. A night that started out ridiculously slow and boring turned into one that I won't forget with some good friends :)
C'est La Vie Columbia
Friday, June 11, 2010
Oh City Year...
So today was quite an interesting day at City Year... although I feel that way a lot of days. For starters, today I finally reached the 1700 hours that I need to graduate from City Year - woo woo! Secondly, I got to tye dye my CY shirt which felt GOOD! And lastly, it made me realize some important things about the past few months.
CY has been a year full of TONS of ups and downs, a lot of down time, and wayyyy too much bonding time. I think we all reached the end of our rope about 2 months ago, and yet today was different. Today we all came together to work on our service project, spent quality time venting, and were able to laugh at ourselves and our situation for the first time ever. I won't lie, this week has DEFINITELY been one of the longest in my life, but it has made me appreciate the time I've spent with some pretty cool people over the last year.
While I will not miss the paperwork, the petty arguments, or the passive agressiveness, there are some people who I may kind of sort of miss a little bit. Maybe... just a little bit :-p
CY has been a year full of TONS of ups and downs, a lot of down time, and wayyyy too much bonding time. I think we all reached the end of our rope about 2 months ago, and yet today was different. Today we all came together to work on our service project, spent quality time venting, and were able to laugh at ourselves and our situation for the first time ever. I won't lie, this week has DEFINITELY been one of the longest in my life, but it has made me appreciate the time I've spent with some pretty cool people over the last year.
While I will not miss the paperwork, the petty arguments, or the passive agressiveness, there are some people who I may kind of sort of miss a little bit. Maybe... just a little bit :-p
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Getting Close...
Ciao a todos! So today it finally hit me. Apparently I'm leaving to go to Guatemala REALLY soon. Like in 25 days. What the heck! I'm starting to seriously freak out - how am I leaving the country for an entire YEAR? what am I going to eat while I'm down there? How am I going to pay my loans? Who ever thought it was a good idea for ME to teach other people English?? and again, WHAT AM I GOING TO EAT IN GUATEMALA?? Needless to say I've been freaking out a little bit. Luckily I've got Sam and Carrie to help me out - boy I don't know what I'd do without them! I have a feeling I'm going to be using my lifelines a lot in the next 3 1/2 weeks.
In other news, I found out this week that I'm going to have a lot of visitors in Atlanta in the next few weeks! BOTH of my brothers are coming to visit on June 19 AND THEN my bffffffff Summer Finck is coming to Atlanta for a few days at the end of June! HOORAY! I'm so excited for my time in Atlanta, hopefully my nerves will start to settle down by then :)
oh and only 6 more days of City Year! YES!
In other news, I found out this week that I'm going to have a lot of visitors in Atlanta in the next few weeks! BOTH of my brothers are coming to visit on June 19 AND THEN my bffffffff Summer Finck is coming to Atlanta for a few days at the end of June! HOORAY! I'm so excited for my time in Atlanta, hopefully my nerves will start to settle down by then :)
oh and only 6 more days of City Year! YES!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Welcome to "Living in the Moment"
Hola a todos and welcome to my blog! Today is June 7, which means that in exactly 27 days I will be heading down to Parramos, Guatemala to start my new life!! It's hard to believe that I'm going to be leaving so soon! With 2 weeks left in my job and 4 until I begin my journey to Central America, everything seems to be happening so fast! For those of you who don't know, starting in July, I will be working at (and living at) a home for children called "Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos" (NPH) which means "our llittle brothers and sisters" in English. While there I will be teaching English (a scary thought considering the only thing I've ever taught anyone in English is how to count to ten...) and hanging out with the kids at the home.
NPH is an organization that provides housing, food, education, security, love, and support to children who may not get those things otherwise. The children may be orphaned or come from homes where their families are unable to provide for them. There are 9 homes located between Central and South America, one in each of the following countries: Mexico, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Peru, and Bolivia. The children live at one of the homes full time and are given the opportunity to receive a great education while learning new trades (more on that later), having fun with kids their own age, and helping to give back to their community.
I'm incredibly excited for the next year, especially since I will be joining 2 of my favorite people in the world, Carrie Daut and Samantha Fien-Helfman, both of whom have been at NPH since January :). Carrie currently works as the home correspondent aka journalist and resident picture taker (hi Carrie! I know you'll be the first to read this :)) and Sam teaches English and has already been an ENORMOUS help to me in planning my big move! I owe the upcoming year to both of them, as without their constant support I probably never would have finished filling out the 923945 question application, and without their constant emails and gchats I would be completely clueless as to what I'm getting myself into! I'm looking forward to many fun roadtrips with the 2 of them :).
I'm going to try to update my blog every few days but I am new to the world of blogging so hopefully I'll be able to keep up! Please feel free to post comments on my blog, talk to me on skype (jessica.wm), email me (jessicabarak@gmail.com), or send me goodies :-p, but just in general, please keep in touch! Here's to many new adventures and I'll see you on the other side ;-)
NPH is an organization that provides housing, food, education, security, love, and support to children who may not get those things otherwise. The children may be orphaned or come from homes where their families are unable to provide for them. There are 9 homes located between Central and South America, one in each of the following countries: Mexico, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Peru, and Bolivia. The children live at one of the homes full time and are given the opportunity to receive a great education while learning new trades (more on that later), having fun with kids their own age, and helping to give back to their community.
I'm incredibly excited for the next year, especially since I will be joining 2 of my favorite people in the world, Carrie Daut and Samantha Fien-Helfman, both of whom have been at NPH since January :). Carrie currently works as the home correspondent aka journalist and resident picture taker (hi Carrie! I know you'll be the first to read this :)) and Sam teaches English and has already been an ENORMOUS help to me in planning my big move! I owe the upcoming year to both of them, as without their constant support I probably never would have finished filling out the 923945 question application, and without their constant emails and gchats I would be completely clueless as to what I'm getting myself into! I'm looking forward to many fun roadtrips with the 2 of them :).
I'm going to try to update my blog every few days but I am new to the world of blogging so hopefully I'll be able to keep up! Please feel free to post comments on my blog, talk to me on skype (jessica.wm), email me (jessicabarak@gmail.com), or send me goodies :-p, but just in general, please keep in touch! Here's to many new adventures and I'll see you on the other side ;-)
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