Well, this is just going to be a quick “start of
things” post. I’ve been told that blogging is one of the best ways to keep a
lot of different people updated on what my life’s going to be like for the next
couple of years so I’ll do my best to keep this updated regularly. Especially
once I get to Mongolia.
It’s been a little over a week since I got the
call from the Peace Corps Placement Office to discuss the status of my
application. I’d been nominated for a program in Albania but hadn’t heard
anything since so I got impatient and sent them an email requesting an update.
Much to my surprise, I didn’t receive the “thank you for your question, we’re
currently working to find the right placement for you and we appreciate your
patience” email. Instead, I got a call from a placement officer and we had a
discussion about the possibility of placing me in Mongolia. My recruiter and I
had briefly discussed Mongolia so I’d known that it was a possibility but I
still felt a surge of intense surprise when - after I said I’d be willing to go
to Mongolia – the placement officer gave me my official invitation. In under an
hour, I’d gone from chilling in my bed looking at memes to facing the reality
of spending over two years in Mongolia teaching English.
I can’t say that the reality of that has fully
sunk in. I know that I’m going, I know that I am finally getting ready to live
a dream that I’ve been anticipating for over half my life but it still doesn’t
seem real. I’ve filled out a laundry
list of forms, I’ve made appointments with my doctor and dentist, I’m trying to
figure out how to prepare for below 0 temperatures and I’m trying to decide how
much I really need to bring my baby blanket for comfort but a part of me is
doing all of this in a disbelieving haze. Like when I went to Australia, I know
that I won’t really believe that it’s happening until my feet touch the ground
in country. Even then, I may not fully believe it. Of course, when I’m scanning
through pages of lessons on the Mongolian language or trying to figure out how
to teach English as a second language or trying desperately hard not to think
about leaving my friends and family for so long, then it starts to seem real.
At the moment, I can’t think of much else to say
on the subject. Or at least nothing else that I can really put into words quite
yet. With every day that passes and I get closer to my staging date, I get more
and more excited. I don’t really have room for fears right now or for doubts.
All I can manage is a mixture of anticipation and disbelief that probably
shouldn’t be allowed to exist together. Such is life.
Well, that's all I've got for now. More to come when I've got more to say.
