Friday, August 12, 2011
Staging Details!
So I just got back from camping with my aunt and uncle today as was treated to an amazing surprise in my email. We finally got our staging information for the quick orientation before we leave the country. Our group will be spending 1 day in Philadelphia on the 13th of September and then on the 14th we fly out of JFK airport for Botswana. Our flight leaves at 11:15am and then after a 15 hour flight we land in South Africa on September 15th. While the thought of a 15 hour flight should be painful, instead I am incredibly excited. Finally knowing the flight details just makes this so much more real.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
These past few weeks have been what I consider to be a bittersweet whirlwind. I'm leaving Grand Rapids this Friday to spend the rest of my time before departure seeing family in IL and NC. Saying goodbye to people is much harder than I thought it would be. But I keep reminding myself that it is really only goodbye if I let it be. There is still mail, and of course seeing people when I get back. And it is in that spirit of continued relationships that I wanted to use this blog post to share my address when abroad (well at least the address I am using during Pre-Service Training until I get my official placement in country). So if anyone wants to send me mail during the first couple months you can reach me at:
Adam Hii, c/o Peace Corps Botswana, Private Bag 00243, Gaborone, Botswana).
Other than visiting friends most of my time has been spent packing and I am proud to say that in that regard I am nearly ready to leave for Botswana (I still have a few things to get yet, but I am almost there). Language lessons have also taken a back seat to packing and such. Yet I know once I am in IL I will have more free time so I plan to get back to the grind on that very soon.
And now I have a quick request to you all out there. I need to update my address/some way of contacting people for when I am gone. So if you could be so kind as to give me a mailing address/updated email/skype/etc. I would greatly appreciate it. And if you don't feel like doing it in a comment you can always send me an email or fb message. hiiadam89@gmail.com
Thanks for everything Grand Rapids and all of the wonderful people you have brought me in contact with.
Adam Hii, c/o Peace Corps Botswana, Private Bag 00243, Gaborone, Botswana).
Other than visiting friends most of my time has been spent packing and I am proud to say that in that regard I am nearly ready to leave for Botswana (I still have a few things to get yet, but I am almost there). Language lessons have also taken a back seat to packing and such. Yet I know once I am in IL I will have more free time so I plan to get back to the grind on that very soon.
And now I have a quick request to you all out there. I need to update my address/some way of contacting people for when I am gone. So if you could be so kind as to give me a mailing address/updated email/skype/etc. I would greatly appreciate it. And if you don't feel like doing it in a comment you can always send me an email or fb message. hiiadam89@gmail.com
Thanks for everything Grand Rapids and all of the wonderful people you have brought me in contact with.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Wrapping things up
Dumelang borra le bomma,
Well it is now the start of July and that means the second to last full month before departure. I can't quite say 75 days since it is still 76, but eh, close enough.
While this is only my second post since starting this blog, I still don't have too much to report on departure and such as we have not yet received the details on that yet, but once we do you can bet I will let you all know. About the most I can report on at this point is the process of wrapping things up here in the states. I have traveled abroad for an extended period in the past (3 months in Spain), but this time is completely different. Being gone for 2+ years means I have a lot more to take care of before I leave. As of Wednesday I finished with my summer job (thankfully), and I now have the rest of the time off to just enjoy myself, family, and friends.
I already have a lot planned out (try as I might to get free time, I just can't help but plan ahead, something I desperately need to work on) such as: a couple parties with friends here in Grand Rapids including my going away party, a few movie dates already figured out (Harry Potter!!!) and a week stay in Illinois in mid-July before the longer stay in August. And I recently got my plane ticket out to North Carolina to see my dad, which is my last stop on the pre-departure journey (minus the couple days of staging of course).
In addition to all of this, the other part of wrapping things up is the dreaded concept of packing. I have a small list going, but packing for two years of my life seems like a daunting task. Although since I discovered that I can fit all my worldly possessions into one car load, maybe it won't be so bad, but I do need to buckle down and do it. I decided to start with might possibly be the hardest part of packing, pictures. I have a photo album that I bought in Spain that I had originally planned to use for some of my favorite pictures from there, but seeing as it is still lying around empty I am changing its purpose to hold pictures of family and friends. While pictures on a computer or Facebook are nice and all, nothing can beat printed pictures in my mind. This project will probably take a few weeks on and off in itself as I only have 40 slots in the small album and a lot of people and memories to try and fit.
I think the strangest part of this how wrapping things up concept is that while I am going through it I am watching both my roommates do it as well. Ben has been working on getting letters of recommendation to apply for a Navy Officer position. And Bethany is leaving the country 5 days before me to teach English in Japan. All 3 of us are approaching this in different ways, but still all towards the same end, a complete and total change in our lives.
Right now the one thing I am not looking forward to is saying good-bye to everyone. I timed this all in a way to where I can see my family last, but that means I have to say good-bye to friends sooner than I would like. And then after that comes the inevitable goodbye to the family, and finally my dad. Alas, such is life and these things cannot be avoided. I am really grateful for the Conference Calls that some of us have been doing because it has helped me start to establish a support group that I can use in Botswana when all of the people I would normally turn to are an ocean away. Also, this is the first time I will be doing a major trip without Bethany. After going on every trip (minus one weekend at the end) with her while in Spain, and having more classes together than I can count, it is going to be a new experience not seeing her while abroad. But at least I can still keep in touch with everyone via good ole fashion snail mail if nothing else (hint hint, you all should write me letters please :)
Other than all of this the language lessons are still going good. Trying to double team the learning by using both the Peace Corps provided lessons and the Eurotalk CD my brother got me. Hopefully in a few weeks I will be comfortable enough with simple verb conjugation to make sentences, but as of right now it is mostly just small phrases and vocab. So maybe on the next blog post I can show off a bit ;)
But until then, ke tla go bona!
Adam
P.S. Wow this turned out longer than I thought, and here I was assuming I had nothing to say.
Well it is now the start of July and that means the second to last full month before departure. I can't quite say 75 days since it is still 76, but eh, close enough.
While this is only my second post since starting this blog, I still don't have too much to report on departure and such as we have not yet received the details on that yet, but once we do you can bet I will let you all know. About the most I can report on at this point is the process of wrapping things up here in the states. I have traveled abroad for an extended period in the past (3 months in Spain), but this time is completely different. Being gone for 2+ years means I have a lot more to take care of before I leave. As of Wednesday I finished with my summer job (thankfully), and I now have the rest of the time off to just enjoy myself, family, and friends.
I already have a lot planned out (try as I might to get free time, I just can't help but plan ahead, something I desperately need to work on) such as: a couple parties with friends here in Grand Rapids including my going away party, a few movie dates already figured out (Harry Potter!!!) and a week stay in Illinois in mid-July before the longer stay in August. And I recently got my plane ticket out to North Carolina to see my dad, which is my last stop on the pre-departure journey (minus the couple days of staging of course).
In addition to all of this, the other part of wrapping things up is the dreaded concept of packing. I have a small list going, but packing for two years of my life seems like a daunting task. Although since I discovered that I can fit all my worldly possessions into one car load, maybe it won't be so bad, but I do need to buckle down and do it. I decided to start with might possibly be the hardest part of packing, pictures. I have a photo album that I bought in Spain that I had originally planned to use for some of my favorite pictures from there, but seeing as it is still lying around empty I am changing its purpose to hold pictures of family and friends. While pictures on a computer or Facebook are nice and all, nothing can beat printed pictures in my mind. This project will probably take a few weeks on and off in itself as I only have 40 slots in the small album and a lot of people and memories to try and fit.
I think the strangest part of this how wrapping things up concept is that while I am going through it I am watching both my roommates do it as well. Ben has been working on getting letters of recommendation to apply for a Navy Officer position. And Bethany is leaving the country 5 days before me to teach English in Japan. All 3 of us are approaching this in different ways, but still all towards the same end, a complete and total change in our lives.
Right now the one thing I am not looking forward to is saying good-bye to everyone. I timed this all in a way to where I can see my family last, but that means I have to say good-bye to friends sooner than I would like. And then after that comes the inevitable goodbye to the family, and finally my dad. Alas, such is life and these things cannot be avoided. I am really grateful for the Conference Calls that some of us have been doing because it has helped me start to establish a support group that I can use in Botswana when all of the people I would normally turn to are an ocean away. Also, this is the first time I will be doing a major trip without Bethany. After going on every trip (minus one weekend at the end) with her while in Spain, and having more classes together than I can count, it is going to be a new experience not seeing her while abroad. But at least I can still keep in touch with everyone via good ole fashion snail mail if nothing else (hint hint, you all should write me letters please :)
Other than all of this the language lessons are still going good. Trying to double team the learning by using both the Peace Corps provided lessons and the Eurotalk CD my brother got me. Hopefully in a few weeks I will be comfortable enough with simple verb conjugation to make sentences, but as of right now it is mostly just small phrases and vocab. So maybe on the next blog post I can show off a bit ;)
But until then, ke tla go bona!
Adam
P.S. Wow this turned out longer than I thought, and here I was assuming I had nothing to say.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
100 days till departure
Dumelang borra le bomma,
I decided after receiving the invitation to serve in the Peace Corps as part of Bots 11 that I would have to blog about this experience so that way I can keep in touch with all my family and friends in the US. Considering that today officially marks the last 100 days I have in the states I thought this would be a good a time as any to start this off. As such, don't expect too much activity out of this blog as of yet (it will mostly be preparation stuff at this point).
Right now I have been busying myself with trying to learn a few things in Setswana, and it is coming along thanks to the help of the Peace Corps provided language lessons and the Eurotalk program my brother got me for graduation. I've also been reading the McCall Smith books that are set in Botswana (The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series) and have finished 4 of them at this point. So far though I think my favorite part of the preparations has been meeting my fellow volunteers. We have started to get to know each other a bit through a Google Group, FB group, and a series of conference calls where we also practice a little Setswana. From the FB group I learned that there are 34 people in Bots 11. 24 are Life Skills Volunteers, 6 Community Capacity Builders (CCBs), and 4 District Community Liaisons (DCLs). My official job title is School and Community Liaison for Life Skills.
Other than that working on a packing list and a reading list. So quick question, what books should I buy for the Kindle that I plan on getting?
Ke tla go bona,
Adam
I decided after receiving the invitation to serve in the Peace Corps as part of Bots 11 that I would have to blog about this experience so that way I can keep in touch with all my family and friends in the US. Considering that today officially marks the last 100 days I have in the states I thought this would be a good a time as any to start this off. As such, don't expect too much activity out of this blog as of yet (it will mostly be preparation stuff at this point).
Right now I have been busying myself with trying to learn a few things in Setswana, and it is coming along thanks to the help of the Peace Corps provided language lessons and the Eurotalk program my brother got me for graduation. I've also been reading the McCall Smith books that are set in Botswana (The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series) and have finished 4 of them at this point. So far though I think my favorite part of the preparations has been meeting my fellow volunteers. We have started to get to know each other a bit through a Google Group, FB group, and a series of conference calls where we also practice a little Setswana. From the FB group I learned that there are 34 people in Bots 11. 24 are Life Skills Volunteers, 6 Community Capacity Builders (CCBs), and 4 District Community Liaisons (DCLs). My official job title is School and Community Liaison for Life Skills.
Other than that working on a packing list and a reading list. So quick question, what books should I buy for the Kindle that I plan on getting?
Ke tla go bona,
Adam
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