Holy Crap!

5 weeks. Nothing like keeping count of the weeks.

I have gained a quick "idea" of what its like to be in another class let alone another underdeveloped culture. My student loans take half of my salary (roughly one pay check a month) and the other half goes to rent, gas, utilities, and cable/internet. I think I end up with having $50 for food a month and maybe $100 gets saved. Thats right...$50 a month. Remember the Rachel Ray show that does $40 a day? Yeah spread that over a month. I eat whatever comes available. The staff went on a retreat and brought back their leftover stuff that no one wanted; cookies, some candy, and bagels. I took the bagels and for three days I made meals out of them. I used up some old spaghetti sauce (about a week or so old) of my roommates, some string cheese my parents gave me, and some Italian sausage I took from their freezer while I was there last (A. they don't mind B. I did the grocery run and this was one of the items). So I made bagel pizzas for three days. Alas I have one Italian sausage left that I'll cook for dinner tonight. Sounds pathetic doesn't it? You do what you can. Doesn't really help that when I went to take a shower last night the water wouldn't get hot. Probably will spend my savings to pay for a plumber. If the roommates weren't going to be in this weekend I'd just do what I did last night and use hot water from the coffee pot and wash myself in the sink....I wonder if that will translate well into PC life "yeah well I've been washing myself out of a sink for 3 months beforehand". I hope I get a call back for a part-time job so I can afford more. My other plan is to "find/come up with" about 65 million pennies. I'm not kidding either. Pennies are underused. I think if I can come up with that many pennies I can pay off my student loans and stuff for my sister.

Anyway...

I was watching Everybody loves Raymond last night on one of the scribbly channels (cable AND internet comes today, major reason why I'm poor). But yesterday I had a Holy Crap! moment. You know feelings of anxiety that just pop up out of nowhere and make you realize everything thats going down? Had that yesterday with the Peace Corps. I was doing my thing and it just hit me. In a year from now I'll be in another country with new friends, counterparts, enemies (hopefully someone nice), etc. I mean in another country!!!

Thats scary yet exciting, like getting a new haircut, having sex for the first time, and eating cafeteria food.

I can easily see why PC people sort of group up together, marry each other, and gain long friendships. I mean as a nominee I'm scrounging around for any bit of information I can get on what its like living in country, adapting, adjusting on the way back, if they can get cheez-its...anything. And apparently I'm not alone in my scrounging. Plenty of people read my blog and others' blogs just to take notes on what they are going through to attain this wild adventure. It almost makes me want to meet these people, and some I may. An example if you'll allow.

I get an email update from Sam (name changed due to sensitivity reasons and such) in her journeys through the Caucus Mts. I don't know Sam. I don't know if she has a little brother named Chuck, if she loves nutella, dreams about being Sarah Jessica Parker, or if she thought hop scotch was the shit. I know nothing about her besides the fact that she's a PCV in the Caucus Mts and that she's my hero. She's doing what I want/plan to do. And to me thats amazing. I read her email update with awe and admiration. For this brief time in scrounging up information until I'm inducted into this community I find those involved to be breath taking and majestic individuals. Some may scoff at those statements. "They're only human beings who are in another country...its not like they beat up Dr. Doom or rescued a fellow firefighter". Thats true. They can't bend steel and they probably don't know how to fire a gun (some may) or use a fire hose (again...some may) but they're traveling the world in hopes of helping mankind and creating a bond between two nations and more importantly...two cultures. Thats heroic to me. I look up to Sam and the other people who update their blogs, journals, and email lists.

Annd off my soap box for a bit...

Seriously send me your pennies...