Life only gets more hectic after ollege...

First and foremost can we please address the fact that it is 8:14am and I have been up since 6am? Ugh! Gracias to me for trying to do 1,000,001 (that's a million and 1 :-) things in my life. As as senior in college I naively thought my life would be less hectic after I graduated. However, thanks to the 60 hours per week I have been working, plus MODEL26 and CISV (programs released for 2012 BTW *does happy dance*), I am thoroughly overworked and exhausted. Hence, my recent lack of blog posts. I honestly don't even know where to begin. My last post was October 11 and I feel like so much has happened since then. I'm sure you guys want a "life plan" update, so I guess I'll start with that.

1. So I've been working at the airport for Gogo and was able to friend my way into some buddy passes. So of course, I have to go somewhere! So this is my plan (which has been my plan for almost like 36 hours, which is a big deal!): I want to learn Italian. What better way to learn Italian than to move to Italy? So I want to move to Italy. However, as we all well know, EURO>USD, so living costs are gonna be a little steep. But when has that ever stopped me from doing anything?? Well...actually this one time I did opt-out of studying abroad in Spain and went for Argentina instead, but that's beside the point! LOL So there's this program in Sienna. It's mostly a study abroad program, but they also allow you to customize a program. So, for example, I don't need any course credit for anything, so I asked if I could just take the intensive language classes (5 hours of Italian per day) and volunteer around the city a bit. Of course, I would do the homestay, which I know wil be difficult because they families normally speak very little if any English at all. That's the best way to do it though. Roni is supposed to get back to me by the end of the week with some price estimates. If that doesn't work out, I'm going to take an au pair job in Argentina. I've already gotten my background check and everything done, just need to send it in when I'm ready to be placed with a family. I'm looking at leaving in January and coming back in April or May. I am applying for several fellowships and graduate programs to start in the fall, but the earliest one wouldn't start until June if I get it, so I have plenty of time to spend abroad. I figure I can either stay in Atlanta and save money and wait on fellowship/grad program notifications...Or I can go live somewhere else cool and wait on the notifications...so I'm going with the latter. So I'll solidify the Italy plan if everything works out financially. I wouldn't be opposed to a bit of indentured servitude either. Work off my program fee as a temporary employee for the program? Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. LOL If not, down to Argentina we go. It'll be summer time there in January anyway, so I'm in a win-win situation at this point. :-)

2. CISV Atlanta *does happy dance again* So I totally don't devote as much as I'd like to this organization because the leadership positions require like a 2-year commitment, and if you know me, I can't commit to most things for 2 months let alone 2 years! So I do what I can when I can. The 2012 programs are listed here on my Tumblr site, so check em out. CISV is this super cool awesome amazing wonderful magnificent international organization. I traveled to Finland as a CISV leader in 2010 and fell in love. Met some super cool awesome amazing wonderful magnificent people that I will never forget! And I did some super cool awesome amazing wonderful magnificent things that I wish everyone could do! So, yeah. CISV. Google it lol.

3. I put in my 2-weeks notice at one of my jobs last week. I was just doing absolutely too much (and by "was doing" I mean "currently am continuing to do."). I also decided to cut my weekend schedule a bit. Work two weekends per month instead of every weekend. Or maybe just work Saturday or Sunday, but not both because I don't have nearly enough time to just live life and enjoy being 22, and I also need to spend more time devoted to MODEL26.

4. Speaking of MODEL26, I am being quite lazy. We've received quite a few e-mails since Black Girls Rock aired on Sunday. *Sidenote: I had to cut my phone off that night. My Facebook and Twitter notifications come to phone as well as my texts and calls of course. It was just too much. LOL. But not complaining! Better that than for the opposite to occur.* And I haven't responded to any of them. My biggest pet-peeve (well one of the biggest) is when people don't respond to e-mails. Like I know you are in your office. And I know you saw my e-mail!...But now I completely understand. I have every intention of replying to all of them, it's just getting hectic around here! I used to tell people it's easier to get in contact with me via e-mail, but I'm starting to become a text/call person. So from now on, if it's urgent, please text or call me. It might take me a few days to respond to e-mails. Mostly because I am absent-minded and I completely forget that I have to respond.

New Thoughts...

This past weekend I was talking to a friend that is graduating soon. That dreaded "What am I going to do after I graduate?" conversation. The one conversation most soon-to-be college grads do NOT want to have because the answer to that question is 80% likely to be "I don't know." I quickly recognized that I had erred when I heard a sigh of frustration leave escape from her lungs. She certainly still wasn't any closer to making a decision about what she would do after December than she was 6 months ago when we talked about it...and I immediately felt bad for even asking :-/ We began discussing a few different options and somehow ventured to the money topic; a touchy issue for lots of people. Of course money, salary, wages, etc is a taboo topic unless you have a close relationship to the person with whom are talking. In this case, it was ok :-) Throughout our conversation she told about a mutual friend that was offered a six figure salary to work for one of the largest companies, not only in the States, but in the world. And I know these folks are big because I have seen their products in just about every country, if not all of them, that I've visited. 

So I thought about it...$100,000 per year. As a 22-year-old single woman. No kids. No family to take care of. That's a, excuse my French, SHIT TON of money. Talk about balling out. Now, realistically I can't say what I would do because I have never been in that situation. BUT, at this point in my life, unless that contract came with 25 weeks of leave time and a schedule that allowed me to come and go as I pleased, I would have to turn it down. I'm not one to place a lot of importance on money. For one, money is fake. It's something that someone printed up and said, "This is worth 5." It's just an item used to barter. If we wanted to switch to rocks, or pebbles, or something completely arbitrary tomorrow, we could. Money only has value because we put value on it. I could start an entire blog dedicated to all the things in the world that are more important than money. I can't see myself giving up my freedom and flexibility to travel (and not travel for work because that's not the same) for a lot of money. The memories, friendships, etc that I'd make traveling the world vastly outweigh the money I'd make sitting in someone's office working on their schedule. I'll gladly take my 20,000$ per year (after taxes, etc) as an English teacher for the next few years without any complaints. :-) I'm a simple woman. I don't need much, other than a plane ticket...well tickets.

Now of course I don't want to be an English teacher for the rest of forever. It's cool now at 22. And it might even be cool until I'm about 27 or 28. But what's after that. God only knows. When I was at CGIU in April (which I would HIGHLY recommend to any Millennial World Changers out there), the speaker at one of the plenary sessions told us that wanting to be "somebody" is not enough. You have to decide who that somebody is. When I was at CGIU in April I knew exactly who I wanted to be. Now? Eh. Not so much. And I'm okay with that. Back in April I had finalized the business plan for MODEL26 and I just knew I wanted to be the Executive Director forever and ever and ever. However, over the past few months I've learned that I prefer to be in the field. I love helping other students, but I'd rather be volunteering myself as opposed to sitting in an office placing others in volunteer opportunities. I also had the idea that we would raise money to hire full-time staff to run the org, but we're student/youth run right now and it works. It really works! I LOVE it like this. No offense to old folks, of course. Some of our board members are old folks! LOL We love old folks too. I'm leaning toward making it an AIESEC for volunteering where students have control over (almost) everything...which means I don't want to be the ED at like 35. So where does that leave ME? Well, for one as a board member, but I'll have to have a real job right? Well I toyed with the idea of being a senator, but American politics has been really annoying lately. I would be liable to get up and walk away and tell them to shove it. So I don't think that job is gonna work for me. Thought about being a Peace Corps/CARE country director. That would be cool for a few years. I'd like to work for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at some point to with their education/exchange programs. That'd be cool. Speaking of...gotta finish my Fulbright statements for this year. I also wouldn't mind being a Foreign Service Officer. That'd be dope. But definitely not until I'm older. Maybe the Pickering Fellowship will still be around if/when I decide to pursue that. I was a Pickering finalist a few years ago but wasn't ready to go to graduate school immediately after graduation. Yeah, maybe I'll do that. That sounds like a good idea. I know some folks rag on the State Department, but I bangs with the State Department. They do some pretty dope international diplomacy things. Yeah, that's the plan for today (because you know I have to have a plan).  Teach English for a few years. Volunteer at some cool NGO's wherever I am, then go into the Foreign Service to be an ambassador. Public Diplomacy track. That's a good plan for today ;-)

D

I'm Going to Live My Life...

*Nope. I'm still not proofreading my blog posts* LOL

Well, a few people have asked where I've been and why I haven't been writing. I just haven't felt like I had anything worth saying LOL. The past few weeks, however, have been hectic. Not in terms of life, but just in terms of my thoughts. My brain is always in motion. Literally. Even when I'm sleeping I'm dreaming about the things I was thinking about before I went to bed. It is very exhausting to say the least. But after 3 weeks of thinking, I've finally figured out how to get everything out in words, which is a tad bit relaxing. So, what have I been thinking about? The three things dominating my life...well maybe there are 4...yeah, let's go with 4...are:

1. MODEL26: not going to be able to get away from this. I am literally the mother to this organization and treat it as my child. You know, as much as a mother might want to get rid of a difficult child, she loves it anyway and does everything she can to provide for it? That's where I am right now with this organization. Don't get me wrong, I love it with all my heart and know that it's worth the time, but sometimes I just want to throw my hands in the air and let.it.go. Thankfully, however, I have been blessed with the world's greatest staff and interns. M26 would be absolutely nothing without them. And my intern, Julia. God knows she is literally heaven sent. I love talking to her! Whenever something happens right on time or miraculously works out she says, "That was God timing." Ya know, instead of good timing. I think that's so cute!

2. Graduate School v. Life: Graduate school in Europe is out. I'm crazy right??!! Two years in Europe getting two Master's degrees and living life in England and Barcelona?! Yup, I'm passing it up. My heart just ain't in it. I've tried to make myself excited about it, and I'm just not. After being in Nica and Peru I know my heart is in Central and South America. I mean, who doesn't want to visit Europe...but living there and going to school? Nah. Maybe later...In other news, I went to e-mail the program coordinator to tell them I wasn't coming, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. Besides, it's only July LOL. Of course, if she reads this she will know. So what am I going to do since I'm not moving to Europe on October 1. I'm going to live my life.

I'm working now to save money to do some more MODEL26 site visits (Brazil, Colombia, DR, Haiti). Hopefully by October I will be ready to leave. I'm thinking of going back to Nica for a few weeks/months to help with the education team. I'll be working on my Fulbright ETA application while I'm doing all of this traveling and working. Applying for Colombia this year. I was a finalist for Spain last year, so fingers crossed I'll actually get it this time around. I thought about getting an internship in DC in the fall and getting back into some policy work, but I really can't be confined to a schedule right now. I need to be ready to get up and leave when I want to and not worry about getting a bad review or using vacation days. That life just isn't for me. I also thought about doing some freelance writing, but writing is only fun when someone isn't making you do it.

3. Modeling/Acting: Yup. I've dabbled in modeling a bit, but never took it seriously because I was a geek and had to write papers and run NGOs and whatnot. Once I graduated I decided to try to get back into modeling...and somehow stumbled across an acting agent as well. Apparently being a Gemini really does make you a natural acting. When I auditioned my agent asked, "And you're sure you've never had an acting class?"...What she doesn't know if that I've been a drama queen for 22 years! So I start acting classes this week because I don't know what "slating" is and all those other technical terms I need to know about this business. Evidently being an actor is more than just reciting lines. It is also evident that you don't have to actually be GOOD at acting to get a job. Case in point: Single Ladies.

4. My faith: Now this isn't down here at #4 because it's the least important. That's just the way the numbers fell. Anywho, when I was in Athens I fell in love with Cornerstone Church. I literally wanted to go to church everyday (and I did go 3-4 times a week). I loved the people, the message, the worship, the diversity. EVERYTHING! I feel into my little niche with the young ladies ministry and really had my group of go-to girls when I needed to talk about something. I've genuinely felt completely lost in my faith since I haven't had them. At first I felt really guilty about it because, let's be honest, it's not like I've taken it upon myself to do my daily Bible reading or even listen to a message online. But then I listened to a message online where the pastor spoke about the importance of community and having a mentor to disciple you. I thought growing in my faith was something I could do alone. Something I could do without my Cornerstone ladies, but I was sadly mistaken. My mom attends church here in Atlanta, but I really can't get into the big megachurch thing anymore after having such a tight relationship with everyone at Cornerstone. I went to a new church a few weeks ago, but it didn't move me. Maybe I'll give it another try this weekend, but if anyone has any suggestions for a good, diverse (in ethnicity and age) church with small groups please let me know!

*I would also like to mention that next moth marks the 11th month that I have not had a boyfriend. That may not seem like a big deal to many of you, but my friends and I will have to celebrate this soon! You know who you are!!*

The Day Before

So in 13 hours I head to the best airport in the world...Hartsfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta, of course! Then to Nicaragua by way of Miami. I just spent...well I'm not sure how long it took, but it was a lot of time...packing up all the school supplies to take on my trip. I counted on fitting all the supplies into one big suitcase, but that didn't work out. Also, in case you didn't know, packs of paper are heavy when you put them all together. Consequently, I am almost positive the larger of the two suitcases I have weighs more than the 50lbs limit, which is gonna hit my pockets hard if the Delta agent isn't nice enough to let me slide. I've been let off the hook before, but that was when my bags were a pound or two over, and I have a feeling this bag is A LOT more than a pound or two over 50. So, say a prayer that the ticketing agent will take pity on me or will be so inspired by my noble purpose that (s)he will let me slide. Oooorrrr, if you are reading this and want to help me out ;-) you can go to www.model26.org and click the DONATE button on the homepage (shameless, I know. But closed mouths don't get fed right)


Speaking of MODEL26...I can't believe I'm leaving someone else in charge for 10 whole days! This organization is my baby, but I fully trust Julia to handle things. She's been great already and I'm sure she'll keep everyone on top of things at "the office" while I'm gone. Oh, and in case you're wondering, the school supplies I'm taking with me were collected by MODEL UN at Peachtree Ridge High School in Georgia and DPO at UGA. The list of everything going with me is below:

24 packs of markers 

22 pencil cases

13 rulers

9 glue sticks

5 colored pencil packs

541 pencils

6 crayon packs

88 folders

73 erasers

127 pens

30 notebooks

Big thank you to my best friend Shelly for sitting in my garage in Georgia summer heat the day after she returned from France to help me count all these supplies! 

Although I will have to be stealthy about getting my checked bags on the plane for free ;-) or at regular price, I have no worries when it comes to my carry-on baggage. I am so proud of myself for managing to pack VERY light. AND I have ten days worth of snacks in my backpack. At least I got that part right. I won't be taking my laptop with me (too much pressure), but I'll have my little whackberry, which isn't so bad I guess. Overall, I'm a little nervous about traveling alone. How will I know which taxi driver I'm supposed to be riding with? What if my bags get lost? What if I forget all the Spanish I've learned? What if I miss my flight? What if I lose my money/passport? So please say a prayer for me!! Even though I'm anxious, I'm looking forward to solo plane/bus rides so that I can spend some one-on-one quiet time with the Big Man. While I'm on this tiny journey, I'll be listening for that still, small whisper. :-)

<3  


D

Pre-Departure

Hmmm...well this is my first travel blog post and I'm not really sure where to start. I've been traveling for about 3 years now and never though to document it until someone asked me if they could follow my blog. I told them that I didn't have one and they looked at me as if I had grown two heads. Apparently, you aren't a truly well-traveled (or is that travelled...oh well, don't judge me. I grew up with spell-check) if you don't blog about it. I'm not going to spend time catching everyone up on my trips to Belize, Argentina, Finland, DC, or New Mexico (which is a foreign country in itself geographically when you've lived in Georgia most of your life). So here goes...

In 3 days I will be in Nicaragua for 5 days, then I'm headed to Peru for another 5 days. It's the first year I'll be spending my birthday away from my mom...I'm not sad. Should I be? I don't think she is either though LOL. I started a nonprofit organization about a year ago called MODEL26 (Making Opportunities by Developing Emerging Leaders. 26 for Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), and a goal of one of our programs is to connect youth ages 18-27 with international volunteer opportunities and to provide financial assistance for minority and low-income students that can't afford to travel to the volunteer sites. There are tons of organizations out there that have great programs set-up, but students just don't know they are out there, so we're the middle man between the orgs that need volunteers and the students that don't know where to start looking. Our goal is to send our first students to volunteer in the summer of 2012 (if we're all still here, of course. Apparently the world is ending any day now), so I want to spend the next few months traveling to different volunteer to sites to meet the staff and check out their programs, living accommodations, etc. before we send folks down there. I remember being on a program and getting dropped in a small Mayan village with no real instructions on how to behave, what was expected, where I'd be sleeping, what I'd be eating, etc. I made it through, but when the program coordinator told me that they hadn't sent anyone to actually meet the people we were living with and she didn't really know what to expect either I thought, "WHAAATTTT DO YOU MEEAAANN??? O_O" So we don't want kids to feel like that when we are sending them out to the middle of nowhere. MODEL26's focus is education and women's empowerment, so we also want to make sure the programs our partner orgs are running fall under one of those categories. We don't want to send a student to a country where they think they'll be doing one thing and they get down there and they're doing something totally different. That wouldn't be cool either.

So in Nicaragua I'll be in Chinadega with Amigos for Christ and I'll be in Trujillo, Peru with VEN Peru. Amigos for Christ? Is M26 a religious org? Nope, not at all. But a lot of the students we work with put a large importance on their faith, so we like to have organizations in our database that cater to all types of students. Sooo anyway, raise your hand if you're excited to spend 10 days meeting amazing people and volunteering abroad! *raises hand*

My goal is to do at least 3-4 posts while I'm down there, but no promises! Also, don't judge me if there are typos, etc. If there is one thing I hate in this world, it's proofreading, and I refuse to proofread my travel posts. They're supposed to be fun!

The next time you'll hear from me I'll be in Central America. Till next time...

<3 D