Anthony Bourdain in Ghana

GHANA!

Yeah, that's right GHANA!!!  Staging will be June 2-3 and then on June 4th I will be flying into Accra and the warm embrace of the equator.  I cannot wait for that shit!  Seriously, you have no idea how many ridiculous layers that I am wearing to stay somewhat comfortable in my heatless apartment.  Which reminds me.....where are my fingerless gloves?

The Invitation is IN THE MAIL!!!

I forgot to mention that in yesterday's post.  It was mailed out last Wednesday and I'm off to check the mail yet again.  Fingers crossed!  

To dayz of consekatv blogin, I haz em.  I also have a sad addiction to icanhascheezburger.com.

Time Flies When You're Killing Time!

Wow.  Ok.  So I haven't posted in the longest time and things have actually progressed since the last time I checked in!  A lot!  

To recap:  I bit the bullet, so to speak, and had 3, yes 3, wisdom teeth removed, thus completing and passing my dental screening.  Need I remind you that the Peace Corps did not specifically ask me to take them out. I only needed to find a dentist that would recommend me keeping them, an impossible task.  So they are out and I am in!  Right after my dental clearance I was medically cleared too-but wait!- this clearance only lasted about 2 months until the PC decided they needed a more detailed history about my left foot, which I had foolishly broken in a bunkbed-toconcrete floor accident two years ago.   I contacted my podiatrist in CA, had him fill out a form and sign his name, and I had to write a brief letter explaining the current condition of my foot (I told them that it hurts in the cold and that I need to be sent somewhere warm :) ).   I was then medically cleared a second time and this one has stuck.

Last Wednesday (Jan. 28th) I spoke to my super nice placement director, Yung-mei, and she informed that I will be moving to AFRICA!!!!!  In June....    Now, one might assume that I would be disappointed with the late departure date, since I was supposed to be leaving in February, March at the very latest, but I'm ok with it.  After all, I was starting to miss New York and I haven't even began to pack yet (too Cary Bradshaw-ish?).  So now I get to have more time go to museums, take strolls through the park, and make as much damn money as I can get my hands on.  Because now Europe is BACK ON!!  And now I have decided to throw in a month in the Caribbean: Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba.  Or maybe just Puerto Rico.  It all depends on the benjamins.  It always does.

Oh, and yeah, I did preemptively quit my job, but I can I just say that I'm actually *glad*  that I did.  *This is in no way a reflection of the JCC, really, just me...needing something new after 2 years.

Le Sigh

Prior to realizing that I may not get my invitation until January, I had been planning to spend the month of January fucking around Europe drinking beer, smoking spliffs, and generally soaking up my last few weeks of complete freedom. Not that one should think that I am in any way dreading service with Peace Corps or the massive responsibility that I will face when I am given my 2 year mission, quite the opposite really. It's just that I am really craving some time to myself without the burden of work or bills to pay or really having to do anything at all before I resigned myself to the nun-like behavior that, I'm assuming, is expected of a PC volunteer. But it has now come to my attention that if I spend those four weeks reveling in commitment-free debauchery I may miss my invitation all together and will have to delay my departure with the PC. That cannot happen. I need this chance to live, work, and travel abroad like I need air to breathe and I need it now. Or at the very least, as soon as possible.

So Europe is a no-go. Even though I had taken up a second job to pay for the trip and I have been scrimping and saving ever since. Even though I was planning to quit my job before my Christmas vacation to see my family and I will now have to stay at said boring job for another month or so. Even though I have to be out of my apartment as of Jan. 1st and I have no idea how I'm going to find a room to sublet for a month or a month and half, depending on when my departure will be. Even though I have a family friend that lives right outside of Amsterdam and I was going to stay with her, meet her new Dutch husband, and help her celebrate her birthday with a huge Dutch party. Le sigh.

At least I'll have plenty of money to travel during my PC vacations and I'll be able to afford mini-vacations in the northeast before I leave New York.