Kathryn's Peace Corps Adventure

The opinions expressed and experiences described in this blog are mine personally. Any musings that you read here are not affiliated or endorsed by Peace Corps or U.S. government. Or Starbucks. And I'm not making any money from any of this, so don't send a lawsuit my way. Got it?

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

tick-tock-tick-tock

Four weeks and counting! (18 shifts to go at Starbucks!) I received my reporting instructions. I will be leaving Chicago for Washington D.C. (for a short orientation) at 8 a.m. on Sept. 19th and will be departing D.C. for Tegucigalpa at 7 a.m. on Sept. 21st!

Being the procrastinator that I am, I am sure that I will leave packing to the last minute, but don't fret because at least I have given thought to what I am planning to bring with me. (The final list will be published at a later date. Along with photos of me crying as I leave behind my Diesel boots...)

For the time being, you can all know that I am going to be a high roller making $190 U.S. dollars a month. Big pimpin' right?

For anyone that doesn't have my contact information: (I would love letters or postcards!)

Kathryn Fahey
Voluntaria de Cuerpo de Paz
Apartado Postal 3158
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
America Central

A few tips if you are sending a package (not that I'm expecting one):

1. Use padded envelopes whenever possible. It's cheaper and tougher to open and reseal for those people who want to dig through the mail.

2. Scribble religious symbols or write biblical quotes on the padded envelope. Catholics are pretty supersticious and don't want to steal from a package with a cross on it and have it get back to them. (I say this because I am a supersticious Catholic.)

3. If you do send a box, please make a list of what you included so I can see if I received everything you sent or if someone saw that Color Me Badd CD and got greedy.

This is only if you would like to send something. I am NOT expecting anything from anyone. But amuse me with your stories of the Cubs, Starbucks, Borders, Mark Prior, Gael Garica Bernal, Chicago weather, etc. Cool?

P.S. This is to clarify to all: I don't hate Starbucks like it may seem from my postings, but if you worked there you'd understand. I am just ready to move away from a life of retail to something different. I have worked a lot of retail jobs, right? (Anchor Blue, Juxtapose, Perfumania, Borders, and Starbucks)

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Drama-rama

On a non-Peace Corps related note, I would just like to say that it is horrible to have your identity stolen. In the past 8 months, mine has been stolen 3 times. Heck, in the past 8 DAYS my identity has been stolen twice. Twice! I am so tired of being put on hold by customer service representatives and filling out paperwork. I know that it is necessary, but come on! I am supposed to be leaving in 31 days, I don't have time to be checking my credit reports and filling of Affidavits. My computer has firewalls and all these security features but what is the point if they don't work?

Ok, enough with my venting. I guess the moral of the story is, make sure you really, REALLY want that item online enough to take a risk at having your identity stolen!

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Reasons to shout "Hooray!"

These little tidbits are taken from the letter I received on Monday from the Youth development program and Country Desk in Washington D.C.:

1. Be ready to hear different types of music in Honduras. Don't be surprised to hear American music from the 70s and 80s. (Can't wait for the resurgence of Kajagoogoo and Flock of Seagulls!)

2. Because we are working with youth, Volunteers are expected to be role models; you should not be drinking, smoking, going to pool halls or bars in your community. (Well there goes my plan on how I was going to spend the next 2 years!)

3. Reading and writing are part of the lives of Peace Corps Volunteers. (What?!)

4. The national sport in Honduras is soccer, be ready to choose from any of the several national teams that will give you hours of conversation, which interests people in Honduras. (How would I say, "People from the U.S. hate soccer, even though it is the #1 sport in the world, for some insane reason it has yet to catch on here; although I do enjoy soccer, and Yes, I am a female who likes sports, shocking isn't it?" in Spanish??)

5. I'm not quitting Starbucks until Sept. 16th. (Do I really need to say anything?)

But all jokes aside, I am actually starting to get excited/nervous/happy/sad/anxious/psychotic about my upcoming departure! And that is truly a reason to shout Hooray!