New Year's Resolutions

It's so cliche, but as K can attest, I am someone who loves setting goals. Last month when we went to see The Secret Garden - a lush production full of gorgeous voices and overflowing with personal nostalgia - I declared smilingly that "We should set a goal to attend a play or concert every month." K groaned, good-naturedly, and reminded me that I always do that. It's true - I find something I life and try to set a goal to add it into my life more often!

So in the officially-sanctioned season of resolutions, I am in my element. I revel in it. I try to think hard and carefully before making the commitment, but couldn't stop myself from spewing out goals and breaking them down into SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound) objectives.  Okay, I didn't go that far. But that just makes me more ambitious for next year!

As part of my accountability, here they are:

Contribute to my community

• Educate myself on issues that people of color face and amplify their voices and perspectives
• When I hear racist/sexist/homophobic/ableist and other unacceptable language, I will speak up whenever I am safe to do so
• Participate in at least one march or rally about a cause that is important to me
• Engage with people who voted differently than me in order to exchange ideas, build empathy, and find common ground
• Practice ways to recharge, stay safe, and take care of myself and make a list of what works best for me

Music

• Play the piano once/week minimum and memorize at least two entire pieces
• Join a choir
• Listen to a new music playlist or a new album once/week
• Listen to the weekly classical playlist on Spotify

Art and Culture

• Attend at least 10 plays or concerts in 2017
• Attend the State of the Arts concerts whenever possible
• Take more photos - and - extra credit - take a photography class (yes, I’m giving myself the chance for extra credit here!)

Professional Development

• Attend at least three lectures/discussions about work topics per month to gain fresh perspectives and meet people working on the same issues
• Meet with someone outside of my office at least once a week to build networks and learn about different ways we are all contributing to solving problems
• Travel to Morocco and Algeria at least once this year
• Take refresher Arabic lessons and practice/study for at least two hours/week outside of lessons

Read more books

• Goal is 25
• Choose fiction books written by people of color or women 
• Non fiction books on five topics - Middle East/North Africa, New Zealand, Marriage/Relationships, Having a Baby, and Race/Class divisions in America  - make a concerted effort to choose books that are written by people from diverse points of view (not just white native-English-speaking men)
• Read one book in French

Fitness and Weight Loss

• Take off 20 pounds
• Reduce body fat percentage 
• Increase body water percentage 
• Track every day, even if it’s just one meal. Try to stay under 40, ideally maximum 37/day
• Walk a minimum of 10,000 steps on work days and 7,000 on non-work days
• Work out a minimum of 30 minutes 5 times a week

Rabbit rabbit rabbit

Happy December 1st!

Can't believe it's already December.
My big news is that I started my new job on Monday!!!

I will be coordinating, monitoring, and doing strategic planning for assistance programs in Morocco and Algeria.
I am so excited and happy about the opportunity. The team is great, the work is interesting, and I feel that as soon as I get my feet under me, I'll be able to make a solid contribution.

In the mean time, I'm reading and listening and having meetings and asking questions.

Also, I'm doing all the important mundane tasks like adjusting my desk chair so that it doesn't tip me backwards when I sit down in it. I'm setting up hanging files to keep the reference documents I'd like to have a hard copy of. I'm running around getting badges and computer logins.

Ahhhh.

It feels so nice to have a job again.
Don't get me wrong - I know that at some point I will be tired of being in the office and wish for a vacation - but for now, it is great to have somewhere to be everyday. To get out of the house for a purpose, not just a whim. Doing 10,000 steps a day is a breeze when I'm working. When I was at home, sometimes getting 5,000 steps was a struggle! (Alphabetizing the spice drawer just doesn't require walking around very much)

Ramadan

I arrived in Beirut during the month of Ramadan, a Muslim religious celebration that includes strict fasting from dawn to dusk - from not only food, but from anything that passes the lips including water or even cigarettes.

Once the sun has set and evening prayers have been said, families and communities host huge meals called Iftar where people of all ages gather to break their fast together.

I was particularly lucky to be able to attend a Ramadan festival that recreated the beauty of the Old Souks. 

Whirling Dervish statue

I found a camel!

Themes of each night portrayed on the skirts. 

Abaya fashion show

The lantern (fanous) of Ramadan - a traditional symbol, made kid-friendly :)

Wedding dress fashion show

Rose is AWOL

A brand new adventure for me!

I lost my passport somewhere between New York and California, but didn't discover it until 10pm Sunday night.

I was supposed to fly back to Togo Monday morning at 6am.

Oops.
So I spent about seven hours ransacking the house to search for the passport, finally gave up and contacted the airline, peace corps in DC, peace corps in Togo, and everyone else necessary.

I'm in the 'leave without allowance' limbo now until I can secure a new passport. My FedExed application (along with NINE new passport pictures) should have arrived in Washington, DC this morning. I'm anticipating being in California for at the very least another 10 days.

I still kick myself occasionally, but it's like a 'free' vacation. It's a good thing I get along with my family :)



In other news, I'm going to use this week to research law schools and LSAT study preparation. ... yikes

I've been waiting for this moment all my life, oh Lord

9 June 2008

I’m allergic to the insect repellent.

Yup, that’s right. Wherever I put on the repellent – which comes in this fabulous little stick that resembles a push-pop – I get red patches of skin. It’s not sore or even itchy, but it’s still worrying. A fellow volunteer experienced the same thing and was given an alternative. She was very gracious and let me try some to see if that would be better.

Nope, still red patches

I’ll have a chat with the medical officer tomorrow and try to sort it out. Hopefully they have a third alternative or she’ll be able to reassure me that it’s not a severe allergy and therefore I don’t have to worry.

Today we had a big long training chat on malaria during which I was bitten on the ankle twice. Inside! air-conditioned! during the day!

argh.
Our Medical Officer, P, is fabulous. She has so many anecdotes about serving Peace Corps volunteers all over the world – eastern europe, a couple tours in Africa, etc. Plus she’s charmingly self-deprecating: “Sometimes a fever can feel really good. Once I had a fever of 104 degrees. I was up all night being productive, writing notes, listening to music, having amazing breakthroughs in my work. I was completely off my rocker”

I’m impressed with how much she believes in the anti-malarial medication. After speaking with her, I was moved over to the once-weekly medicine Larium. (Apparently there’s a website called ‘The Larium Files’ where people have written up their ‘hallucinations’ and vivid dreams while taking Larium. I’m torn between wanting to read it and not wanting to give myself nightmares because I’ve read it. hah) It is easier to remember and she seemed to imply that it is more effective than the doxycycline, if only because doxy moves through the body in about 23 hours – so there’s no leniency if you forget one day to take it. If you get just a couple bites in those few hours in between, you could have malaria.

It was a long session and full of bits of information. I was not feeling very well. This may be an understatement. Last night we had a welcome party at a local bar. I have decided that drinking in a climate that already severely dehydrates me is an extremely bad idea. oops.
But, it was nice to have my inhibitions loosened a bit and I was able to chat a lot with current volunteers. And dance. a lot.
For those of you who have gone out dancing with me, you know how much I love it. There was a live band playing West African versions of American pop songs. (Phil Collins!!! hellzyeah!) Lots of bouncing and a few attempts at couple dances. There’s a married couple (there are actually two married couples in my stage) who met doing ballroom dance at their university. I danced a lovely little latin thing with the husband, L. It was so much fun and really restored my confidence in being able to follow a free-form ballroom dance style. Huzzah.

The bar closed at midnight – it felt like 3 am, but I guess that makes sense since we get up around 6am every day. We all paraded home in a slightly weaving group, attempting to avoid the huge puddles from the fantastic storm earlier in the day that had rocked the hotel with thunderclaps. I collapsed into my bed and dragged myself out just a few hours later to learn about the various symptoms of malaria. yuck yuck.