Zoey

She's just sleeping at my feet.  She alternates between insane hyperactivity and hopeless lethargy with almost no in-between.  I need to get her some exercise, my poor baby.  I do not think she likes this new sleepless, packing, obsessive paperwork-doing, crash napping version of her momma.  She never leaves me, though.  She just waits.

Why can't I pack my dog?

So Stressed Out

Went to the bank today. It was closed.

Went to Costco to get passport photos. Accidentally wore tank top. In fine print on the PC Passport App. it says no tank tops. Did not figure this out until I was home and they were all cut up and I was about to send off the paperwork.

Headache.

Small things seem big today. Packing feels overwhelming. Moving seems insane and not real.

Things People Say ... at work.

"Is there avocado in your guacamole?"

"What's in the Bacon Ranch Chicken Quesadilla?"

"Do you guys have water?"

"What are sliced tomatoes?"

"My shirt was wet and I didn't have time to dry it ... so I tried putting it in the microwave ..."

"Why did you join the Peace Corps just to go to Atlanta?"

Country: Georgia (crossroads of Eastern Europe & Western Asia)

Staging Dates: Apr. 23-24

Pre-Service Training: Apr. 25-July 14

Dates of Service: July 14, 2012 - July 13, 2014

Assignment: Secondary English Teacher

Language: Georgian
Apparently one of the oldest languages in the world. The Georgian alphabet is thought to have been created in the 4th century BC. It is a unique language, not similar to any other language.

It kind of looks like the Roman alphabet done cursive ... with a little bit of Arabic thrown in for style. There are no capital letters, articles, or gender markers. Also, they string consonants together like crazy.

ცხვირი, (tskhviri), "nose"
რძე , (rdze), "milk"
ჩრდილოეთი, (črdiloeti), "north"

Things I have to do:

PAPERWORK.
PACK.
MORE PAPERWORK.
QUIT JOB.
MORE PAPERWORK.
SHOP FOR CLOTHES.
PACK.
MORE PAPERWORK.
PANIC.
MORE PAPERWORK.

Waiting on the Mail

At my grandma's house, the mail comes between 9:00 am and 9:30 am. I have been living here for over two years and I never knew that before. In fact, I've never known what time the mail came before, ever. I mean, seriously, that is why we have the internet.

I have never waited for the mailman before in my life. Really, it must be kind of depressing to be the mailman nowadays. Nobody waits for the mail. Nobody's life hangs in the balance of a letter. JC Penny doesn't even send out ads anymore. The only people who care are high school seniors. And me.

Because here I sat, at the kitchen table, drinking tea and waiting on a mailman. Very 1950's. He was ten minutes late. And my letter did not come.

I have been waiting on my letter since February 16th, the day they updated my status on the Peace Corps website to "invited". And do you know how completely unhelpful that was? Because "invited" is ALL IT SAYS. Thank you, US Government, for telling me that I will, in fact, be leaving to live in a foreign country for the next 2.5 years of my life and then not taking the .5 second to type in the name and departure date. You bothered to tell me that you mailed my letter on Valentines Day, though. So now all I can do is sit here and worry.

Maybe the letter got lost. Maybe the update is a mistake. Maybe it never got mailed. Maybe while I'm waiting my spot will go to somebody else. Maybe this is all a conspiracy orchestrated by the government to keep me working as a Chili's waitress for the REST OF MY LIFE. Because, did you know that it is WEDNESDAY THE TWENTY SECOND? And my letter was mailed on TUESDAY THE FOURTEENTH? Where is this letter right now??? On a horse-drawn carriage moving at a gallop through Ohio???????

AHHHH!!!!!! There he is on the other side of the street! Maybe I should run out and demand that he check again!