Happy Holidays 2015!

No matter what holidays you may be celebrating (or if any at all) I want to again wish you all a Happy Holidays!  I am extremely grateful for all of you who have continued to read my blog and have supported me even through just doing that.

As a side note, can you believe that I am almost done with my 27 months of service?!  And in lieu of thanking you for the continual support and encouragement, I would like to let you all know that I don't know if I would have been able to have made through my whole service if it had not been for all of the the support from the states.  And also thank you to those of you who are serving with me in Ethiopia (because I do know that some of you do read my blog as well).  I would not have been able to get through without all of you either.

Its interesting how you tend to think about these types of things more so around this time of year.  In particular for Peace Corps volunteers, it does seem like we have a bit more of a tendency to think about these things as we begin to reach the end of our service as well.

Anyways, thank you all again for the support!  And Happy Holidays!!

More posts to come in the new year.  :)

PCV Tips: Making Your Home Feel Like Home

It’s so important to find ways to make your home feel like home once you’ve moved to your site after pre-service training.  You should make your house feel comfortable and welcoming (at least for yourself) and of course make it a place in which you feel like you can function and a place in which you can meet your basic needs (cooking, etc.).

First things first:  get your furniture!  Get mattress and bed frame of course.  Then there are the tables, chairs, etc.  What you need to get really will vary upon the country you are in, what is already in your house, what you feel like you need, and the amount of money that you are willing to spend.  In my house, I have my bed, two wood tables, a wooden cabinet, a bamboo table, bamboo, bench, and another bamboo piece with multiple cubbyholes for clothes, etc.

In addition to furniture, make sure you got all of the other essentials you need:  stove, buckets for water (if you are in a country like Ethiopia if you need to get your water from a source outside of your house), plates, cups, etc.  Anything that you will require to meet your basic needs.  *As I mentioned with the buckets, certain things may be based upon the country you are placed in, etc.

Once you have gotten all of these things, make sure that you arrange everything in a way that is comfortable to you.  You are living here for two years!  It is important that you are comfortable and happy!  With that being said, make sure that you have other things that make you feel at home.  Hang things up around your house.  This could mean artwork, photos, etc.  On one wall of my house, I have all of the letters that have been mailed to me throughout my service hanging up.  I do this for two reasons.  One:  it looks better to have all of these letters up rather than having a completely blank wall.  Two:  all of the letters remind me of how much support and encouragement I have been receiving from people back home.  I realize that the support received from back home looks different for everyone, but it is really good to have a way to remind yourself of all the positive support you are receiving for doing this experience.  Trust me when I say that remembering that support and encouragement really does help you get through those 27 months of service.

For other ideas:

• Paint your walls a color to one that is comforting, welcoming, and one that you like
• Draw on your walls with chalk

*Keep in mind that these two ideas work best in houses that are made of cement.  Also, keep in mind of what would be appropriate with the people whom you give rent.  In a country like Ethiopia, you could do either and most likely, no one would care.  This may not be the case in other countries.

Remember that this is your home for two years.  Make it feel like home to you.  Make it feel comfortable and welcoming.  Have reminders of the things that you like, the ones you love all throughout your home.  Make it a place in which you can come to at the end of the day and be able to find some comfort in knowing that this is your safe place.  This should be a place in which you can get away from all of the hardships and struggles that you deal with throughout your service and be able to take a break.   And this is important:  No matter what your overall service is like, no matter what you are handed; your home is your place.  This place is your safe place, your place in which you can take refuge, your place in which you can relax, your place in which you can do what you want and your place in which you can fully be yourself.  Keep this in mind.  When it comes to making your home feel like home, there are no limits.

*Below are some pictures of my home in Ethiopia:

On this portion of my wall, I have a calendar and timeline.  When I made my timeline, I put up one blue post it for each month of service I had left.  Each purple post it below the blue ones lists birthdays.  I also have different events and things to look forward to on the post its.  This time line has helped give me things to look forward to in order to help me get through service.

In Ethiopia, we are required to sleep under a mosquito net.  Don't want to get malaria!

Here's my letter wall.  If you encourage people to write to you and write back to them regularly, you may be able to accumulate a good collection of letters by the end of your service.

And of course put up pictures.  

*As always, please let me know if you have any comments, questions, concerns.  They are always welcome!

Sending Mail to Ethiopia.

Hi all...

This post is particularly important if you have ever sent me anything via mail.  Since my service will be coming to a close in a few months, I wanted to give you an update.

For packages:  I really don't need any more packages at this point because I only have a few months left.  But if you feel so inclined to send one, please make sure that you send it by mid February.  Packages take on average, about a month to reach me.  If you send a package any later than mid-February, it is very possible that I will not receive it before I leave.

For letters:  Letters, you can send a bit later because they take less time to get to me.  I would say, send letters no later than the beginning of March.  If letters are sent to me at the beginning of March, the hope would be that I received them a few weeks before I finish my service.

Also, keep in mind that my last day in Ethiopia will be April 6.  I will most likely be closing my PO box about a week or so prior to this date.  So I will most likely be closing my PO box one of the last days of March.

As I have said many times before, thank you all so much for your continuing support!

PCV Tips: Celebrating the Holidays in Country of Service

As a Peace Corps volunteer, the Holidays can be a little challenging because we are away from our families and homesickness can come into full swing for some.  So after almost completing a full Peace Corps Service, I wanted to take a moment to talk about celebrating the holidays away from home.

The first thing that I love to do once the holiday season actually begins is start playing lots of holiday music and start watching Christmas and other holiday related movies.  Especially being in Ethiopia where it is hot and dusty this time of year, it’s nice to be able to do something that makes it feel like it’s the holiday season.  And if you’re a baker, maybe its time to do some holiday baking (aka lots and lots of cookies)!

If you are spending much of your time around the holidays in your site and in your home, at the very least make your home feel welcoming and comfortable.  If you want to go the extra mile, try to decorate for the holidays and get festive!  Seriously, decorate your house (especially if you like to get creative -> it’s the perfect time to tap into that creativity)!!!  If you celebrate Christmas, you can even find a little Christmas tree and decorate it. 

Also, I would not discourage asking people to send lots of mail and packages!  If you have a small tree set up and get lots of packages, you can have them sit by your tree and open up them up on Christmas… so essentially, try to carry over some traditions from home.  It’s nice to be able to carry those traditions over from the states.  It can be nice and in some ways comforting to have that familiarity.   But keep in mind the potential these things setting in home sickness.

If you are concerned about being home sick, consider spending the holiday season with friends as much as possible.  I was able to do that myself last Christmas and it made a world of difference.  I do realize that, that is not realistic for everyone.  Even if you have another volunteer in your site and/or have close local friends, consider spending some of the holidays with them as well.  I know that many of us are accustomed to spending the holiday season with our families back in America and it can be hard being a Peace Corps volunteer and being away from family this time of year.

But I truly think that especially in moments like this throughout the Peace Corps experience is what tests and challenges the most, and by making it through these moments makes us that much stronger.

So for the holidays:  Try to stay as festive as you can.  If you have family traditions that you cannot live without, make sure to keep those traditions going.  You can even share those traditions with other PCVs and even the locals within your community.  And last but not least, don’t spend DON’T DO IT!  Be with your community, be with your friends.  And be happy!  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

*And as always, feel free to send me any comments, ideas, thoughts, questions, concerns, etc. that you may have.