BLOGS FINALLY!!! :-)

Staging in Philly, or lack there of…
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Today has been crazy!?!? First I had a very sad depressing depart from my parents and from my brother on Monday. It’s not a good feeling saying good bye to people that you love and care about most in this world and not knowing when or how long it will be until you see them next. It’s best for me to just think I will see them soon and I won’t really be away from so long. After my painful good-byes I dried my eyes and arrived at staging in Philly around 12. Staging was, I guess I could say interesting… or I guess I could more so say non-existent. Our staging didn’t really happen since the weather has been calling for a big snow storm tomorrow morning around the time of our flight with flurries starting tonight. So we finished all our paperwork, received the H1N1 shot, cut the rest of staging, grabbed a bite to eat, and then hopped on the bus. We are now staying in a hotel in NYC. Hopefully things work out tomorrow and I will be on my flight on the way to my new home in AFRICA!! *Fingers Crossed!!*

Boring Plane Blog-
Written on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 5:40am Philly Time
I’ve been on the plane for about 7 hours. We boarded the plane at 10:00-10:30ish am and took off around 11-11:30ish am since the plane had to be de-iced for an hour. I am sitting next to a really sweet girl in my group, her name is Grace and she is from Colorado. I have a feeling we are going to become really good friends already. Let’s see, what else… hmm, well after we flew for a while I decided to watch “The Darjeeling Limited,” it was really weird and very modern... after that we ate dinner even though it was only around 2pm Philly time. It was a nice little meal and it came with a complimentary South African personal bottle of wine! Then once I was nice and full, I finally got some sufficient sleep for the first time in 2 days… about time!! :-)
I can’t believe when I get off the plane I will be in AFRICA!!! This is so surreal!!!!

*~Flight Map Info~*
Current time in Philly- 5:40 am
Current time in South Africa- 12:40 pm
Estimated time of arrival- 9:00 am
Flying Time Down- 7 hours
Remaining Flying Time- 8 hours 20 minutes
Total Flying Time- About 15 hours
Distance traveled so far- 3,684 miles
Distance to destination- 4,332 miles
Total Distance- About 8,000 miles
We just flew over the Cape Verde Islands and are about to pass by Senegal and Guinea-Bissau
Altitude 36290 feet
Outside Air Temperature -56 deg F
Ground Speed- 575 mph

AFRICA!?!?!?!?
Thursday Morning, February 11, 2010-
I’M IN AFRICA!?!?!?!?!? I’M IN AFRICA!!!!!!! I’M IN AFRICAAAAAAAA!!!!!
OMG!!! OMG!!! OMG!!!!
HOLY COW I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS REAL!!! SOMEBODY PINCH ME!!!!!!
So, I just got off the plane after our 15 hour flight, it actually went by pretty fast!!! Now we will be lounging around the Johannesburg Airport in South Africa for 5 hours until our flight to Entebbe Airport departs, then 5 more hours until I will be in UGANDA, my soon to be NEW HOME!?!?!?! Dear Mr. Clock, please speed up!!

First Morning in Uganda!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Today I open my eyes and awake in my white cocoon mess of a mosquito net. I can’t believe I am here and that this isn’t a dream but REALITY. I greet my roommate Heather and we get ready for the day. We walk outside to the dining hall for breakfast and are overwhelmed by the glorious African sunrise, the beautiful birds of color all around us, and the monkeys playing in the trees!!!
Our group gets along so well and I can tell I am going to make some great life long friends already!! We start our malaria pills today!!! Apparently I should get ready for some pretty trippy dreams, although I already have pretty crazy and vivid dreams to begin with so I wonder if they will be even more intense. I guess only time will tell... Today has been so wonderful and I cannot wait to see what the week ahead brings!!

Coming Home-
Saturday, February 13, 2010
I feel so blessed to be here and although Uganda is definitely a completely different world than back in the States, it feels so right to be here. It feels like where I need to be at this point in my life right now and it feels so amazing. The last two years of my life I felt so out of place and lost and although I don’t feel exactly found I feel like I’m on the right path right now. So Uganda… what is it like?? Well, it’s full of life and nature all over the place and pretty much all times of the day are breath taking. We are staying at a hostel called Luwaza for the first few days to get a briefing in Ugandan culture, start our malaria pills, get some shots, and recover from jet lag. We all get along great so far and have such a great vibe going!! We are starting to learn a little Luganda so we can greet and say please and thank you, etc…
To say…
How are you (informally)- “Oli otya” Pronounced- “Oh-lee-oh-tea-ah”.
The response is “bulungi”, pronounced- “ballon-gee” meaning good, nice, ok, etc…
Thank you is, “webale” pronounced “way-bah-lay”.
So that’s just a little Luganda to fill you in on.


Monday, February 22, 2010
Note to self, USE YOUR BRAIN!!
So today when I woke up it was raining cats and dogs, intelligently enough I decided not to ride my bike since last time it was so slick and muddy and not the safest conditions for riding. Unintelligently I decided on a poor choice in footwear! I was going to wear my sneakers, I figured that would have been the best bet and would have made the most sense. So I grab my sneakers and then realized my laces were missing, my family decided to wash them the other day since my shoes were so muddy. I then looked around my room for my laces and then looked up realizing they were being used as my clothesline to hang my still damp clothes since they didn’t dry all the way from the day before. Since it was raining I couldn’t use the clothesline outside to finish drying my clothes so I just left my clothes in my room hanging on my shoelaces for the day. So that left me with the choice between my flats, heels, or flip-flops. For those of you who know me well… NO, I did not choose my heels like I normally would!! I’m not as big as an idiot as you think I am! I chose the flip-flops, which in theory was a good idea since they would be the easiest to clean off. Once I turned up the path to the training center after a mile and a half of sliding all over the road and having mud puddles constantly eating my flop flops leaving me to search for my footwear for five minutes by sticking my foot in the mud and feeling around for it… yea so after all that I finally decided to ditch the flops and just go all-natural since it didn’t matter much anymore anyhow. Well by the time I got to the training center after my 2+ mile hike you could no longer tell I was a mazungu by looking at the backs of my legs, my feet were covered in 5-pound mud slippers, my skirt had an artistically designed African-mud splattered painting all on the back of my black skirt, my backpack and all the books and papers in it were soaked completely, I was man-handling my umbrella open for at least a mile figuring I broke it somehow, and I looked like a drowned sewer-rat. Oh and when I got to training I realized that in order to fix my umbrella all I had to do was close it and re-open it again. Of course!!
On the way home I walked with a bunch of my friends through a “short-cut” which I still refuse to believe is a short cut, but it we had fun! We walked through a little African jungle looking maze to get home. I decided to walk like a native and do it barefoot since the flip-flops weren’t cooperating once again. Luckily I didn’t step on anything that could have cut me or bit me, probably not the best idea in hind-sight but I didn’t fall, although I had a few almost wipe outs!!! One plus to walking barefoot in the mud, IT FEELS INCREDIBLE ON YOUR FEET!! Gooey and squishy!! SOOOO NICE!!! Although I’m sure I probably stepped in a mixture of mud and cow poop somewhere along the way... oh well!
Yea, Shannon is still Shannon and still makes only wise decisions “Shannon” would make regardless of where she is in the world!! Good to know right? ☺

All in all I had a good laugh today with everything and learned a lot of good information. All the useful things I learn are probably going to be a lot of trial and error lessons, but oh well I’m sure it will add to the fun of the adventure! We will see what adventures are waiting for me tomorrow, until then friends go in love…


Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Discussed dating and made bets with a partner in crime!! Let you know what happens!! ;-)

Thursday, February 25, 2010
POTTY TALK!!
So it’s been 13 day since I arrived in Africa and today was my first day sick! It’s been fun to say the least!! I threw up 5 times in less than 4 hours starting at 6:30 AM… once in the outside pit latrine (which is just a hole in a cement floor), then two times in the next hour in the inside toilet that doesn’t really flush at all. Then I decided to still go into training instead of stay home to mope around all day, probably not the best idea but oh well. I called Peace Corps to pick me up since I didn’t feel well enough to walk or ride my bike for the 5-kilometer rough terrain trip into RACO Center. Pretty much as soon as they picked me up and the car took off for the training center I asked them to stop and pull over so I could puke some more, this time so I could entertain the locals since it’s not everyday they get to see a sick muzungu! Finally I got to training after the rough bumpy ride around 9 AM. I was pretty good for about half an hour of language class until my stomach decided it wasn’t finished with me yet, one more time to hug the toilet at the training center. The toilets there work pretty well with flushing, although there are no toilet seats so you can’t sit down so for a girl it makes it interesting but I guess it also gives more aiming practice for the pit latrines.
Note to self- don’t wear pants to the pit latrine, only skirts!! This way if your aim is off you still pee on your leg but not on your clothes. Also it’s easier to lift up a skirt apposed to pulling your pants up and down and having the balancing act of holding the door closed and not tripping over yourself lifting your pants up and almost putting your leg down the pit latrine hole!!
After language we had our morning tea break and I think it helped. I was still pretty queasy for most of the day but not getting sick anymore!! We went on a field trip after lunch to a local village to talk with the people to get an idea of the needs of the people in different villages in order to make good qualifying projects for our secondary projects when we arrive at our site. It rained and I of course was wearing my black flip flops again!! We walked all around the muddy filled rocky road with the local chairman councilor, I almost fell about 10 times in the mud but this time I left my 10-pound mud filled flip flops on and decided to just deal with it and get in a good leg work out. I think that’s about all the excitement of my day! Hopefully tomorrow is just as eventful but not a sick-filled!! ☺

Wednesday, March 3, 2010
THERE IS TOO MUCH TO WRITE AND TOO MANY OTHER THINGS I REALLY NEED TO AND SHOULD DO!!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!
I AM SO VERY HAPPY, like smacked-silly-crazy-in-love-drunk happy!! Actually the only times I can remember ever being this happy in my life was during Senior Sweetheart in high school, at pageants- especially at NAM Nationals in California, and the day I realized I was in love for the first time back in college. I think those times in my life I felt happiest because I felt so excited to be where I was in my life, I had drive, and because I felt so truly loved and blessed on those occasions… And now, I feel like that here. I can feel I am changing into this butterfly right now and my wings are spreading and I’m just about to take off now and AAHHHH… it feels so amazing!!!! I just can’t wait to see where everything will take me. I don’t know what I could have done in the States that would compare to how I feel like I do now. Dear God, THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR BLESSING MY LIFE OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND FOR BRING ME TO THIS INCREDIBLE PLACE TO HAVE AN EXCITING ADVENTURE!!!
Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 6:09AM
Ok, now I’m scared!!!!!! WHO AM I, I woke up today with no alarm at 6am exactly with NO alarm and I could not wait to get out of bed!!! I had to wake up not because I had to but because I wanted to, because I could not wait to start my day. I can’t remember EVER feeling like this!! Not once in my entire life did I ever want to get out of bed and start my day as soon as possible with a smile on my face and excitement for it all to begin!!!!!!! Is this experience turning me into a morning person??? SCARY!!!!! So last night I talked to my mom and told her how I WILL be posting my blogs today (this one included). Time goes so slowly here so you would think I have plenty of time to do things… HOWEVER, everything else moves extremely slow here as well, the pace of living and rhythm is slow but it takes longer to do everything too. I did laundry as soon as I got home yesterday (the laundry that I wanted to do over the previous weekend but couldn’t since it rained the day I wanted to do it). It probably wouldn’t have taken me so long yesterday if A- I made wiser choices on what to wash and what to wear one or two or three plus more times until it really needed to be washed AND B- I wasn’t stupid and decided to soak it for two nights in a row. My clothes reeked yesterday!!!! OMG it was so gross, it smelled like mildew, ass, and raisins!!! Seriously!!! My host brother, Goodwin, wanted to help the silly Muzungu with washing her clothes, but I told him no this time and begged him to let me do it myself like a “big girl,” which was true, but I more so didn’t want him to help because I was so embarrassed that I left my clothes to soak for so long and then to smell so bad. Plus I myself didn’t want to smell that and I certainly was not about to torture anyone else with that nauseating scent. I finally finished my clothes after the sun went down!!

Also today I decided to start off my day with the Juno Soundtrack on my computer, GREAT IDEA, I highly recommend it to anyone!! Now off to meet Gracie for our morning date walking to training!! (P.S.- Don’t tell the Ugandans, they frown upon that sort of behavior, lol). I hope you enjoyed finally reading my blogs they are not really complete, I have been trying to do to much at one time!! I have a few other ones on my computer from before but I want to have more time to look over them and see if I want to add anything that maybe I forgot to put in initially, but for now this should be good. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH & I MISS EVERYONE DEARLY!!! Take care my loves!!

With Love from Africa,
Shannon <3
xoxo

Still on Schedule

Pretty much all fights were canceled today in JFK Airport but ours and a few others are still on. We left the hotel at 6am and are just hanging out until our flight takes off at 10:30am. I look forward to taking a much needed nap on the plane!! I have no anxiety to leave, I'm just super excited (and very tired) at the moment. I won't know how internet and phones will be until I get there. I guess we will see.. One more hour to go until I'm outta here!! :-)

Staging

Slight change of plans with staging today, since we are expecting snow Tuesday night into Wednesday we did not stay in Philly tonight. Instead we packed up early and took the bus to NYC to stay for the night. As long as the snow doesn't fail us up we should be scheduled as planned and leave the hotel at 6am to go to JFK for our 10:30am flight to South Africa. I'm so tired tonight... I only slept about one to two hours last night, I had too much to do and was to anxious to fall asleep. Saying good bye to my mom, dad, and brother was so hard... I cried but tried so hard to fight back and not ball my eyes out completely. It helped to think I wasn't going anywhere for a long period of time and I would see them soon. I don't know how I am going to go without seeing them for such a long period of time. This is going to be tough. Another side note... I over packed!! -Surprise, surprise!!

It's funny all the anxiety and concern I felt last night when packing completely left as soon as I entered the hotel. I feel like I'm where I need to be and it feels so good. The people are so amazing and I can tell I've already made some friends that will end up being life long. I'm so excited!!!

Now it's time to repack and move things around a little bit, then sleep (FINALLY), then wake up early for our 15+ hour plane ride!! At lease I can sleep on the plane!! :-)


P.S.- Mom, Dad, Sean, Family, & Friends... Thank you for all your continuing support!! Words cannot describe how truly blessed I feel to have so many wonderful caring people in my life. I love you with all of my heart and am going to miss you greatly!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Love Always & God's Blessings,
Shannon

My First Last Good Bye to My Family...

Just said good bye for the last time to my brother... It was so hard not to break down, all I want to do is cry... We are about 6 1/2 years apart but we have become so close over the years especially after I turned 21... We just get each other. I love him so much and I don't know what I'm going to do without him or without seeing him and hugging him for so long!! I guess I didn't think it would be this hard to say good bye... :'-(

Ok... NO time to be emotional!!! Back to PACKING!! IT NEEDS TO BE FINISHED TONIGHT!!!
Leaving for Staging in the morning!! :-)

Last Weekend & Snowed In

So it's my last weekend in the States and I am spending it 16-inces snowed in with my amazing family! It's been a snow shoveling, hot chocolate drinking, Dexter maraton watching, Peace Corps packing, thank you writing, cuddling, and drikingkind of day!! I'm actually really happy to have one more snow fall before I leave. I think I heard they are calling for snow again on Tuesday/Wednesday when I'm supposed to leave!! We will see... :-)

I am so blessed to have one more wonderful weekend with my family. I love them so very much and there are no words to describe how much I am going to truly miss them. I will take them in my heart with me so hopefully they don't seem so far away. Less than 3 DAYS!!! Starting to get a little anxious!! :-)

One week to go...

This weekend was a blast! The only down side is I felt like I didn't have enough time with everyone, but on the plus side I had more fun on Saturday than any one person should ever have! I feel truly blessed to have so many amazing people in my life. Thank you for all who came out and made my day so special. I am going to sincerely miss each and every one of you but I will keep you all in my heart and bring you along with me!! Also a big thanks to my mom, dad, and brother for everything and for putting up with my crazy shenanigans for all these years!! I love you all so much!! xoxo

Now on with the last week in the States!! Only 7 more days to go!! :-)

PARTY TIME!! :-)

It is Saturday, which means it's my the day of my Farewell Party!! I can't wait to see everyone! I have some friends coming that I havent seen in years. This is going to be a wonderful day!! :-)

More than a little bit about me...

“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.”

I’m finally living the life and dream I planned on, here’s my story…

Most people have no idea what they want to do in life; my problem has always been wanting to do too many things with too little time. At the tender age of thirteen I knew pretty much exactly where I wanted to go… Upon high school graduation I planned on going to college to pursuing a bachelors degree in elementary education and theatre, then serve somewhere in Africa working with children, come back to the US to teach, then hopefully find the love of my life to settle down with and start a family. Most teenagers don’t have a clue on their weekend plans let alone life after high school, and here I am with my life completely figured out before hitting puberty…

Two years later in 9th grade my life outline became even more refined. While learning about the 1960’s and JFK I read about an incredible organization he started called the Peace Corps. The Peace Corps is a federal government agency dedicated to working with developing countries while also promoting world peace through love and friendship. I fell in love with the concept, the mission, and the idea of serving in a third world country for my country, the greater good, and for God. I knew in my heart it was something I had to do. From there on I had a clear vision where my life would go.

In the spring of 2007 I graduated from a small liberal arts college with my BA in elementary education, early childhood education, and theatre, just as I planned… but unlike my outline I was not joining the Peace Corps. The summer before my senior year of college I fell head over heels in love for the first time with this wonderful and incredibly sweet guy. Although we began thinking about planning a future together I still planned on going through with my dream of joining the Peace Corps following graduation. Long story short, he wasn’t too keen on the idea of me leaving for two years (surprise, surprise), which I can’t blame him or some others who were not completely thrilled on the idea. By the end of my senior year I gave my dream up. I then went on to teach at a preschool and although I loved it, it wasn’t where I wanted to be. For the first time in my life I became miserable and very, very lost. I had everything I could want… an education, a job, a supportive family, amazing friends, and a man who loved me… but I had no direction anymore… no drive… I loved everyone in my life and I knew how fortunate I was, but I hated how lost and empty I felt…

After two years out of college and A LOT of soul searching I went back to my original plan… Peace Corps. It’s what I wanted all along. It’s something I’ve wanted for over 10 years now. It’s something I have to do. I need to do... I must. I finally got my act in gear, sent my application in, and waited for my interview. The overwhelming sensation of joy just by completing my application, having the most exhilarating two hour interview in New York City, and finally getting my invitation to serve… ::hopeful sigh:: I know this is where I need to be. It feels so incredible to want something so much… so badly… and know it’s within your grasp and it is finally coming true!! I received my assignment to serve in Uganda where I will be a primary teacher trainer and hope to work in many areas of community development. I leave in 11 days for staging in Philly, then we drive to JFK to fly out of for a 16-hour flight to South Africa, and then another 4-hour flight to Uganda, my new home.

At this point, even if my experience is horrible it will be better than staying here never knowing and always longing for the experience wishing I had gone. In life, you must make sacrifices but I hope to never live with regrets. Luckily for me, I can still pursue my dream even with sacrificing it the first time around. Although I wish I joined right after college instead of “wasting” two years of my life, I can’t say that I regret that time either. I learned many lessons, met some incredible people, and in the darkness of it all I found myself.

So my advice to anyone with dreams and goals… go through with them! No matter how silly or stupid… no matter who holds you back… even if the person holding you back is yourself. Jump in and don’t be afraid… live your life the way you imagined it… it’s your life, your world, live it the way you want it to be. I leave you with this…

In the words of Wayne Dyer, “You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear. Do it! Develop an appreciation for the present moment. Seize every second of your life and savor it. Value your present moments. Using them up in any self-defeating ways means you've lost them forever.”

Shine on,
Shannon

P.S.- The day after I completed and sent in my application I saw this billboard



…maybe it was a sign; maybe it was just a coincidence... Either way it made me feel self-assured!

………………………………………………………………………………
*~Some of My Favorite Quotes on Regret~*

“I have no regrets in my life. I think that everything happens to you for a reason. The hard times that you go through build character, making you a much stronger person.” ~Rita Mero

“I would much rather have regrets about not doing what people said, than regretting not doing what my heart led me to and wondering what life had been like if I'd just been myself.” ~Brittany Renée

“If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.” ~Mercedes Lackey

“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” ~Sydney Smith

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” ~Alexander Graham Bell

“Never regret. If it's good, it's wonderful. If it's bad, it's experience.” ~Victoria Holt

“If we spend our time with regrets over yesterday, and worries over what might happen tomorrow, we have no today in which to live.”

“Regret is insight that comes a day too late”

“Accept the pain, cherish the joys, resolve the regrets; then can come the best of benedictions - "If I had my life to live over again, I'd do it all the same”

“The follies which a man regrets most in his life, are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity.” ~Helen Rowland

Let the Adventure Begin!!!! :-)

Welcome to my blog! I'm new at this and have always been horrible at writing/keeping a journal so this should be a bit of an challenge in itself!

15 more days until one of the most exciting adventures of my life begins!! :-)