I have recently moved into an apartment in Madison, WI. I live very close to campus and all the people and noise that that entails. It's nice to once again be around people. It's nice not having to plan two weeks in advance to do an errand run. I think I'm glad to be here, but that could change in a couple weeks when school starts up.
I won't be starting school this semester. I'm going to wait until the Spring semester to transfer. Hopefully, this gives me time to work and save up some money. I'm working at the State Law Library part-time. It's a nice library. I'll get to boost my resume with some new programs and special skills. Training this week is just proving to be a little slow. I've done many of the tasks already. If the training was more structured, I could be done in two days. At this rate I won't be done until the end of the week. I'm also hoping that the UW Bookstore will hire me. I had an interview which went well. Now I just get to wait to hear back from them. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Work should keep me busy this semester, even if I have to do some more searching for a second position. (I have an application for a full time library position at a Madison Public library. However, I'm not super confident I'll get a call for an interview on that one. I think they're looking for someone older. Silly stereotypes getting in my way!)
But what am I to do when I'm not working? I'm on a very, very tight budget. That cuts out going out and meeting people in bars and such. I'm not in classes or even a student, so those welcome week events aren't open to me. I am living with a nursing student, Sarah. She seems really nice, but she's at home this week. I'm not sure if we'll have a close relationship since we haven't spent much time together, yet. I could look up some of the people from Rio who are attending Madison. I just think it would be weird if I'm like "Hey, we haven't talked for six years or so. Want to hang out?" I wasn't super close friends with the people in my class from East Troy who came here, either. I'll just have to do some brain storming I suppose. Who knows, maybe I'll meet people when I go to give plasma tomorrow.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The Summer Between
I'm long overdue for an update here. Once I arrived in the US after my week long journey filled with miscommunications and cultural frustrations, I wasn't really in the right mind set to post on what the readjustment has been like. So, a month later I'm finally writing this.
There are days where Georgia seems like a long ago dream. There are others that make me regret my decision not to renew my contract. Overall, I'm making the big adjustments (transferring to UW Madison in the spring, moving to Madison this fall, getting a job) that I need to in order to continue on in life. I'm enjoying seeing friends and spending time with family. I can once again drive and understand all the conversations around me not just bits and pieces. I have all my luxuries like free wi-fi and easily accessed libraries. It's been a good month back.
However, I still say "modloba" instead of "thank you" sometimes. I think our money looks weird and really, really miss Georgian coins (kinda an odd thing to miss, but I never said I was normal did I?). I have a ton of stories to tell people, but when I'm asked about my trip I'm at a loss of words. I can no longer cross the street like an American and find myself bracing for the crazy driving of Georgia. I miss bargaining for things at the market. Almost everyday I see or read something that gives me an idea for a lesson plan. Those are the days that I want to jump on a plane and fly back.
I don't know how to bring this to a close. I'm still in an inbetween place when it comes to my thoughts and feelings about the whole experience. I wouldn't change my decision to go to Georgia, but there are many challenges that I wish I could have been more prepared to handle. I recommend the program to anyone who is considering taking the risk of volunteering overseas. I walked away knowing and being more than I imagined (I had some pretty high expectations about how I'd change too, so that's saying something).I want to go back, and I want to travel more.
I'll just have to find some more adventures while I save up the money to do just that.
There are days where Georgia seems like a long ago dream. There are others that make me regret my decision not to renew my contract. Overall, I'm making the big adjustments (transferring to UW Madison in the spring, moving to Madison this fall, getting a job) that I need to in order to continue on in life. I'm enjoying seeing friends and spending time with family. I can once again drive and understand all the conversations around me not just bits and pieces. I have all my luxuries like free wi-fi and easily accessed libraries. It's been a good month back.
However, I still say "modloba" instead of "thank you" sometimes. I think our money looks weird and really, really miss Georgian coins (kinda an odd thing to miss, but I never said I was normal did I?). I have a ton of stories to tell people, but when I'm asked about my trip I'm at a loss of words. I can no longer cross the street like an American and find myself bracing for the crazy driving of Georgia. I miss bargaining for things at the market. Almost everyday I see or read something that gives me an idea for a lesson plan. Those are the days that I want to jump on a plane and fly back.
I don't know how to bring this to a close. I'm still in an inbetween place when it comes to my thoughts and feelings about the whole experience. I wouldn't change my decision to go to Georgia, but there are many challenges that I wish I could have been more prepared to handle. I recommend the program to anyone who is considering taking the risk of volunteering overseas. I walked away knowing and being more than I imagined (I had some pretty high expectations about how I'd change too, so that's saying something).I want to go back, and I want to travel more.
I'll just have to find some more adventures while I save up the money to do just that.