Sunday, December 23, 2012

bye bye biggie

I can almost guarantee that this won't be the last post about how much we love and are going to miss our little dog, Big.  There have been tears.  Many.  He will be moving in with my sister, and she's going to be a great momma to him.  But we are still sad.  I mean, look at this little guy:


I've read that dogs take on the characteristics of their owners.  Which is great because it means that Biggie is perfectly content taking long afternoon naps, watching television, and going on walks.  He is 12 pounds of snuggling and cuddling, and we're going to miss him.  A lot.

Friday, December 21, 2012

goodbye louisiana

My favorite thing about being in Louisiana is spending time in Granny's house.  Every room is full of memories: the living room is where all the cousins slept on the floor together on Christmas eve, the recliner is where I sat and watched Cool Runnings over and over that one summer, the kitchen is where granny stirs gumbo and pop crafted fudge.  It is a very good place.

Pete and I made a quick trip down to Lafayette to spend some quality time with granny before our big move.  It's really nice to be in a community where you know someone everywhere you go.  


It's also good to visit a state that makes beignets and makes them well.  That way, when you are sad about leaving, you can make a last minute detour to the Coffee Depot and smother your sadness in powdered sugar.


Saturday, December 15, 2012

Goodbye MA, ME, VT, NY, CT

The goodbye tour officially kicked off after Thanksgiving with a long trip to New England to see Kate and Mike and Jack and so many more well-wishers. You couldn't throw a stone in the Northeast without hitting someone we visited.

We saw my Aunt Mary and cousins in Portland and Westfield and my pseudo-in-laws in Boston.

Old colleagues and stomping grounds in Vermont.

Professors in upstate New York.

And farm-friends in Connecticut.

All the way through people were outrageously good to us. We ate like kings and enjoyed their warm, beautiful homes and got good and puffed up by their words of love and encouragement.

We also took the opportunity to rehearse for Peace Corps.

Did a little English teaching.






And we practiced living out of suitcases and wearing the same clothes over and over again. Plus, while we were up there, a very sweet Peace Corps Morocco representative called us and said, "You need to think Alaska, not Africa." So we practiced dressing warm.
And being cold. The weather helped us out by giving us one perfect snowy day.

Kate and Mike introduced us to the Chipyard in Boston (started by Mitchell Hurwitz! I never knew!) and Britt found an amazing 15-inch pancake at Papa Pete's in Bennington Vermont.
And we worked out some of our leaving-America grief by going to Dunkin' Donuts every day. I can't say enough about the lovely places and people we saw.  It was a great trip -one that will burn warm in our memories when we're freezing our extremities off in Anchorage, Morocco.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

happy halloween!

At the 11th hour, we quickly pulled together a Halloween costume: Peace Corps volunteers.  I know, it's pretty lame.  BUT, we made it happen in about 3.5 minutes, and the fact that we already had all the right pieces in our wardrobe is proof that we've made the right decision.

Was it just a year ago that we celebrated our wedding in a circle of crazily-dressed-but-dearly-loved family and friends? 


Here's hoping for many more candy-filled, love-filled, good-people filled Halloweens.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

how we got here


This post, this next step, this adventure: all of these things are a long time coming.  The Peace Corps is an idea that danced in the back of our minds for many years.  What would it be like to live in another country?  Could we learn a new language?  How can we use our skills to make the world a better place?  

In the summer of 2011, we started volunteering with Catholic Charities.  We volunteered to teach English to two kiddos from Burma.  These kids had just arrived in the United States with their family as refugees, and we started with the ABCs.  Many rounds of “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” later, and we were smitten.  See how cute they are?

 
Yup, we taught those kids about plants and nature.  And, yup, his pot fell to the ground and broke about .3 seconds after we snapped this photo.
 
Then, in January 2012, just a few months after our wedding day, we officially started the application. 

And, just like we did when we decided to get married, we decided it was important to talk to other people about what an experience like this might look like.  We had coffee with a returned Peace Corps volunteer couple and emailed other folks we knew that had served in the Peace Corps.  We went to Peace Corps info sessions.  We read blogs and books. Incessantly.
 
Within a few weeks, we had an interview in Dallas.  The day before our interview, Pete came home with flowers and chocolate milk (throwback to 2006!).  How sweet does he look? 


After a year of tutoring our adorable kiddos, we switched to working with an adult refuge ESL class.  We’re still volunteering with this class now.  The students in the class are from all over the world, and they have incredible stories to share.

A few weeks after our interview, we received our nomination to teach English in North Africa or the Middle East.  A nomination, we explained to people, means that you might be going to a particular region of the world, you might leave during a particular season, and you might do a particular job.  While we were thrilled, we tried not to get our hopes up too much.  We’ve heard stories about how Peace Corps nominations and departure dates can change from time to time. 



Shortly after our nomination, it was it was time for fingerprinting and a background check.  


We received our nomination in June.  Then we waited.  We spent weeks and weeks and months and months waiting to hear what would become of us.  Would we really leave in January like our nomination stated?  Would the country change?  Every now and then, Peace Corps folks would email us and ask for additional information.  We immediately dropped everything when we got a request for an updated resume.

Finally, in September, our official invitation letter came.

Morocco.  Youth Development. January 14th, 2013.

This. Is. Happening.

For funsies, check out our old passports and new passport photos.  Look how much we've grown up!

As our journey continues, we invite you to stay with us and go places.  

Love,

Britt & Pete