Peace Corps Packing

This time in my life is a whirlwind of cleaning, packing, moving, and more packing. I moved out of my apartment into my parents' house, and now I'm getting ready for the Peace Corps in El Salvador. I realize this could be more complicated. At least my family is helping me, and my apartment wasn't that far from my parents' house.

Still, packing isn't fun. I'd hate to have to move a house full of stuff. The closest packing came to fun for me was when a friend once called at 10 PM and said,

"Drive up here to Gainesville right now. I start class tomorrow morning at UF, but you'll get here in a couple of hours - around midnight - and we can hang out then."

All I had to do was throw a few things in my backpack, and I was on my way. The Peace Corps takes a little more planning, but I especially appreciate it paying my way. Now it's time for me to get back to packing.

Peace Corps + me = the future

Next Sunday I will join the Peace Corps to become a Municipal Development volunteer in El Salvador. At this point, I believe I'm supposed to make some sort of legal disclaimer: the contents of this blog belong to me and are in no way, shape, or form at all related to the Peace Corps and/or the government of the United States of America.

I look forward to helping Salvadorans as much as possible. Also, my Spanish should improve, which will be especially helpful since people in the USA approach me and start speaking Spanish to me despite the fact that I do NOT speak Spanish and I am NOT Latino. In fact, even a trilingual Chinese person spoke Spanish to me instead of English. But I take it as a compliment, especially since a friend of mine said he thought less of me when he learned I'm not Latino after years of mistakenly assuming I was Latino.

Some sad news is that I may dreadfully confuse Spanish and Portuguese since Portuguese was the most recent language I've studied, and I studied abroad in Brazil last year. The two languages are quite similar. Actually, maybe learning Spanish will help my Portuguese... or maybe not. Regardless, I look forward to my future adventure.

Smoky Sky

Tonight the sky is smoky due to a large fire to the north. The smoky haze gives the air an eerie quality, like the world is ending. But everyone lives life like normal. Lights pierce the smoke, but it's not easy - they don't go far. It's like a film's portrayal of a dystopian metropolis. Maybe it gives the city more character... at the expense of our lungs.

Happy May

It's May, and I hope everyone is having a good month. I was going to wish everyone a happy Cinco de Mayo, but that already happened. It was happy for me; I went to a friend's graduation party.