Sunday, Dec. 19, 2004 - 1:32 p.m.
Dec. 2004
Dear Family and Friends,
What a year it’s been! It was almost exactly a year ago that I arrived back in Seattle after my amazing, incredible adventure in South America, after teaching English in Ecuador for a year and then traveling around the continent for 4 months.
2004 started out a little rocky, with reverse culture shock, readjustments, being broke and unemployed. I wanted to return to South America, but for several reasons, was unable to. After fruitless job searches and interviews, I decided to start volunteering somewhere and chose the Ronald McDonald House because I heard they needed people who can speak Spanish. I started in February, helping out at the front desk. For those who don’t know, the Ronald McDonald House is a non-profit organization that provides temporary housing and assistance for families with children who have cancer or other life-threatening issues. Some of the families are from Eastern Washington and speak Spanish. It provided a way for me to help out, practice my Spanish, beat the unemployment blues and be something else to boost my resume.
In addition, I looked into graduate school. I’ve been planning to get my Masters in Teaching along with a teachers certificate so that I can become an elementary school teacher. I’ve got the experience and motivation, now all I need is the credentials! I found out that I needed to take some pre-requisite classes. So, for spring term I enrolled at Shoreline Community College and took World Geography and US History.
Then, in April, I got a break and got a paid part-time position at the Ronald McDonald House as a House Manager, working weekends, which kept me pretty busy!
In May I celebrated my 30th birthday with family and friends. It was a lot of fun.
Summer came and went by in a flash. One of the highlights was going to an Astronomy Star Party/camping trip in Eastern Washington with some relatives for a weekend. We had an unexpected surprise one night, besides seeing all the cool constellations and nearby nebulas, for the first time ever, I saw the Northern Lights! It was awesome!
By August, I was still working part-time on the weekends, and had started 2 more jobs on the side, as an ESL tutor at SCC, working with a student from Ethiopia, and occasionally being hostess at a Greek restaurant. Then a full-time job unexpectedly appeared at the Ronald McDonald House and I moved up to Evening Manager, taking on more responsibilities and working weekday evenings. I’ve stayed at this position since and really enjoy the challenges and rewards. So this fall I found myself working 3 jobs and going to school, taking my last pre-requisite class at SCC.
As if that wasn’t enough, I also applied for the Peace Corps, something I’d planned to do for a while now. I had an interview in September, and was nominated in October to work with local English teachers in Asia, leaving June 2005. (But it’s still tentative. Right now I’m in the medical screening phase. I hope to know in the next couple of months if I’ve been accepted). In addition, I’ve been preparing my application for the UW Masters in Teaching Program, due Feb 2005. My plan? Apply for both grad school and the Peace Corps, hopefully get accepted to both and defer grad school until after my return from the PC.
We’ll see if my plans jive with the “big man upstairs”.
I hope you and your family and loved ones have a very Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Happy Hanukah and Holiday Season!
