a Light at the End of the Tunnel!

Finally! Finally. Finally, we have gotten more information from the Peace Corps that answers so many of our questions.

Here is our known time-line:
Sunday, March 18th we fly from MSP to Philadelphia for a 1 day training.
Tuesday, March 20th we depart JFK
Wednesday, March 21st we arrive in Casablanca and take a bus to Rabat
For 9 days we will be in Rabat 

March 29th we will move with group of 40 to a training site in another city TBD.
May 23rd we will be sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) and will begin living and working at our site.

Here we go!

Packing our life away...

Moving is a lot of work.  This is something we all have experienced.  We collect boxes and bags and containers that serve as portable spaces to transport our belongings from one home to another.  Oftentimes we save things that we don't really like or want because we think that one day they might come in handy.  These things are easy to just throw in a bag and stash in the basement.  Things like 10 second-hand champagne glasses...in case we host a New Year's Eve party (maybe in 2015?...)! Or extra measuring cups and mixing bowls...for the day we want to bake a cake, some muffins, and a loaf of bread before we do any dishes. Wrist guards? Just in case we want to go rollerblading or snowboarding...yea right! But when you are storing things for 2.5 years, the last thing you want to do is store away needless junk.  So Arie and I have been sorting through EVERYTHING into very selective piles.

Pile 1 - things for my little sister who will be getting her first apartment in Winona in June. Iron and ironing board - check. Hand mixer - check. Crock-pot - check. She is getting some good stuff!
Pile 2 - things that will go to Goodwill.  We have decided that we are not going to spend any time trying to sell things on Craigslist...that's just one more thing to do that we don't have time for.  Goodwill will be happy to get a load from us!
Pile 3 - books, CDs, DVDs that we will take to Half Priced Books. We should be able to get some good cash. Cha-ching! $$$$
Pile 4 - garbage.  Some things are just not even worth giving away.  Like old socks.
Pile 5 - stuff that we need while we are staying with our parents that will not go in our Peace Corps suitcases. Like olive oil and winter boots.
Pile 6 - things that will go in our Peace Corps suitcases.  We are limited to 2 checked bags a-piece.  Each cannot exceed 50 pounds, but their total weight cannot exceed 80 pounds. 
Pile 7 - this is the BIG pile of about 50 plastic bins (of various sizes) and other such containers (no cardboard though) that hold the things we want to keep.  Sadly it is a lot, but we don't want to arrive home in 2.5 years needing to buy another stereo, sewing machine, record player, dishes, sheets and pillows...

Moving is one thing, but packing your life away for 2.5 years is a whole different monster.

 

Bins and more bins.  

We have been to Target 3 times this week to buy more bins.

 

Making progress.

 

This kitchen was the most work and required the most bins.

 

Thanks to the peer pressure of Arie and Amanda I was able to get rid of most of my CD and DVD collection - Arcade Fire and Belle & Sebastian stay, but Beirut goes (and I love Beirut).  The Royal Tennenbaums and Fargo stay, but Stranger Than Fiction goes (such a cute film!). Oh well. Goodbye! Now all the discs surrounded by plastic fit into 3 small bins. Nice! Who really needs CDs and DVDs anymore - things have really changed, but I still need to hang onto some for nostalgia's sake.

Calamari Knit Valentine

Hi everyone! This is not really a Peace Corps update post, rather it is a crafty post (Pinterest and me are good pals right now).  Not much to update - we are still preparing to leave in March.  Right now we are busy wrapping up our business, packing, and getting ready to move out of our cozy home in Saint Paul.  We are VERY excited! To keep myself busy and distracted I have been knitting.  I decided to knit a heart pillow with old T-shirts.  Below are the steps to make it!

Here is the final product!

First you need to find a few old red and pink shirts.  I had 4 that were nice and worn, stained, and full of holes - perfect for this kind of project!

Second you need to cut the bodies of the shirts into rings (like calamari).  See photo below.  I do not use the neck or sleeves - they are too small for my liking, but you could use them.

Now you will have a nice pile of calamari loops that look like this:

Link the loops together in any combo you like.  I linked one of each color: red, magenta, dark pink, light pink...repeat until they are all linked. Then roll them up into a ball:

Now you are ready to knit with you chunky T-shirt yarn! Instructions are below:

Knitted Valentine Pillow Steps:

I used T-shirt calamari yarn and size 15 needles. Using different yarn weights and needles will produce results in a variety of sizes. The instructions use standard knitting abbreviations; refer to the key for clarification.
Abbreviation Key
St= Stitch
K= Knit
KFB= Knit into front and back of stitch (to make 2 stitches where there was 1)
P= Purl
K2Tog= Knit 2 stitches together
P2Tog= Purl 2 stitches together
BO= Bind off
Instructions to knit 1 heart:
Cast on 2 St.
Row 1: KFB, K to last St, KFB.
Row 2: P.
Repeat these 2 rows until there are 14 St (12 rows total).
Row 13: K2Tog, K5, and turn work; leave remaining 7 St on needle.
Row 14: Working with the 6 St closest to end of needle, P2Tog, P2, P2Tog.
Row 15: BO 4 Sts and cut yarn to start on other side.
Row 16: Working with reserved 7 St, K5, K2Tog.
Row 17: P2Tog, P2, P2Tog.
Row 18: BO 4.
To assemble 2 hearts:
1. Stack hearts with right sides out. Using a mattress stitch and a needle threaded with yarn, sew hearts together along perimeter, leaving a 1 or 2-inch gap on one side of the hearts.
2. As you stich around, tuck in loose ends.
4. Tuck stuffing inside heart. I used leftover shirt material.
5. Sew the gap closed, and weave yarn up inner side of heart. 

How cute! Good luck!

The original instructions and inspiration can be found here at Martha Stewart's site.

Countdown: 3 months to go!

The holidays are upon us...and once we are past them I know that time will really fly.  Today marks our 3 month countdown to our departure day! We are getting excited - reading books, studying Arabic, thinking about what and how we will pack our suitcases...

Reflection on Leadership

Reflection on Leadership:
The Challenges of Change and What is Made Possible

This blog entry is a part of and a start to my final reflective, course-work integration paper for my Leading Organizational Change course at St. Kate’s.  It may seem a little self-indulgent to some, but I felt like it was worth posting.

When Arie and I found out that our Peace Corps service was going to be delayed by 6 months, I was devastated.  We had been working so hard on our paperwork – bugging people for references, ordering transcripts, making appointments to see doctors and dentists, running (well, actually biking and busing) all over the city to make things happen… We had been making plans and preparing ourselves for the inevitable goodbyes.  And then, we get the message that we have to wait longer.  NO!  I was upset and frustrated, especially because I had just been laid off by the Saint Paul Public Schools.  I had no job to go back to in September; my last day of work would be July, 19^th.  What was I going to do?

As the strong feelings of upset diminished, I began to look at what might be possible within the new amount of time that was now available to us and me in particular.  As I began to put the pieces of my time together they began to fall into a perfect place.  I contacted St. Kate’s to see about re-enrolling back into the MAOL program (to learn more about MAOL click here).  I contacted my dear, dear friend Noelle (she gets 2 dears!) to see about working with her in Washington D.C. in the month of August. 

All that came to be after July 19^th was nothing but further growth and self-development to enhance my Peace Corps service.  In July I enrolled in my first graduate class at St. Kate’s since winter of 2010: Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Leadership.  This class was led by Josef Mestenhauser – a man who has been a leader in International Education at the University of Minnesota since 1951.  He is a refugee from Communist Czechoslovakia, was a friend and colleague of Hubert H. Humphrey, is a multi-Fulbright scholar, and has studied and worked in Indonesia, Japan, the Czech Republic , and the Philippines to name just a few places.  I thought I understood culture well, but this course broke down the framework, ideas, thoughts, and observations in the field even more deeply that I have ever considered.

Following this course I then went and worked in Washington DC with two best friends (Noelle and Patrick! :).  We were leading orientations all month long for incoming high school exchange students from nearly 40 countries, many of them Muslim (during Ramadan!).  They were coming to study on the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange Study (YES) scholarship program (learn more about YES here) for the school year.  Working with these young people, the alumni of the program, and all of the other teachers and leaders was a not only a heart-warming experience, it was also one of the most exhilarating and life-changing moments of my career thus far.  I now have new friends all over the world. 

Back home in September it was time to start back at St. Kate’s.  This fall I have been taking two courses: Leading Organizational Change and International Trade and the Global Economy.  Never have two courses ever been so relevant to my path in the Peace Corps.  They are invaluable additions to my knowledge and skill set. 

Today as I reflect back on the past 6 months I can see how such a seemingly devastating set-back was really an opening of space to allow me to really create new and relevant possibilities for myself.  This is a path of leadership.  Leaders, especially during challenging times of change, must be able to face the challenges not only with courage, but also with creativity.  In a book from my Leading Org Change class, Guiding Change Journey: A Synergistic Approach to Organization Transformation by Rebecca Chan Allen, we explored the Archetypal Change Journey map.  This map explains that Leaders must first endure and then transcend trials and tribulations and the lowest place of dissolution in order to enter back into a space of discovery. This is the point of producing possibilities that hold great value.  Leaders must find what is possible in the most challenging of times.   

In reflection I understand now that this path that I am on, that both Arie and I are on, is not a path we can always dictate.  While the path ultimately guides us, we must also guide the path.  I am forever grateful for the fact that our Peace Corps service was delayed.  Had it not been, I would have missed out on some eternally valuable experiences that will only enhance my Peace Corps service.  Being delayed allows both Arie and I to spend more time with friends and family; it allows us to save more money and plan more thoroughly.  Being delayed allowed me to get 12 credits further into my MAOL degree, allowed me to be mentored and taught by some amazing professors, and allowed me to meet and lead some of the most amazing young people on this planet.  I am so thankful for this extra time and all that it has made possible for Arie and me.

Arie and Kate with YES students and alumni from:

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mali, Pakistan, and Palestine

Countdown Time

Today is November 19th!  4 months from now, on March 19th, we will be leaving for...somewhere....  We think it might be Washington D.C. first for some initial training, but we are not sure until we are issued plane tickets.  We are already starting to say some goodbyes to a few people.  Most of our paperwork is complete - Arie just needs to get his Yellow Fever vaccine and we should be done.  We have been working on paperwork since June 2010! 

Life as a US ambassador in the Arab world

Today, October 3rd, Minnesota Public Radio's Midday program with Gary Eichten talks with Sam and Sylvia Kaplan.  Sam Kaplan is a  Minneapolis attorney who was recently appointed U.S. Ambassador in Morocco.  They join MPR's Midday to talk about diplomacy in a time of upheaval in North Africa, and their life in Morocco.  They also discuss Peace Corps service in Morocco, so listen carefully for a special surprise (about 19:50 minutes into the show).

Listen here  
(thtp://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/10/03/midday1/)
The program starts about 2 minutes in.

Sam Kaplan, U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, 

and his wife Sylvia visit the Minnesota Public Radio 

studios in St. Paul, Minn., on October 3, 2011. 

(MPR Photo/Nikki Tundel)

Some highlights from the interview:

"The State Department is probably harder to adjust to than the country of Morocco...the Morocco people are so extraordinarily warm and welcoming...that it makes you feel comfortable."

"It's too scary to drive in Morocco." (Peace Corps volunteers are not allowed to drive cars in Morocco!)

"We are very proud to the fact that we have the second largest Peace Corps contingent in the world.  The Peace Corps in Morocco is invaluable."

"I just want to tell you how impressed we are with the Peace Corps volunteers."

"I don't know what Kate's future plans are, but I can tell you a significant number of Peace Corps volunteers then become so enthusiastic about the roles they're playing in making a difference that they become foreign service officers." :)