"The Physics of the Quest"

I'm getting 1 of 2 vaccinations today! Well, besides the many I had during the medical part of the application, it will be nice to get this part over and not be stuck with anymore needles...at least for a while....

I'm also waiting on my long-form version of my birth certificate....Apparently, my short version wasn't good enough proof of my birth into this world for the US Postal Service employee who was taking my application....So I had to call a company, pay extra to have it overnighted, then once I received the email confirmation, I noticed the woman spelled my middle name wrong, so I emailed the company, got it straightened out, and so I wait...again...for the package in the mail! Then I'll be able to get the passport application done, and send that, along my visa application, to the US Peace Corps for processing!! Apparently, I'll be picking these 2 items up at "staging" - this is my 1-day orientation in the US before flying over the pond.....

AND I'm sending my updated resume and an aspiration letter to the Namibia Peace Corps Office via email today. I had to write up a little letter, describing my professional attributes and how I believe they will help in my service to the community I will be helping. I also had to explain how I expect to adapt to a new culture, the skills and  knowledge I hope to gain, and how I feel my PC service will influence my personal and profession aspirations afterwords.....

*deep breath*.....and that's all there is to it, kids!

By the way, did I tell you that PC service is for 27 months?? Oh yeah....AND if the project I create requires me to be there a 3rd year, then I get to stay!! woohoo! I'm sure my parents aren't too thrilled about this piece of info, but I know they will understand. They have been so supportive of this from the beginning. I thought I was going to have to fight them on my grand idea...but nope...they, along with the rest of my family, have been wonderfully supportive! I will go into more detail about my family and friends' reactions in a future post....but for now, let me just say that I feel really good about my decision to do this, and know that I will have people here at home behind me 100% :)

"In the end, I've come to believe in something I call "The Physics of the Quest." A force in nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity. The rule of Quest Physics goes something like this: If you're brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments, and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher and if you are prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be withheld from you." 

- Liz Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love