Five Year Plan

For the first time in my 26 years on this planet, I am officially putting together a five year plan.  It is easier to do when everything that I have to do for the next few years comes in discrete little blocks of a year or two.  That being said, the plan is as follows: 

One year at Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.  I will take courses in Lithuanian language, Russian Language, and Eastern European history.  This will lead to the completion of most of the requirements for my degree in English/International Studies at ISU.  

I year at ISU, finishing up the remaining requirements for my degrees, complete in June 2011.

1.5 years at a Master’s International (Peace Corps) certified University, completing coursework.  Complete in August 2012.

2.5 years in the Peace Corps, finishing one term of service and the remainder of requirements for MA degree.  Complete end of 2014, or so.

Then what?  I don’t know.  I will be certified in TESOL, so I could do that.  Or I could seek government work, which I would be qualified for based on my extensive international experience.  Or I could decide to stay in school and get a doctoral degree, but I doubt that I will be ready to do that right after I get out of school with two degrees.

More updates

I have been and gone from Chicago, it was better and less scary than I ever thought it could be.  I saw the lake, I spent too much money, I had the best Caesar salad of my life, I watched a scary/funny movie with some Irish girls from the hostel, I completed the meeting for my visa.  I used public transportation with varying levels of success (the reason I saw the lake was because I got on the right bus going the wrong direction.  This pattern was repeated more than once over the two-day period). The only people who harassed me at all were the environmentalists.  (You people are making normal people hate people that care about the earth!  STOPPIT!)  One of them was so pushy that I got lost a block from the hostel. The homeless people in Chicago: very polite.

Now, all I have to do is buy my tickets, which, through a combination of ingenuity and sheer stubbornness, are going to cost less than $600 round trip all the way into Vilnius.  So that’s exciting.  Less than two months to go.

I fixed my scooter tonight.  No crying, no swearing, no getting things stuck in the most frustratingly impossible positions possible…  just tightened some bolts, tugged on some wires and reattached the speedometer (still doesn’t work, is attached) and, miraculously- the lights started working.  Tomorrow I am going to change the oil and check the tire pressure, and I should be good to just hope that nothing else goes wrong for at least three weeks.

Oh!  and some nice person that was driving behind me saw my mirror fall off, and they followed me for a mile or so and then gave it back to me!  It was really, really nice.  It made me think that much better of the world.

Academic Librarianship gets dangerous sometimes!

Academic Librarianship gets dangerous, sometimes!

Originally uploaded by Charissa.Brammer

I decided that I need more pictures of my life here, so that when I am living overseas, I will have something to look back on. I kicked off that project with this photo, which shows me in all of my librarian glory. This is how I look when I am preparing to go through forty boxes of medical books from the turn of the century.

I like this part of my job!

everything is falling into place

I had my committee meeting this afternoon, and it was more nerve-wracking than I thought it would be, based on past experience.  I feel lucky that I got out of it with my funding intact.  I still feel a little like I might puke whenever I think about it.  That officially marks the final hoop that I have to go through (if you assume that I will get the visa when I go to Chicago next week).

This also marks the point where this trip starts feeling real to me.  Where there is nothing standing in my way, and I am really going to get on a plane and end up all the way across the world.  And, again, I feel like I might throw up.  I get the feeling that the stress-puke reaction is going to be back in full force by this time next week, and it will probably continue to be a major thing until I am in Lithuania and realize that it’s not so bad.  Oh well, it is better than eating all the time because of stress.

Oh, and the spiritual journey is still on course, complete with praying!  I know, I think it’s a little silly, too.  Not as silly as riding a Vespa in the rain wearing three-inch heels, I assure you.

Prior Proper Preparedness…

I am still taking steps toward Lithuania.  I got a bank account with Chase, because they have less-than-exorbitant fees for withdrawing money overseas.  I am getting together my stuff to go to Chicago in less than two weeks.  (LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!)  I am making budgets and I am writing emails to various Lithuanian officials in order to be as prepared as one can be when one is moving thousands of miles away from home. I looked up rates for the Chicago CTA and I am mentally preparing to take a subway.  So. many. firsts.

I am mentally preparing for Chicago like it is a practice run for my trip to Lithuania.  It will be my first time going anywhere alone, where I will have to completely take care of everything without any help from other people, except for strangers.  I haven’t ever even booked myself into a hotel, let alone taken care of every detail of day-to-day living in a city.  I haven’t ever been to a city larger than Boise…  I am a little afraid to think about how big Chicago actually is.

I feel like I am such a country bumpkin.  I guess I will learn how to be a little more worldly one little trip, and one big trip at a time…

I am moving to Lithuania

“I am moving to Lithuania”. I say this several times a day, explaining it to friends, family, and (rarely) missionaries. It seems like I am saying it in an effort to make the idea that I am actually going there into a reality. If words have power, then one of these times I should really believe it when I tell someone that I am moving to Lithuania. Even when I take steps toward the goal, like fighting tooth and nail to get T-mobile to cancel my contract, or moving into my parents’ house with the bare minimum in possessions, it still eludes me. I guess I just have to keep taking the steps and, eventually, I will step off the plane in a country halfway around the world.

This blog is, basically, a place for me to document my life as I navigate these changes, to make sure that I am always making some sort of progress. Also, I want to tell everyone what I had for lunch in the most efficient way possible. (pierogies, a pear, and some tiny cheddar bunnies)