In fact, so many great things happened both before and during my trip to Minneapolis I'm not quite sure where to start. I guess I could do something lame like make a list, but that would be a poor excuse for a blog entry and entirely inappropriate given the wonderful time I had. No, instead I'll embark on a too-long synopsis of my 4 day trip to 'Napolis.
The impetus for my trip was a silent auction. Unless you're dead or have been completely tuning me out for the last, oh, 5 years or so, you know I spent some time in Ukraine as a Peace Corps volunteer, and over the course of that I time I became entangled in various camps, seminars, committees and projects.
One of the two most productive projects I worked on was a camp organized by my amazing friends Rosa and Wendy. I had the incredible good fortune of living only three hours north of the town they served in, Nikolaev (that would be Mykoliav in Ukrainian), and over the course of the two years I served in Ukraine was coaxed into working on ennumberable projects they thought up. The most consuming of those projects was the regrettably named Camp ABC (American Borsht Camp--the campers came up with the name, not us, and I cringed every time I heard it last year).
Camp ABC was by far the most rewarding (if not the most exhausting) project I participated in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. For two weeks I taught civics and writing to about 50 teachers and students between the ages of 15-22. I felt like, for once, I was having an impact on the students and was facilitating meaningful cross-cultural dialogue as opposed to forcing the students to talk. We, the volunteers, also had the amazingly good fortune to work with a fabulous group of Ukrainian college kids who acted as counselors and teaching assistants.
After last year's smashing success of Camp ABC, Rosa and Wendy decided to expand the camp internationally and try and attract students from all over Europe and the U.S. As it stands right now we have applicants from Armenia, Georgia, Macedonia, Albania, Belorus and the U.S. planning on attending....Rosa/Wendy also made the executive decision to change the name of the camp to International Outreach Camp (IOC). Thank God.
Of course, with the expansion for the camp came the need for more money. So, in addition to having everyone involved apply for any and every possible grant that we had even a remote chance of receiving, Rosa started appealing to Minneapolis based businesses for services that we could auction off in a silent auction. And boy did she get some cool stuff!
So, on Monday, Rosa and I spent all day running around getting stuff organized and hauling items from one place to another. While I wouldn't describe it as "fun", it was really nice to spend some quality time with Rosa, as well as feel like I'm still contributing to the camp.
Things went well. We didn't end up raising as much money as we had hoped given all the things we had to auction off, but we were still successful overall. I also ended up with an awesome new bag and a Russian doll from Baltic Imports in Minneapolis--all for only $29! Not bad. Plus, I spent my money knowing it was going to an excellent cause.
Tuesday, my mom and I went to the Mall of America were I proceeded to spend a buttload of money. I'm usually very hesitant to spend money on myself, but I desperately needed sandals and shirts (not to mention those little foamy things that go over my iPod earbuds--I keep losing them). That, andI have miraculously mangaged to hold onto the majority of my readjustment allowance.
Wednesday, my mom and I went back to the mall, shopped a little more and then headed to the University of Minnesota campus where I had an appointment with a professor at the School of Public Health. It was, when all was said and done, a productive appointment. In all honesty, though, I guess thought I would be meeting with someone from the department that had more clout as far as my impending admittance to the Public Health Administration and Policy program was concerned. The gentleman I met with at the SPH is the director of a certificate program I'm interested in pursuing at U of M, not a member of the admittance committee. Nevertheless, he was duly impressed with my Peace Corps experience and seemed excited about having someone who was interested in doing HIV/AIDS work in Eastern Europe. If I'm accepted into the program I will be the only person doing any work/research in Eastern Europe. I guess that would make me a trail blazer.
The last exciting thing that happened while I was in Minneapolis came in the form of an e-mail from the Peace Corps Washington office. It appears as though I am, in fact, qualified for the recruiter position and my file has been approved and forwarded on to the Peace Corps Minneapolis office. That means I have to basically continue waiting in the vain hope that someone in the Peace Corps Minneapolis office will contact me for a interview. I'm really trying not to get excited, seeing as how even if I DO get a call from the Minneapolis office and do go to said interview, I still won't get the job. Hey, if being negative and refusing to believe I will be offered this job has worked well thus far, why start being up-beat and hopeful now?
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