Pre training training and other fun things

Things have been crazy here with our first few days of training and field trips and whatnot so today is going to be another muy largo post so bear with me...

Day 1 of training:
All of the women get pulled aside to get blood tested to check and see if any of us are preggo... this would have been the most mortifying way to find out- like oops sorry mom and dad I'm home early from the Peace Corps because I didn't know I was pregnant.... GOOD THING I'M NOT!! and for whatever reason the nurse thought it was a great idea to puncture all of the surrounding veins as well creating a lovely little bruise as shown right somewhere on this blog below. Then we went over a bunch of safety nonsense until we all started to show signs of cabin fever and then we headed to dinner. A bunch of us went meandering around the military compound enjoying the beautiful weather and trying to take in as much of this view as we can since we would be leaving in a few days.

Day 2: Getting our Spanish classes! I was placed in the most advanced class which was super exciting and also kind of nerve wracking since I didn't think that I was really that strong but I am pleased nonetheless it will serve as an awesome challenge and that is exciting. We also got some more vaccines yay Hep-A?? Whatever, it wasn't so bad the worst was getting all of our first aid kits and mosquito netting that I swear weighs nearly 5 pounds... I question you this peace corps: how do you expect us to add that stuff to our already ridiculous allotment of crap?? I am currently procrastinating and refusing to pack up my things as a pointless act of defiance...

Oh yea and we went to the Mall- this was HORRIFYINGLY OVERWHELMING I thought we had big malls in the DC metro area but this place was surreal they had dance crew in the food court as well as a light show and bungee jumping it was too much... but I got a cell phone! Woo

Today: FIELD TRIP TO SANTA RITA de Antón
We met up with a current PCV in Santa Rita Jasmine so she could show us around her school and her host mom and current homes it was an amazing day! The heat is apparently worse in Feb/March here and it honestly wasn't unbearable it is pretty much all a mental game, if you pretend it isn't hot it won't feel so hot. Her town was absolutely beautiful!! I will get some photos added as well but her host family was so amazingly kind and the home was spectacular and her school actually liked having her there!! Wild... she only worked with two co-teachers and worked at two schools which I think would be awesome. The home she lives in now actually has electricity and a toilet AND a shower... though no running water right now so kinda makes it pointless but still glamorous.

The secondary school she works at is currently involved in some eco-friendly projects that are being supported by the First Lady, which I think is fantastic, they are doing some work trying to save the iguanas and growing their own fruits and veggies in the lot in back of the school- potential ideas for us in our sites perhaps??

STAGING!! And oh yea I'm alive

I AM HERE AND IT FEELS SO GOOD! It is actually perfect outside a nice cool breeze at around 87 degrees with the added bonus of 100% humidity, but actually it feels pretty great. Staging was a whirlwind of amazingness and as a result I have completely lost my voice... so you know it's been a wild time and it hasn't even started yet

All 48 of us arrived at staging in DC lucky me I just had to pretty much roll out of bed and drive the 15/20 minutes up the road all the while silent screaming to try to get rid of all of my anxiety and nerves and stress -my father has this on film and he is aware if it is shown to anyone I will never come back (also in hind sight this is probably what led to me losing my voice). We got checked in I met my roommate who is awesome and a far more efficient packer than myself (she has a backpack and small bag compared to my huge ass duffel, big backpack, small backpack and guitar...) But then again she is a CEC volunteer and TE volunteers have to have both a professional and casual wardrobe anddddd I have no concept of self control when it comes to limiting what I think I'll "need". Though aside from having to drag it around everywhere I don't regret it, once I get to my site I will be grateful for the selection I'll have available.

Staging was pretty much like college orientation- a bunch of icebreakers and bonding activities and skits (Julia you would have had a ball) that were all made relevant to PC prep things. Let me just put it out there that OUR GROUP IS AMAZING! I could not be happier with the people I'll be sharing this experience with, they are all so unique and different but we all have this common bond that no one else could possibly understand. Our Staging Leader hit it on the head, we have this great connection with one another because we all just "get it" we don't question why we decided to leave everything behind and move to another country to live uncomfortably and serve a foreign community because we all made the same decision to do so. Aside from that everyone is just so friendly and really wants to get to know each other, I did luck out because I had met one of the girls in my group while we were both living in Mendoza Argentina and we just happened to get the same placement so we were pretty much attached at the hip for all of staging. Also our group is all pretty much 22-27 year olds I was expecting a lot more retirees but there is actually only one in our group and she is absolutely precious, we also have one married couple and they're awesome as well. All in all I have lucked out in every regard.

I had volunteered to be a group leader which basically just meant I made sure everyone in my group paid their tips to the hotel staff and made sure we were all accounted for but it still felt fun nonetheless. Once we finished staging we had our group leader meeting and then since everyone else had already left to get their free money from the ATM we went out to Thai Tanic for dinner then ChurchKey for drinks....since we had to leave the hotel at around 3:30 am most of us didn't see the point in sleeping though in hind sight I wish I had gotten more than the meager two and a half hours since I'm kinda struggling right now.

Today was just a mess of traveling and flights and being sad that my voice was gone and being amazed that this is actually real life and not just a dream. We got to the site that will be our homes for the next couple days before moving to our host families and it is pretty swanky. It used to be an old military compound but now it just got turned into a bunch of bungalows with a training facility and awesome running paths.

OH and we saw a sloth!! A group of about 15 of us stood around like a bunch of crazy gringos just staring at this tree watching as the sloth moved about a mm per hour. At one point it actually grabbed a branch and shook a bunch of leaves on us and that made standing there like fools a completely redeeming experience.

Just walking around is absolutely stunning the mountains surround us on all sides and the nature is beautiful and just can't believe I am going to be spending the next couple years of my life here.

Alright I know I just kind of brain dumped on you but I am going to go to bed now at the alarming time of 8 pm... I know it's wild.

Oh p.s. our training is going to be "dry" so that means no alcohol or we get sent home, I am actually pretty okay with this so don't worry mom I will be "making good choices"

Hasta pronto lokos

Less than a week... freaking out andddd GO!

I can't believe time has gone by so quickly... it's surreal. Last weekend I went up to central PA to have a final hoorah with all of my college friends, and naturally the freaking blizzard of the century decides to make its way to the NorthEast and ruin all fun things. BUT that didn't stop anyone we were all able to reunite and it felt so right!

I am still recovering from the weekend but as I am doing so it is giving me time to look back and take some time for myself in these final days.

I have had the chance to speak with a number of RPCV's and they have nearly put my mind at ease as to what to expect during training. I have been told they are going to try to intimidate the crap out of us... they WANT us scared so they can know whether or not we really want to be spending two years of our life in constant discomfort (with overwhelming rewards... obvi) so now I know and can keep it calm and collected rather than crying like a little girl. AND I also feel better about the fact that I never actually finished my TESOL certification since we will get fully prepped during training.

I am however feeling the effects of intense stress and anxiety so I am trying to manage as best I can one thing that helped absolutely was this video I found in Oprah magazine (don't you dare judge me) that is apparently the MOST relaxing composition/video on earth and since Oprah is pretty much an expert on all things I tried it out and it worked!! Get your zen on... (I know I sound like an absolute loca.. no me digas no me importa)

 



 

 

For any of you who were invited to Teach English in Panama this girl's blog is supa helpful for packing lists and the like:

Happy Dressing 



Alright one more link:
Muchas Gracias Grupo Setenta
Group 70 in Panama currently put together this thread of a series of questions (things they wish they brought, things they wish they didn't, town size, school size, etc.)

Since I don't particularly want to spend the remainder of this post talking about how crazy I feel right now and how insecure this anticipation is making me I will instead just give you my own routine packing update.

So I was able to fit EVERYTHING into my Deuter 65 Aircontact Pro and a Duffel Bag [with wheels] and I still have room to fit extra stuff if needed... which I will probably fill before I even take off.
**Vacuum seal/air seal bags are your best friend USE THEM

This is a rough list since I don't want to bore you with the mundane details of my packingness:

Things

• 65L Deuter Air Contact Pro Backpack (perfect for those with stupidly small torsos such as myself)
• Day Backpack
• Duffel Bag
• My Baby (Martin LXM 3/4 size guitar + hardshell case)
• Thermarest sleeping pad
• Warm weather sleeping bag (only $35 bucks!!)
• Ipod, Ipad and related gadgets including fancy solar wireless keyboard and USB adapter for iPad
• Two cameras (one fancy one that was a gift from the lovely Anjali that I will use solely as a means of entertainment/hobby in my village so it doesn't get destroyed on the dangerous excursions I will obviously partake in) and a travel size digital one
• Kindle (ESSENTIAL you can share books, and movies and music and things from PC office hardrive)
• Head lamp
• XL Quick Dry towels
• Sunglasses
• Bandanas
• Pics from home
• Watch/small clock

Shoes

• Chacos
• Birkenstocks
• TOMS (a couple pairs, TE volunteers MUST wear closed toe shoes unless they want to wear heels... hell to the NO)
• Running shoes/indoor soccer turf sneaks
• Hiking boots (just covering all my bases...not sure if I'll need to hike around in my placement but I WILL USE THEM MOM) better to be prepared after all
• Flippy floppys
• Kinda formal flats

Clothing (Warning this might seem excessive... longhair don't care)

• Maxi Skirts (a couple)
• Knee length skirts (ditto)
• Shorts (a handful)
• Jeans (3)
• Raincoat
• Cardigans (2)
• Button up Blouses (meh? a bunch)
• Tshirts/tanks (an assortment)
• Dresses (3) all work appropriate
• Sleeping wear (more tshirts [not work approps] and gym shorts [double as running shorts])
• Black socks (they never get dirty)
• Really cute granny panties (a lot)
• flowy light weight pants (2)
• Accessories (vests and things that make me ME)*

Toiletries for DAYS

• Bring enough of everything for at least 3 months since you won't have time to go shopping
• 2/1 shampoo/conditioner that will double as body wash
• toothpaste, doedorant blah blah bring what makes you comfortable
• Make up and anything else that will make you feel like YOU (Panamanian teachers in the city dress to the nines [whatever that means] so I want to look up to par)
• Dry Shampoo, I would STRONGLY recommend purchasing for the days you might not have access to water for a shower (Suave brand lasts the longest and smells fresh, but if you don't care about that nonsense then props for you longhairdontcare)

*It is imperative that you pack things you will actually want to wear, just because you are moving to a new country out in the middle of kabumf&#$ nowhere does not mean you should then resort to wearing mom jeans and becoming GI Jane, you will be going through enough tumult and stress no need to change your identity too

I am almost 100% positive I am forgetting things but I will realize that shortly.... like when I'm on the plane

Chao lokos
 

ONE MONTH LEFT

January 19, 2013

You read that right. Exactly one month from today I will be starting staging in DC, meeting the 47 other fabtastic individuals who will be departing our dear homeland to start the journey of a lifetime in Panama for training. It’s wild to think about, that I started this whole application process as just an idea nearly two years ago… and now it is becoming a reality. We all just got our staging info a couple days ago via e-mail and our group’s facebook page blew up with ecstatic emotional posts. I have such a good feeling about this group, we are all just enough weird, and quirky to make it interesting… which should be a thrill.

I am stressing out a little bit about this whole packing sitch… how the hell am I supposed to put my entire life into a bag?? I keep writing and re-writing packing lists looking at what I am thinking of bringing and trying to manage a way to not bring as much but I seriously can’t, also I don’t really have a whole lot of money to bring with me for extra shopping…oops
Maybe I should have started one of those crowd-funding campaigns to fund my lavish adventure…. by lavish I mean my stimulating adventure living only off the land and the clothes on my back! duh….

I may start freaking out soon about the whole leaving thing though- I know it is only a couple years and that I have my whole life after that blah blah blah… People keep telling me that two years isn’t even that long a time in the grand scheme of things–let me tell YOU something, saying that to someone who is freaking out is far from conducive to calming one down it only makes one feel undermined and immature for freaking out=not helpful. I mean A LOT can change in two years, you can get an associates degree in two years, you could get to know someone and get married in two years (ick), you could learn how to ride a motorcycle, create a masterpiece, build a house, learn a new instrument, watch a puppy grow into a dog, watch every single bond movie [something I'd like to accomplish], bake a million cakes…so don’t tell me that it is going to be just a blip in my lifetime(not sure if I like that word yet, blip).

**total side note I REALLY REALLY want to adopt a puppy, not sure how realistic that will be
IN other news my backpack arrived yesterday! I haven’t gotten to see it yet since I am still visiting my sister down in Salem, VA but I am excited to see it and attempt to find a methodical process of packing things. I have also ordered my sleeping bag, and sleeping pad, some long skirts, and a sewing kit….and you thought this blog wouldn’t be full of exciting and informative stories of my life and inner mind babble… oh wait.

I am off to spending some more quality time with my lovely adoring little sister whilst she attempts to pretend that I am not actually leaving and refuses to even mention it. YAY!
hasta pronto che!

IT HAS ARRIVED!!

January 18, 2013

IT HAS ARRIVED My beautiful Deuter Air Contact Pro 65+10!! My little pup wants to come too-too bad I can’t bring him through customs…

Only a few more things on my list to get and then I can start packing up and getting ready-or as ready as I’ll ever get
 

Making friends with bugs...

January 9, 2013

Alright so I have been doing a lot of soul searching and a lot of blog reading in preparation for this trip to Panama… and there are a number of things I have come to realize that will become a normal part of my new life. Such as:

- I will smell very bad…borderline putrid, but no one will say anything about it
-There are a lot of bugs everywhere, many of which will be larger than small babies or dingos or whatever so I’d better get used to coexistence or I will be miserable
-I will sweat more than I have ever sweat before in my life and my body will probably never adjust
-The food pyramid is a foreign idea to Panamanians as the only food group is rice and maybe some sort of earth rooted starch… protein? what’s that… and forget fruits and veggies unless you count fried plantains
-White people are like UFO sitings so get ready to be stared at because no matter how long I am going to be in my placement people will never get used to seeing me there
-There are three types of seasons-rainy, very rainy, and torrentially rainy

Those are obviously not the most positive things to look forward to but I figured they are going to be the most difficult to adjust to. So here is what my plan is for the next few weeks leading up to my departure:

- I should stop showering now because though it might be offensive to those around me it might be easier for me to deal with my own stench if I am adjusted to it by the time I get there
- Start talking to bugs. Make friends with the bugs- or get very good at killing them because they are an inevitable part of living in Panama so no use whining about it
-Spend extended hours in a sauna, hopefully my body will adjust and I won’t sweat so much, or I’ll leave just being really dehydrated
-Screw it I will eat what I want until I get there because chances are I won’t get to eat what I want until I get back
-I’ll figure it out once I get there but I think that having half of my head shaved for the last eight months I should probably be used to getting strange stares…
-Embrace rainy days whole-heartedly by running around outside and dancing like a lunatic without an umbrella or rain coat and then proceed on with my day as if nothing has happened*, if I get used to being wet then maybe it won’t deter me from being productive


*Apparently being wet all the time also leads to having moldy clothing… this mildly repulses me but then again if everyone is dealing with it I guess it won’t be so gross…right?

FLORA

January 9, 2013

I’ve begun reading The Explorer’s Guide to Panama, bought for me by my lovely brother and so far it is fantastic! So far I’ve learned that Panama is home to about 1,200 species of orchid and a booming 678 species of ferns…apparently more than 10,000 species of flora have been identified. I feel like the word flora just seems so pretentious, but who am I to judge the vocabulary used by prestigious travel guides? The most interesting of all the flora information was perhaps that of the “epiphytes,” which for those of you who don’t know are arboreal nesters that trap moisture directly from the air and festoon host tree trunks and boughs [whatever that means]. Some of them have spiky leaves that trap both falling water and air water and even BUGS!! I know that this is all truly stimulating information, but who knows maybe some of you readers will enjoy learning about this.

I am, however, excited to be surrounded by orchids, I mean some people pay a lot of money for those things and I get to be around them all the time fo’ FREE…expect a lot of pictures of these pretty things. The book also touches on the types of fruit that I will be coexisting with; bananas, papayas, mangoes [not that exciting since you can get them just around the corner at your local supermercado] but I will get the opportunity to try guavas (guyaba), passion fruit (chinola), as well as sapote and tamarindo. I have no idea what any of that means or how they taste but I am sure I will soon become quite familiar with my new fruity friends.

Alright, so enough of this mind-blowingly enticing information…I have a confession to make: I don’t like bananas. I know I am strange and this may come as an offense to my more primitive ancestors but I can’t find my fondness for them…I don’t know why. It may have something to do with only eating bananas and pancakes for the first several years of my life but seeing as how bananas and plantains may be the most common portion of my panamanian diet I think I am going to have to suck it up and eat that mushy awkwardly textured specimen.

So I think that is enough of THAT… and I am going to keep on reading so that I can share even more captivating panama knowledge.

Letsss go SHOPPING!!

January 8, 2013

Okay so I am amidst the madness that is shopping for gear… it is beyond madness it is near insanity. There are SO many sites offering a variety of discounts and different deals that it is infuriating trying to make a decision between anything. I am currently stuck on deciding on a backpack, to me this may be the most important seeing as how it will not only be transporting my entire life in it but also it is going to to have to be comfortable for all of the trips that I hope to be going on.

So at the moment I am deciding between the Deuter Aircontact Pro 70+10, and 60+10, as well as the Gregory Deva 70….they are all nearly the same the Gregory has more pockets and a thermomolded back but the Deuter’s have an adjustable torso and more space… the Gregory is the most expensive but I have found it on another site for cheaper. The Deuter’s come with a rain cover but I already bought one for the Deva that I was thinking of getting… THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!! The other thing is I truly have no idea how any of them are going to fit until I have everything I am bringing stuffed in them but I don’t even have everything I’m bringing so that makes things moderately difficult.

Did I mention I also have back problems and perhaps the smallest torso known to humanity so that certainly limits my options. How about I just pull a Paul Boudrye (my father) and stuff everything in a trash bag and just hope it makes it through? I think that’s what I’ll do, it is cost effective and multi purpose = HA

Well good news I still have 42 days and counting to get everything in order, that seems like a lot of time, but let me tell YOU that it is getting to the freaking out stage in this process. THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!


Alright that is enough panicking from me. In other news I did get a great pair of boots and I have Chacos, a hard shell for my mini Martin guitar, a rain jacket, head lamp, some water purifying pills, malaria pills for days, solar powered everything, and a watch with an alarm on it PRAISE THE LAWD


Chau a todos y hasta luego

What to do, what to do?

November 28, 2012

I was asked what was on my bucket list of things to do before I left and to be honest I truly have no idea… I have a mixed perspective on bucket lists… on the one hand they ensure that you have planned out a variety of different activities to complete in a timely manner; yet on the other hand it also seems daunting… so I think I have decided to kick bucket lists to the curb and just appreciate the daily occurrences of my life… such as going to the Of Monsters and Men show last night- which was FABTASTIC!!! (I will post pictures shortly). Last night was a semi-planned event since I had to purchase the tix ahead of time and we missed the sale for the DC show so we had to road trip to Richmond, which was interesting… digressing to the point that appreciating time spent with family and friends without crossing off those events on a list oftentimes makes for a more substantial and enjoyable culmination of events.

However, if I absolutely HAD to create a bucket list I suppose the following things would be on it:

1. See as MANY concerts as possible…preferably of the cheap ticket variety
2. Visit college friends and things of that sort including making the trip up to Boston
3. Exploring as much of my home in DC since prior to this year I haven’t nearly taken advantage of my hometown like I should have
4. Do lots of FREE things, museums, rando parties, things of that nature
5. Go hiking around Great Falls MD&VA side
6. Eat at least one more chilli half-smoke with everything on it from Ben’s Chilli Bowl… I’m going to miss that place
7. Perform on the street for money (music of course) and/or go to a Karaoke bar
8. Take lots of pictures of home and friends and family… I have been pretty terrible at that whole active photography thing but perhaps I can reform my ways to get into the habit of taking lots of pictures
9. Run a 5k…maybe
10. Go iceskating in the sculpture garden

I don’t think my list is all that extraordinary… though I am sure there will be many things added or changed about the list as time moves on that is all for now though!

IT'S REAL!!!

I am officially an invitee!!!

Mental Acclimation

November 16, 2012

So I am trying to figure out the best method of wrapping my brain around the idea that I will be leaving this country in less than three months… and I won’t be returning until April of 2015. How do you truly prepare for something like this? When I return my little brother is going to be turning 19 and my sister 23…. too crazy. I am so excited to finally have a place that I can start researching about and looking into rather than simply speculating about different places I could be going to, but yet it still isn’t real. I don’t think it is going to really hit me until I am in the country and then it is still going to take a few months and then maybe a couple years and then when I come back I’ll finally realize what I had just completed… yup that sounds about what it will be like.

So far in terms of preparation I have started making a list of the things I have to purchase and I have read some blogs from PCV’s currently in Panama to get a better idea of the type of living I can anticipate. It is a definite range from indigenous life in a small village to moderately urban/suburban lifestyle in a moderately sized city. I think the most exciting/terrifying aspect of this is that I won’t even know my actual placement until after my training is complete so I really can’t prepare for what lifestyle I am going to have until I am there.

So to my family expect lots of “oh crap I forgot this” messages and the like.
I think that is all I have to update as of right now but the rest of the invite packet should be en route to my mailbox. I am eagerly anticipating the next round of paperwork and I will complete every last form with a hugely foolish grin on my face.

Hasta pronto!

PANAMA HERE I COME

November 15, 2012

So I wrote and clearly I was heard!! Within moments of completing my previous post I received my e-mail notifiying me of my invitation to Panama! My staging date is for February 19, 2013 and I couldn’t be happier with this placement!! I read through all of the packets of information faster than I have read anything in my life so that I would feel comfortable accepting the invitation.

I can’t stop smiling.

The Tumultuous Life of a PCV Begins

I will be reposting from an old blog, bear with me as it will appear I am posting all in one day!


November 15, 2012

So I do realize that in my last blog I made a commitment to blog regularly…and I do realize that may have been nearly six months ago… So this is me recognizing the fact that I did in fact fail to follow through with said commitment.

Here is my second shot I suppose. I wanted to provide an update to all about my current status within Peace Corps “ness”. As of yesterday I am officially an INVITEE!!!! [and the crowd ruptures into a deafening applause]. But actually this is incredibly exciting so at this point I am simply eagerly awaiting my placement which should be in my inbox at any moment now. I figure if anyone is going to read this purely as a reference for Peace Corps I should provide a general timeline for what the process was like for me, granted, I started my application on the old system so it might not be relevant to those applying now but it still may help to give some background.


June 2011: Began the application and coincidentally got overwhelmed

July 2011: Finished essays for written application and when completed sent them on their merry way.

November 2011: Received notification of my primary interview at the Peace Corps Headquarters in D.C. (I was still in school so I had to schedule it for winter break)

December 2011: Took part in my preliminary interview and received my recommendation for nomination on the spot. [Jumps for Joy]

Later in December 2011: Received my nominee packet with all of the lovely information in it as well as the ungodly amount of medical forms. I was nominated for a Teaching English position in Latin America to depart in Jan/Feb of 2013

March 2012: Continued with my medical forms…scheduling appointments was hellish as were the 120938923846 tons of blood I had to have removed from my body for various testing

August 2012: Med forms are completed and sent in

September 2012: Receive notification that I need to send in follow up personal statements for various existing medical conditions (asthma, bad back) I quickly sent those in as soon as possible

October 2012: I AM MEDICALLY CLEARED WOOOOO this for those who don’t know is the most difficult step in the application process and it is the moment that they weed out a good majority of applicants who are not medically qualified to serve.

Later in October of 2012: I receive an e-mail to send in my resume and answer a variety of questions in written form (i.e. what will be most challenging, host family, gender roles, etc.)

And of course November 14, 2012 I receive my follow up interview during which time my placement officer asked me to ellaborate on my written responses and then proceeded to congratulate me on becoming an invitee and that I would receive my placement info within the next couple of days for a departure between Feb-April of 2013!!

As such I will know exactly when and where I am going before Thanksgiving, providing a great deal to be thankful for and to finally put at ease the stress that is associated with the insane process that is applying for Peace Corps. As many who go through this process may know much of this process propogates a “Go with the flow” attitude, so pretty much assume that if they initially say you are leaving in January to serve in Latin America that may actually mean that you are leaving in April and going to West Aftica… you never know

As of right now the staging dates for countries departing in 2013 look as such:
Feb 13: Paraguay
Feb 19: Panama
March 5: Dominican Republic
March 11: Costa Rica
March 15: Nicaragua

These dates have been taken from the Peace Corps Wiki site where invitees will post when and where they are going as they receive placement to give those of us awaiting placement and idea of what is opening up

It is an incredibly helpful reference full of packing lists and blogs and other important info provided by RPCV’s (Returned Peace Corps Volunteers) Click: Here
Well I think that is sufficient for today and I will be sure to update accordingly as soon as I find out my placement!
Chao!