Reebok knockoffs, idle time, self doubt and and a video you can't help but smile at

^ Thanks to Laura, I am the proud new owner of a pretty sweet Reebok coat. It cost less than five bucks, hell of a deal.

One thing that you learn during Peace Corps Training, that has proven to be true time and time again, is that in Peace Corps service, the highs are really high and the lows are really low. When things are going well, it's one of the greatest feelings in the world. There have been moments over the past seventeen months where I've been so happy and it's made me realize just how much I love being here. It can be the smallest, seemingly trivial moments or occurrences that can turn an average day into the best day. On the other hand, when things go wrong or you have too much free time to spend in idle thought, things can feel pretty bad. For me personally it's often too easy to get down on myself and question my effectiveness as a Peace Corps volunteer. I keep reminding myself that this is a learning experience and that things don't always go as planned. Right now I feel as though I'm having one of the lower moments. Work has been slow, I've been teaching, but not as often. One of the biggest challenges I face with not being a traditional teacher is that I have to find my students or they have to find me. When something like the H1N1 flu causes school to be cancelled (including my voluntary classes), it makes it difficult to get back on track once I'm able to teach again. It's also bad timing because I'm a few weeks away from leaving site for a month for my vacation. I'm waiting (impatiently) to hear back on the two grants I applied for, I've had a hard time arranging meetings with student council members (many of whom are 11th graders getting ready to graduate and preparing to take multiple tests before they head off to college), my translator, best friend, and assistant is in Ulaanbaatar for job training, and I've just had too much idle time lately.

The best thing to do with idle time is to find different ways to be productive. I recently contacted a book foundation in the U.S. to help Laura out with her English library and they are supposed to be sending 30 lbs of books soon. I'm also going to be spending some time in the library, learning how things work so I can help out and work there a few days a week before I leave and hopefully when I get back in late January. I'm hoping to hear back about my grants before I leave for Thailand. Also, when I'm in UB I will be picking up the TIP (Trafficking in Persons) dvd and a number of English booklets and CD's (listening practice/conversations). My plan when I get back is to make copies of the TIP dvd, put on a few TIP seminars and distribute copies to all the schools in Olgii and other organizations, along with some more basic information on the topic. I'd also like to do the same with the English CD's, distribute them to English teachers throughout Olgii.

I'm also trying to get caught up on my reading as much as possible in my free time at home. I always feel a lot better when I rip through a few chapters of a good book instead of wasting time mindlessly browsing the internet. I'm currently reading 'Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam' by John L. Esposito, it's a good read so far, almost done. I've got a pretty good size pile of books I still need to get through before I leave and I'm also going to start looking through my Foreign Service Officer exam study guide this weekend.

Anyways, it's pretty late and I need to get some reading done and then get to sleep, I'll write more over the weekend or next week. In the meanwhile, take a look at this music video put together by the Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon to raise breast cancer awareness. I dare you not to smile while watching it. :)