Season in the Serengeti

So, I'm moving to Tanzania next month. October 15th. I'll be the volunteer coordinator for an orphanage, working for the Tanzanian Children's Fund. For two years.

This may seem sudden, this may seem like a dream, like an escape, like a risk. The truth is, I feel like my adult life has been preparing me for this experience. Everything has lined up perfectly and given me the skills, experiences, or desires to do this job in this place. It's exactly what I'm supposed to do, and I know it.

Volunteering in orphanages in Russia, coordinating volunteers for organizations in Seattle, camp counseling, teaching English, mentoring children of all ages, are all just some of the reasons that make me perfect for this role and what makes it right for me.

So, as I couch hop in Seattle, work grave shifts, and put down hundreds of dollars for immunizations and a year's worth of medication, contacts, etc., I regularly smile to myself with the knowledge of an upcoming adventure which will change my life.

Tanzania, I'm ready for you.

Insight from my younger self

“Recently I have been struggling with whether I even want to pursue a career in my life. Sometimes I think I just want to be a free spirit, drifting here and there, never quite settling, traveling to new places, and constantly learning new things and meeting new people and making small or large differences in the places I’m in and the people I am around.” -- Me, aged 20 years old, Sophomore year, Sociology of Gender class

A Year’s Worth of Posts

Blogging...I've decided most of the fun of blogging is my own joy of looking back to see how far I've come and to sit in the semi-sweet nostalgia of memories.  Also, I have only 40-50 more years before I’m supposed to write Andrew Runge’s biography. 

So perhaps I'll attempt it again. 

To start, let's summarize what has happened in the last YEAR, from April 2011 to April 2012. 

• My best friend and roommate of 4 years, Jo, got married.  A momentous event, eye-opening for me in the reality that after 6 years of growing up together, she was ready to do something big, get married, be an adult in ways I could barely understand.  Because of all this and the knowledge that I was losing her forever, I cried for 6 hours, only partly because I was quite drunk. 
• Cutting my hair short! 
• Being a receptionist, realizing that no matter what odd job I find myself in there will be lovely people, people who want to befriend me or help me further my goals.
• Job Search from Hell 2011.  Probably the worst time of my life I can remember, I’m lucky to say.  My roommate/life partner Jen had to put up with me throughout 2-3 months of it.  She was constantly trying to cheer me up and get me to leave the house to do fun things.  Her constant chant was, “we’re young and fun!”  I didn’t feel either of those things throughout half the summer.
• AmeriCorps job at Habitat for Humanity—this finally came through in the end of July, after interviewing for several jobs and applying to dozens.  It felt like a miracle to accept the position   and end the job search for awhile.   This job has brought me many new friends through co-  workers and volunteers, and has utilized many of my strengths yet presents constant challenges.        Maybe I’ll be bettered through it.  We’ll see in 2.5 months when it’s over…
• Turning 25.  A milestone marked by best friends, pizza, and jello shots.
• Experiencing my best relationship, and learning how to say goodbye to it.
• Visiting Aimee and Andrew in Denver!  First in February, second this coming weekend. :) 
• St. Patrick’s day weekend 2012: many firsts. 



• Running a 5k with Jo, after never running a mile in my life. 
• Going to Whistler with co-workers.  Skiing all day by myself, feeling at one with the mountain and the beauty/novelty of it all.  Meeting British Ben while drunkenly sledding!! :)
• Dealing with health insurance, taxes, and strict budgets for the first time—realizing that nobody ever told us how hard it would be to grow up. 
• Becoming a Girl Scouts Daisy Troop Leader!  Learning the Girl Scouts motto, promise, and law.  Shaping a new troop of girls…didn’t see that coming.

Overall, lots of ups and downs, firsts and challenges and milestones.  A few themes in my recent life are: make fun a priority, don’t be too controlling, and remember hope always.