Katy Murtaugh's Next Big Adventure! » Haven’t Left Yet

You&amp;amp;amp;amp;#039;ve already forgotten about the letters, haven&amp;amp;amp;amp;#039;t you?

Katy — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:43:11 +0000

Well, I haven’t! And just to keep the topic fresh in your minds, I thought I would post a few helpful hints I failed to mention the first time. These are a few tricks to help our lonely little letters navigate the treacherous waters of the Guinean postal system:

- Use red ink to address the envelope (for whatever reason, this helps).

- Write “DIEU REGARDEZ VOUS” on the envelope, roughly translated: God’s got his eye on you so don’t steal this precious correspondence meant for a sweet Peace Corps volunteer, not for YOU! [This one is particularly useful when the culprit is literate in French.]

- Number letters sent so I can tell if one has lost its way.

Address
Corps de la Paix Americain
BP 1927
Conakry, Guinea
West Africa

Anyway, I have little over 24 hours before my mom and I head out. I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am! I’m 95% packed, have said many goodbyes (though still have many to go), have some cleaning and moving to do still (Thursday’s going to be a long day!), and am feeling as ready as I think I’ll ever be!

By the way…

Katy — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 06:45:41 +0000

In case you haven’t taken a look around, I wanted to point out the plethora of cool stuff on this site! Take a tour of the right side and you’ll find all of my photos, interesting Peace Corps links, my old travel blog and other great sites/blogs of friends and family.

Also, I’m thinking I may be able to upload audio files for you guys on this site, just of me for now, here’s a test: Test Audio File

Big Day!

Katy — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:15:57 +0000

It’s my last birthday in my twenties; it’s the first beautiful snowfall of the year; it’s the day before Thanksgiving AND I have nine days until my mom and I pile into a car, drive to Philadelphia and my new life begins!!! I’ve been ticking things off my list like a mad woman and yet the list just seems to get longer. There were so many things previusly not worth putting on a list that are now piling up!

- Clean out my car (esp. the trunk…not going to be fun)
- Wrap the Christmas presents I’m leaving behind
- Finish buying Christmas presents I’m leaving behind!
- Buy “Waitress” DVD when it comes out on Tuesday!
- Take/Develop/Assemble more pictures from home

- Designate Power of Attorney
- Get 8 passport pictures
- Pack my stuff so I can WEIGH it and see how much I have to dump!

- Pick up my personal stuff still at work
- Buy a few more things to take with (e.g., headphones, bandanas, etc.)

It’s going to be a busy 9 days with family around for Thanksgiving, friends to catch up with/say goodbye to and lots of little details to stay on top of!

Finally, time is going to go by quickly!!

Save the Letters!

Katy — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:16:07 +0000

I would like to remind us all that letter-writing is a dying art and if it weren’t for friends and family living in remote areas of the world, then it would most certainly be completely dead by now. This is a cause worth fighting for! Don’t let the letter go the way of the Dodo!

Write to me! Write to me and know that I will gobble up your news, your gossip, your chit chat, your deep thoughts, your hard-to-decipher handwriting as if they were the last piece of birthday cake on my last birthday for a whole year! Write to me NOW and I’ll get it sometime in my first couple months! (And if you happen to stick a crossword puzzle in there, you won’t hear ME complaining about it!)

I am quite certain that if there were ever a time in my life that I would be better at maintaining correspondences, then this is going to be it! If I don’t write back to you from Guinea, then I suck way more than I think I do! (Remember, if it takes 3 months for the letter to get to you, I cannot be held responsible!)

Main address:
Corps de la Paix Americain
BP 1927

Conakry, Guinea
West Africa

After training, I’ll move out to my site and then will have an address closer to home, but the above address will always work.

I have 14 days to go and it is becoming increasingly clear to me that, at some point, I will be on a plane and I will actually be going. Better eat cake now!

Questions anyone?

Katy — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:06:03 +0000

Last night my friend Traci was saying that she was looking forward to hearing what I thought about how West Africans dance – something it might not have occurred to me to blog about, but I will now!

If there’s anything that you guys want to know about/are curious about regarding Guinea or my life in Guinea just let me know!

18 days to go…

23 days and counting…

Katy — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:42:59 +0000

So, I find myself with more and more time on my hands as there’s even less and less for me to do at work, and therefore I also find myself catching up with some old friends and doing a lot of Guinea research. Nerves are starting to get to me a little more than they were before — I think mainly because I have the time to stew about it!

Last night Philip asked me if I ever had moments of doubt or if I found myself questioning whether or not this is what I want to do, etc… Honestly, the thought never crossed my mind once to wonder, at this stage of the game, whether or not I want to do this or will do this because I do and I will! I spent A LOT of time thinking about taking this step long before I ever even looked at the application. It was a welcome revelation to recognize the feeling of certainty I have. The majority of what I’m reading is reinforcing how difficult much of this experience is going to be, and I hope it will be easier to face up to those challenges knowing that this is the right thing for me for this stage of my life.

Anyway, I promise my posts will get MUCH more interesting and include MUCH less belly-button-gazing once this show gets on the road!!

4 weeks to go…

Katy — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:55:53 +0000

The countdown is counting down…the day is drawing near. I doubt my current feeling of calm anticipation is going to see me through to the end; I expect I’ve got a few sleepless nights and butterfly-filled stomachs in my near future. For now, I’m capitalizing on my new free time and the momentum of an approaching deadline to get things done!

I have to make sure my blog is in order and will need minimum attention once my feet leave US soil!

I have to get my school correspondences in order, addresses, envelopes and stamps in hand, so I can open young minds to the wonders of Guinea!

I have to make sure I chat with all the people I only chat with occasionally so they don’t think I’m just ignoring them when they don’t hear from me for months and months!

I have to organize at least 3 more parties before Dec 1! (We had Christmas last weekend, Birthday is next weekend, then punch & cupcakes just for fun, then Thanksgiving, then another Birthday!)

I think these 4 weeks are gonna go fast!

My mother was joking that we’re having so many parties so that everyone gets sick of me and can’t wait for me to go! Hey, it’s not a bad way to do it – certainly more fun than other ways!

Anyway, terror is starting to creep into my everyday, just for moments at a time. This is a slightly HUGE change and I feel ready in every way I can possibly feel ready, but there are so many ways in which I can’t be ready that it’s still a big leap off a high cliff – I’m counting on the water not being too cold and the rocks not being too close to the surface.

So, I busy myself with the little things. I have a ridiculously meticulously prepared list for packing and all the miscellany, which I check about once a day. I’m studying up on my French, though I’m not sure if the verb “to milk” and its subjunctive form are going to help me that much. I show my face at work every once in a while for little projects they send my way, mainly so they remember who I am (and will come to my punch & cupcakes party). I’m online constantly looking for previously missed resources (friendsofguinea.org is fabulous). I devour every morsel of information that comes from Peace Corps, my only proof that my life really is about to change.

Well, I’m at 4 weeks at counting…wish me luck!

Welcome!

Katy — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:09:24 +0000

If you don’t know who I am or what this is all about, check out the “about” page and you’ll learn more than you ever need to know about someone you don’t know!

I don’t know what my internet access is going to be like in Guinea (i.e., I don’t know how often I will get to a connection), but I’ll do my best to keep this blog updated as I go through my 27-month bonanza in Guinea!

Wish me luck! (I’m going to need it!)