Frequently Asked Questions

Is it real for you yet? Not quite! I know that I'm leaving, but it will not be real for me until I am over, and at about two months later, do not come home. I went away for internship, so this feels very similar. Certain parts of the process have felt more real than other parts of the process.

What happened with your cats? A friend from St. Louis took them in!

My family  at Copper Run Distillery right before I left

What about your house? My house is currently on the market and no, we are not interested in renting it out currently. My parents and I both own the house, so we are splitting the responsibilities. If it sells I will celebrate!

When do you leave? I leave tomorrow for Dallas in order to spend a few days with my parents, but I fly to L.A. monday and fly to Fiji tuesday night. I'm not posting my flight details on my blog, but please e-mail me for questions about that.

Are you excited or nervous? Bittersweet!

Do you want to hang out? No, sorry! I don't have time currently and that's why I had my going away parties, but can we set up a skype date?

How will I contact you? Okay, so communication is tricky because I don't know how often that I will have access to my phone or internet. You can find me on What'sapp or Viber using my personal facebook page for calling and texting. Email is also good. The entire point of this is immersion into the culture and reducing technology is part of that.

What's the time there? 16 hours ahead or subtract 6 hours and add a day.

How big is Fiji? Approximately 7,000 square nautical miles and 332 islands!

What language do they speak? Fijian, English and Hindi

Do you already know these? I'm going to be spending the first two months in training for language, safety and culture! I know English and a little bit of Spanish.

Where will you be staying? That's a good question, ha. We don't know until swearing in, which is in November. Training happens in smaller groups around the island.

Can you call me when you get over there? No, sorry, but I can't call everyone. Please check my blog and facebook page for updates!

Do you have any other questions? Leave them in a reply below! If you are interested in applying, the Peace Corps just opened the applications for Group 93 for Fiji departing next year!

I Shall Run the Race with Endurance

It is really starting to sink in that I am leaving; in 2 weeks from today, I will have landed in Fiji and will begin my wonderful adventure. I don't cry very often, but when I do it's usually because I'm angry. I've been trying to prepare myself and participate in some self-care that involves getting very emotional in order to process the change that is about to occur. Self-care is so important; but even the realization that my runs are numbered with my running buddy, makes me a little teary eyed.

I had a realization today about training and my future job. The current volunteers say that the Peace Corps is the "hardest job you'll ever love" and to me, that mirrors running. I love to run because it is hard, but you can meditate and overcome the pain. Running as many miles as my buddy and I do, you start to peel away those safety layers during every mile. The more you run, the more you learn about each other because you start to see each other at your absolute worse, but you don't judge the other person for that. Some days it's literally the worst run of your entire life, but those good fuzzy feelings during the fantastic runs make it all worth it. My running buddy has become my best friend simply because, you can't learn that much about someone and not be friends; it reminds me of the troll incident in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

My running buddy and fellow music therapist, Emily Keeling, MT-BC

The next few months are going to be hard and enduring; it will be like training and racing! The volunteers that we are placed with really will become our family because they, unlike anyone else, know exactly what we will be going through. They will see us at our worst and at our best, but they will still choose to like us; we are the only connection that they have over there.

As I spend the last week and a half in the US packing, I'm looking forward to getting to know my new friends and the adventures we will have together. That doesn't mean your old friends will be put on the backboard because without them, you wouldn't be who you are now! I will keep everyone updated, but please note, during training our access to the internet is restricted, so please don't panic if I haven't posted for a while!

Our Sole Sister chrms on our shoes! "Maybe in distance, but never at heart..."

Here's a bible verse I was reminded of today: "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us," Hebrews 12:1 ESV