As many of you have calculated or realized watching our recent posts, our two years of Peace Corps service is almost up. And now we finally have the answer to the question Grandma asked every time we talked with her: "When are you coming home?"
We will be coming home Independance Day weekend.
We'll spend it at my folks' house in Lexington, Virginia. April's folks will come down, my grandma will be there, hopefully April's grandma will be able to come up, and my sister, along with Justin and Sam, the 20-month-old nephew I've never met, will come down on the 4th. We'll grill out and have hamburgers and instead of salchichas, real hotdogs!
We'll also start the process of readjusting to life in the United States: punctuality, expensive avocados, sidewalks, no really fresh fruit or fish, temperature changes greater than 10-15 degrees, no good bus system, etc.
We'll start to organize some of our pictures and memoriabilia into a condensed showcase of our time here; we want to be able to show and tell more than the blog has provided, but without overwhelming folks with a day-long lesson. We are still working on travel plans (if you want to see the show in your neighborhood, let us know) and job plans (if you need a volunteer coordinator, let April know! :).
April and Kevin in Kuna Yala, the northeast coast of Panamá
Showing posts with label Pre-departure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pre-departure. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2009
Thursday, May 10, 2007
So much done, so much to do, just to leave!
What a whirlwind process it has been! I way under estimated how long it would take to finish packing the house, how much space we’d take in the truck, how long the final cleaning would take, and how many times we’d make a “final” trip to the dump with trash and recycling. Thank goodness for the friends who came to help load the truck, and for the love and patience of my wife and folks, who said take your time, do it right and don’t stress it, and get here when you get here.
I keep thinking that once I get [to Lexington, to Cincy, to staging…] that I can breathe and feel like I’ve gotten everything done. But I haven’t reached that point yet. The list of “things to do before we go” has definitely shrunk, but there are an amazing number of items still on it, considering we leave for staging in four days.
One of the items on the list of last things to do were a couple of questionnaires from the PC. They wanted to know about our preferences so they could identify a host family for training, and about our goals and such in PC. Yes, we’d already filled out most of those goals in previous essays, but it probably isn’t a bad idea to get an updated version with our feelings a week before we get there instead of a year out, when we put the “right words” in there to be accepted. :) And it did make me think; what do I want to get out of PC time, personally and professionally. What is my biggest fear? What could make me come back?
For the first, I said learning Spanish and always being proud to be able to say, “I served in the Peace Corps.” For my biggest fear, I had two: getting sick enough to have to come back (like Jason did), after all the planning and arrangements for two years of being gone and all the looking forward to serving; and losing a loved one while we are gone. April and I both lost a much loved grandfather last year, which gave us some long discussions about family and what might happen in the next two years. We love our family and we will miss them for two years, and it means a lot to have them supporting us as we assist others less fortunate in their initial circumstances of where they were born.
Related to that, there is a website where PCVs from around the world, as well as invitees, can discuss about their assignments, what to bring, what to do, etc, called ThirdGoal.com. We posted there in the Panama section a couple of times. I just came across a really interesting post there, from a couple of years ago, but I think it describes how the Peace Corps compares to the “real world” (whether US or host country) pretty well. If you have ten minutes, it is a worthwhile read. http://www.thirdgoal.com/ottojones/2005/12/12/posh-corps/#comments
(The Third Goal of the Peace Corps is to share information back to folks in the US who haven’t had the opportunities PCVs have to see the rest of the world about what that world is like, how other people live and survive and thrive, perceive the US, and those of us from the US. It is the one goal that we will continue to work on for the rest of our lives, long after goals one and two – assist the host country, and be impacted ourselves by our service there – have been completed.)
kevin
I keep thinking that once I get [to Lexington, to Cincy, to staging…] that I can breathe and feel like I’ve gotten everything done. But I haven’t reached that point yet. The list of “things to do before we go” has definitely shrunk, but there are an amazing number of items still on it, considering we leave for staging in four days.
One of the items on the list of last things to do were a couple of questionnaires from the PC. They wanted to know about our preferences so they could identify a host family for training, and about our goals and such in PC. Yes, we’d already filled out most of those goals in previous essays, but it probably isn’t a bad idea to get an updated version with our feelings a week before we get there instead of a year out, when we put the “right words” in there to be accepted. :) And it did make me think; what do I want to get out of PC time, personally and professionally. What is my biggest fear? What could make me come back?
For the first, I said learning Spanish and always being proud to be able to say, “I served in the Peace Corps.” For my biggest fear, I had two: getting sick enough to have to come back (like Jason did), after all the planning and arrangements for two years of being gone and all the looking forward to serving; and losing a loved one while we are gone. April and I both lost a much loved grandfather last year, which gave us some long discussions about family and what might happen in the next two years. We love our family and we will miss them for two years, and it means a lot to have them supporting us as we assist others less fortunate in their initial circumstances of where they were born.
Related to that, there is a website where PCVs from around the world, as well as invitees, can discuss about their assignments, what to bring, what to do, etc, called ThirdGoal.com. We posted there in the Panama section a couple of times. I just came across a really interesting post there, from a couple of years ago, but I think it describes how the Peace Corps compares to the “real world” (whether US or host country) pretty well. If you have ten minutes, it is a worthwhile read. http://www.thirdgoal.com/ottojones/2005/12/12/posh-corps/#comments
(The Third Goal of the Peace Corps is to share information back to folks in the US who haven’t had the opportunities PCVs have to see the rest of the world about what that world is like, how other people live and survive and thrive, perceive the US, and those of us from the US. It is the one goal that we will continue to work on for the rest of our lives, long after goals one and two – assist the host country, and be impacted ourselves by our service there – have been completed.)
kevin
How to mail to a PCV in Panama
We still don't know exactly where we'll be for training, but they say it can take a month for us to get mail from the States, and up to two months to get mail back to you, so if you want to write, send it now, be patient – and definitely put a date on your letters! It is also strongly recommended that you number your mail so we know if we missed one. :)
Sending mail/via USPS:
April Cropper PCV (or Kevin Cropper PCV)
Cuerpo de Paz/Panamá
0834-02788 Entrega General
Panamá, República de Panamá
Sending FedEx/UPS/etc:
Cuerpo de Paz
Edif. 95, Ave. Vicente Bonilla
Ciudad del Saber, Clayton
Panamá, República de Panamá
Tel: 507-317-0038, Fax: 507-317-0809
Attention: April Cropper PCV (or Kevin Cropper PCV)
They recommend sending padded envelopes if possible instead of boxes, which are taxed and opened more frequently.
Sending mail/via USPS:
April Cropper PCV (or Kevin Cropper PCV)
Cuerpo de Paz/Panamá
0834-02788 Entrega General
Panamá, República de Panamá
Sending FedEx/UPS/etc:
Cuerpo de Paz
Edif. 95, Ave. Vicente Bonilla
Ciudad del Saber, Clayton
Panamá, República de Panamá
Tel: 507-317-0038, Fax: 507-317-0809
Attention: April Cropper PCV (or Kevin Cropper PCV)
They recommend sending padded envelopes if possible instead of boxes, which are taxed and opened more frequently.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Reality starts to sink in
It happened today…the reality of what is happening sunk in in a way that hit me in the pit of my stomach. The reality that we are doing something different than normal, how do I say it….that we are stepping outside the normal boundaries that have defined our life up to now.
I expected it to happen when our house of 8 years…our first house...was empty and we had to close it and drive away, but that just felt like a normal move. Sad yes, but normal. I expected it when I left work, when I went to goodbye parties, when I packed my dishes, when we loaded the truck, and when we sold the car. Don’t get me wrong….each of those moments were big. Each had real emotional impact, but they did not yet step outside the realm of other past experiences. For example, when I collected stuff to pack for
So what finally brought it home? Kevin and I are at Mom & Dad Cropper’s house right now. They are graciously storing some of our furniture and clothing (they get ½ my parents are graciously taking the other ½). Some of what they are storing is our bed and dressers. We set up the bed in a corner of their basement and that is when it hit me. Strange, but for some reason seeing my bed set up in the basement crossed some line in reality for me. There was no reason to set up my bed there if I was going to be using it in the near future. I wasn’t going to live there in the basement so why set up my bed there?
It was an action that did not fit in to the other emotional scenarios that every other recent milestone had fit into – moving, taking a trip or changing jobs. My furniture being set up there was outside the previously normal…and connected to a new reality…and being on the verge of a new reality and feeling it for the first time was a gut clenching moment. I guess Peace Corps has been lingering on the periphery of my mind for so long that it is a comfortable possibility, but it had not started to translate to emotional reality yet because all of the other changes felt familiar so far. I expect to hit more and more of these moments in the next month.
Just to be complete, here’s an update: We have both quit our jobs. We have left all our volunteer work behind. We have packed, cleaned and closed the house. We packed the 16 foot moving truck, and the station wagon (which we hauled to VA) and the back of the beetle. We left for VA 24 hours later than we had hoped because we are slower than we expected (well, honestly it is because Kevin is an optimist…April knew that we would not be getting out of there that soon J With in 4.5 hours of arriving in VA we had sold our station wagon (we listed it here before we left MD, but we couldn’t get it sold in MD). We unloaded just over ½ the truck, we reloaded some stuff and then planted the plants that we brought from our yard. We are just over ½ way through the move and I am tired.
Thanks to the folks that helped us load the truck: Jeff, Bill, Pat, Rebecca, Pamela, Jim, Meg, & Justin. Thanks to Dad Cropper who worked like a workhorse to unload my heavy furniture. Thanks to all of our Parents for keeping so much of our stuff for 2+ years.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
What April is looking forward to (and not looking forward to):
Looking forward to:
- Having life be simple – I have a hard time not over extending sometimes
- Missing the 2008
- Seeing the Panamanian presidential election process
- Learning to cook new foods and use new spices
- Seeing what a real “heavy rain” is (they measure it in feet – not inches – in some areas)
- Learning and using Spanish daily
- Not living in an airport flight path
- Not driving for two years – letting the
- Not seeing Christmas commercials daily- starting in October
- Reading about the
- Doing a lot of walking
- Possibly living without easy access to electricity
- Going snorkeling sometime
- Seeing the
- Seeing orchids and leaf cutter ants
- Learning a tiny bit about birds and birding
- Visiting the peak were you can see the ocean on both sides
- Spending lots of quality time with Kevin
Not looking forward to:
- Vaccination shots
- Mosquitoes
- Diarrhea
- Missing family events- major and small
- Increasing my banana consumption levels (arg)
- Waiting for 1-2 months for mail
- High humidity (Think Baltimore summers year round – evening LOW around 70)
- Wearing lots of sunscreen
Friday, April 6, 2007
Parties and our schedule until we leave
With just one more week of real work, less than a month in Maryland, and just five weeks in the US, we're about to the point where we have a schedule for each day remaining. And that includes two parties, so read on for details!
In Maryland, we'll be having a goodbye party at our house on Saturday, 21 April, and you'll get a chance to meet both of our parents. The house isn't huge, but swing by anytime after 4pm. We'll take advantage of daylight hours (and hopefully good weather) and go until late. We're on a cul-de-sac, so park in our driveway if there's room or anywhere along Harp String (other than the inside of the circle) or Bright Soul. (7167 Harp String, Columbia, MD 21045. From Snowden River Parkway, turn onto Carved Stone - Starbucks/Supreme Sports Club - and go past Hunan Manor/under the powerlines, then RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT. We're at the end of the cul-de-sac.)
The rest of our time in Maryland includes an MLS game, MSAR FTL testing, final doctor and dentist visits, selling the wagon (not the veggie car, that's the Beetle), an awards dinner for April for her volunteer work with youth through MSAR, paperwork, and packing. Sometimes it seems like we have a lot to do, sometimes it seems like we have a lot of time.
My last official day of work is 1 May and that afternoon/evening, we'll load the truck (volunteers appreciated :). On the 2nd, we drive to Kevin's folk's in Lexington, VA and unload furniture and have our first chance to relax for a couple of days, before we drive to April's folk's in Bethel, OH on 5 May.
That week in the Cincy area, we'll see Grandma Cropper (8-9 May), Grandma Miller and Grandma & Grandpa Dierks (9-11 May), as well as other Cincy relatives, before the second party, on our last Saturday. April's folks will be hosting a goodbye party at the Bethel Community Center in Bethel, Ohio on Saturday, 12 May starting around 5pm. Email for more details if you're going to be in Ohio around then.
While we don't yet have any details (hopefully in the next couple of weeks), we anticipate that on 13 May, we fly from Cincy to our staging, which we've heard a rumor might be in Miami. We spend two days there doing paperwork, getting shots, meeting everyone, and then fly to Panama City on the 15th, and the full adventure begins!
In Maryland, we'll be having a goodbye party at our house on Saturday, 21 April, and you'll get a chance to meet both of our parents. The house isn't huge, but swing by anytime after 4pm. We'll take advantage of daylight hours (and hopefully good weather) and go until late. We're on a cul-de-sac, so park in our driveway if there's room or anywhere along Harp String (other than the inside of the circle) or Bright Soul. (7167 Harp String, Columbia, MD 21045. From Snowden River Parkway, turn onto Carved Stone - Starbucks/Supreme Sports Club - and go past Hunan Manor/under the powerlines, then RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT. We're at the end of the cul-de-sac.)
The rest of our time in Maryland includes an MLS game, MSAR FTL testing, final doctor and dentist visits, selling the wagon (not the veggie car, that's the Beetle), an awards dinner for April for her volunteer work with youth through MSAR, paperwork, and packing. Sometimes it seems like we have a lot to do, sometimes it seems like we have a lot of time.
My last official day of work is 1 May and that afternoon/evening, we'll load the truck (volunteers appreciated :). On the 2nd, we drive to Kevin's folk's in Lexington, VA and unload furniture and have our first chance to relax for a couple of days, before we drive to April's folk's in Bethel, OH on 5 May.
That week in the Cincy area, we'll see Grandma Cropper (8-9 May), Grandma Miller and Grandma & Grandpa Dierks (9-11 May), as well as other Cincy relatives, before the second party, on our last Saturday. April's folks will be hosting a goodbye party at the Bethel Community Center in Bethel, Ohio on Saturday, 12 May starting around 5pm. Email for more details if you're going to be in Ohio around then.
While we don't yet have any details (hopefully in the next couple of weeks), we anticipate that on 13 May, we fly from Cincy to our staging, which we've heard a rumor might be in Miami. We spend two days there doing paperwork, getting shots, meeting everyone, and then fly to Panama City on the 15th, and the full adventure begins!
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Welcome!
Wow! Things sure do go fast sometimes! We started to send out information about this blog to yesterday and have already had more than 50 requests to join it. Thank you all for joining us on our journey. I/we are new to this blogging buisness, so please be patient with us.
We intend to post to the blog as regularly as possible, and who knows what that will mean after May 14th! My personal goal is that Kevin and I will post at least once a month. We will also encourage additions by friends and family who have head from us.
There are a couple of blog features that you might enjoy on the right hand side:
->Links to other related pages...go check out the live shots of the Panama Canal! (I fully intend to go through the canal at least once...we will have to post before we go so you can look for us!)
->A spot to sign up for alerts when the blog is updated. It checks once a day at 1am to see if the blog has a new post and will tell you about it.
I must say that after being careful for so long about who I talked to about Peace Corps...it is quite strange to have EVERYONE know! Welcome aboard!
We intend to post to the blog as regularly as possible, and who knows what that will mean after May 14th! My personal goal is that Kevin and I will post at least once a month. We will also encourage additions by friends and family who have head from us.
There are a couple of blog features that you might enjoy on the right hand side:
->Links to other related pages...go check out the live shots of the Panama Canal! (I fully intend to go through the canal at least once...we will have to post before we go so you can look for us!)
->A spot to sign up for alerts when the blog is updated. It checks once a day at 1am to see if the blog has a new post and will tell you about it.
I must say that after being careful for so long about who I talked to about Peace Corps...it is quite strange to have EVERYONE know! Welcome aboard!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The News is OUT!
Well, it's official. The news that I am leaving the Zoo for the Peace Corps is now completely public to all of our staff and volunteers. No more hiding anything from anyone! Yeah!
Monday, March 26, 2007
7 weeks and counting...
So, we have 7 weeks left.
5 weeks before we leave our home of 8 1/2 years.
3 weeks left of work.
Things are starting to look different around here. We are organizing things...paring down to what we keep and letting go of the clutter. It is both a slow and a fast process - I know that that doesn't make sense. But it feels like the days on the calendar stream past and yet the work to be done feels both slow and yet on target for where I want to be right now. I know that that will change as the deadline looms ever closer.
Some things about life feel the same, and some are rapidly changing. I handed over all of the things related to my leadership with Guiding Eyes for the Blind puppy raisers recently and last week was my last class teaching puppy classes. Our last pup, Viking, went to a new raiser and now the house is very quiet.
We also handed over all of the training materials for Maryland Search and Rescue. It feels strange to see emails going out with someone new running the discussion. At work also, things are starting to move on without me. This weekend there were several trainings at work that I would have normally lead or coordinated...and they went on without me. It is odd. On one hand it is good to see programs that I have given lots of time to in good hands. On the other hand it is odd to be so easily replaced.
Thanks to Mom and Dad Cropper for helping with the packing, 1/4 round trim and stripping the paint from the front door. We felt like we got a lot done this weekend!
5 weeks before we leave our home of 8 1/2 years.
3 weeks left of work.
Things are starting to look different around here. We are organizing things...paring down to what we keep and letting go of the clutter. It is both a slow and a fast process - I know that that doesn't make sense. But it feels like the days on the calendar stream past and yet the work to be done feels both slow and yet on target for where I want to be right now. I know that that will change as the deadline looms ever closer.
Some things about life feel the same, and some are rapidly changing. I handed over all of the things related to my leadership with Guiding Eyes for the Blind puppy raisers recently and last week was my last class teaching puppy classes. Our last pup, Viking, went to a new raiser and now the house is very quiet.
We also handed over all of the training materials for Maryland Search and Rescue. It feels strange to see emails going out with someone new running the discussion. At work also, things are starting to move on without me. This weekend there were several trainings at work that I would have normally lead or coordinated...and they went on without me. It is odd. On one hand it is good to see programs that I have given lots of time to in good hands. On the other hand it is odd to be so easily replaced.
Thanks to Mom and Dad Cropper for helping with the packing, 1/4 round trim and stripping the paint from the front door. We felt like we got a lot done this weekend!
Friday, March 23, 2007
Croppers in the Peace Corps FAQs:
When do you leave?
My last day at the Zoo will be April 14th. My last day in Maryland will be May 1st. We leave for Peace Corps from my parents house in Cincinnati on may 14th.
Where are you going in the Peace Corps? How long will you be there?
We are going to Panama. We don’t know exactly where in Panama yet. Peace Corps is a 2 year & 3 month commitment. The first three months will be job, language, and culture training in Panama just outside Panama City. During that training they will assign us to a specific community to serve out our 2 years.
Why go to the Peace Corps now?
I have wanted to join the Peace Corps since I was a freshman in college (let’s not be specific about when that was). When I got married just out of college I found out that my husband had done an internship at the NSA while in college….and the Peace Corps will not accept you for 10 years after you work with NSA or FBI (never for CIA- They don’t want anything in your recent past to bring your reasons for serving into question for your host country.). So I stopped thinking about it. Well, the ten year mark recently passed and I realized that I either go live the dream now…or wait until I retire. Plenty of volunteers here at the Zoo have made me aware of just how busy I will be in retirement…so now is the moment!
What will you do in the Peace Corps?
I will be assigned to work with in a community teaching environmental education with a group called the Community Environmental Conservation. The CEC has been working in Panama for over 14 years. Kevin will be working to promote sustainable agriculture and forestry.
Did you pick Panama? Do you speak Spanish?
You can make placement requests with your Peace Corps application. We requested 1. we want a Spanish speaking country (they said don’t count on it) 2. Prefer not Russia or former Russian countries (I had has some Russian in college and didn’t want to start that again). We were thrilled to hear Panama was the assignment.
As to Spanish…well, we are working on it. We have been taking Spanish classes at the local college for a while now…and I think I know just enough to be a little scared and very excited. I would have gone almost anywhere in the world with Peace Corps…but I really wanted to learn Spanish.
What are you doing with: house, dog / cat, Veggie oil burning VW Beetle?
The house is going up for rent for 2 years. Viking the current Guiding Eyes puppy is moving to another veteran puppy raiser here in Baltimore. Max, my cat, is going to live with Diana Trujillo past intern and JZC instructor. The Veggie Bug I haven’t decided about, I love it and don’t really want to let it go….if you know someone seriously interested in running on vegetable oil, I am open to offers.
My last day at the Zoo will be April 14th. My last day in Maryland will be May 1st. We leave for Peace Corps from my parents house in Cincinnati on may 14th.
Where are you going in the Peace Corps? How long will you be there?
We are going to Panama. We don’t know exactly where in Panama yet. Peace Corps is a 2 year & 3 month commitment. The first three months will be job, language, and culture training in Panama just outside Panama City. During that training they will assign us to a specific community to serve out our 2 years.
Why go to the Peace Corps now?
I have wanted to join the Peace Corps since I was a freshman in college (let’s not be specific about when that was). When I got married just out of college I found out that my husband had done an internship at the NSA while in college….and the Peace Corps will not accept you for 10 years after you work with NSA or FBI (never for CIA- They don’t want anything in your recent past to bring your reasons for serving into question for your host country.). So I stopped thinking about it. Well, the ten year mark recently passed and I realized that I either go live the dream now…or wait until I retire. Plenty of volunteers here at the Zoo have made me aware of just how busy I will be in retirement…so now is the moment!
What will you do in the Peace Corps?
I will be assigned to work with in a community teaching environmental education with a group called the Community Environmental Conservation. The CEC has been working in Panama for over 14 years. Kevin will be working to promote sustainable agriculture and forestry.
Did you pick Panama? Do you speak Spanish?
You can make placement requests with your Peace Corps application. We requested 1. we want a Spanish speaking country (they said don’t count on it) 2. Prefer not Russia or former Russian countries (I had has some Russian in college and didn’t want to start that again). We were thrilled to hear Panama was the assignment.
As to Spanish…well, we are working on it. We have been taking Spanish classes at the local college for a while now…and I think I know just enough to be a little scared and very excited. I would have gone almost anywhere in the world with Peace Corps…but I really wanted to learn Spanish.
What are you doing with: house, dog / cat, Veggie oil burning VW Beetle?
The house is going up for rent for 2 years. Viking the current Guiding Eyes puppy is moving to another veteran puppy raiser here in Baltimore. Max, my cat, is going to live with Diana Trujillo past intern and JZC instructor. The Veggie Bug I haven’t decided about, I love it and don’t really want to let it go….if you know someone seriously interested in running on vegetable oil, I am open to offers.
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