Less than a Week Away!

Hey there! So yes, I am leaving for Boston and my staging event in less than a week. Right now I am packing for a weekend trip to Boston to visit friends. I am also trying super hard to get everything accomplished before I leave... yea, not happening. But I am at least trying to get organized and in terms of packing I'm getting everything I want to bring with me into one room. There are so many loose ends to tie up before I leave! But I'm actually glad I have a lot of things to do because otherwise I would be worrying even more about going to such a different country/culture/lifestyle, etc. in a week. I'll admit, I'm already missing home and doing the whole, oh, I can't wait to see/do/watch/for that movie/show/event!... But then it hits me: oh... I won't be here... yeah. But I'm more worried about my mom, so please send her a little love in the next few weeks!

Anyways, I have to go pack and get ready to leave for the airport in 3 hours... haha, oh man.

Here is a picture of my family and I on Thanksgiving in New Jersey! 

This is where I'm going in March! For 3 months I'll be in Mityana, look a little West of the capitol, Kampala. 

Peace Corps Assignment Info

Ok ok, so I guess not everyone knows about the Peace Corps and what I'm doing, so here's the deal: I applied for the Peace Corps my senior year at Carnegie Mellon University and was nominated after graduation. The application process took a while so I started taking classes at Cornell for a year and I'm finishing a Master's of Engineering. I was invited to be a primary teacher trainer in Uganda, and I am hoping to also do some kind of environmental/conservation work or study during my assignment. My primary assignment consists of helping administration, strengthening community, student and parent relations, and helping monitor, evaluate and train teachers. I think of myself as becoming a sort of roaming principle to a few local primary schools.
So I go to Boston for staging (orientation) on Thursday, March 2nd, 2006 and actually leave for Uganda on Sunday, March 5th, 2006. While in Boston, I will be attending a reception for the 45th year anniversary of the Peace Corps at the Kennedy library. Once in Uganda, a group of other Peace Corps volunteers assigned to Uganda and I will stay in Mityana for 3 months for culture, language, and project training. Mityana is about 30 miles northwest of the capital, Kampala. I don't know where I will be after training, but my address while I'm in training will be:

Allison Muehe, PCT
PO Box 29348
Kampala, Uganda

Unfortunately, packages can take a long time, like a month or two, but a good thing to do would be to put "Airmail" or "Par Avion" if you send a letter. I will get a cell phone once I get there and I will let everyone know what the number is.

So yes, if you want any more than this basic info just please email me. Thanks buddies!

The Past Month or So

So lately things have been crazy. Although I knew since about Halloween that my staging event was the first week in March ( I thought the 8th), it seemed so far away so I did not start to mentally or physically prepare for my Peace Corps assignment. From Halloween to New Years it was like, oh yea, no big deal, it's next year, blah blah blah. But then the holidays came and then I went to Maui for 10 days in the beginning of January. Once I came home from vacation it suddenly hit me, I have about a month and a half until I leave and I feel so unprepared! So I started making lists of things go do, people to contact, etc. including a tentative travel plan until March 8th. I knew I was working part time at the Canandaigua Watershed Council until February 3rd and leaving to go visit family for a week on the 4th. On the 2nd I spoke to an Ugandan representative at the Peace Corps and he told me that I was leaving on March 2nd instead of March 8th like I had thought. So, all my plans got thrown out the window and I had to make compromises with my time. So, after a great visit with my grandfather and Pat in North Carolina and my uncle Peter and fam in South Carolina, I came home on Feb. 11. I had planned on leaving on the morning of the 12th to start my east coast road trip beginning with NYC, but mother nature had different plans. So leaving on Monday, the 13th I went to NYC and then visited fam in Jersey, then to Baltimore, a stop in Philly, and drove home home last night to see some Canandaigua buddies. My road trip was SUPER fun, I love all my friends that I saw and I'm so glad I got to see them before I left, even though there were some buddies that I was not able to visit (I'm sorry )-: ) And now I'm home home to prepare for a week of packing and shopping before I visit Boston for the weekend!

First day as a blogger!

Hey there!
I know many people have blogs to document their daily lives for people and although that's not how I roll, (yes, I did just say roll, haha) I figured since I'm going to Uganda that maybe this would be an easy way to let some people know how it is going. So please feel free to give me your comments on my blog and life events. Enjoy!