Monday, February 28, 2011

Your first Portuguese lesson- the weather

This dreary semi torrential weather has inspired my lesson for today.

Today we will be discussing the weather.

When you want to ask a Portuguese speaker :What's the weather forecast? You should say "Quais sao as previsoes do tempo?"

If it's a rainy day out like it is here today you would say "Esta' um dia de chuva" or It's rainy.

So go out in the rain and impress someone with your Portuguese skills!

Until Next time mis amigos

~I Come with PEACE~

A short introduction and a few instructions

Ola'! Meu nome e' A Peace of Cake and welcome to my blogspot.

I'm not exactly new to the blogging world, but this time I am serious about it. My intention is to add a post or two everyday leading up to my departure for my Peace Corps service and to update as much as possible while I'm away. This will be a way for me to sort of vent some of my frustrations/jitters and to also express how I'm feeling in general. I will post about a little bit of everything from my preparation for service to how fast/diet is going lol.

I fancy myself a comedian so I will probably be cracking a few jokes from time to time. I'm kind of a drama queen so you will more than likely also read some ranting and raving about whatever! I like to think that I am pretty organized so I will attempt to use tags and labels to categorizes my posts. For instance my posts which are  directly related to my Peace Corps service will be have "(PC)" somewhere in the title. My posts just about my highly random life will feature a "(G)" for general. Posts about how my "diet" is going will carry a "(D)" and so on and so forth. this one has no tag because it's just really an initial "how do you do".

Also! I am attempting to teach myself Portuguese (HINT!) which is the official language of my country of service so in doing so I will be sharing my new found knowledge with my readers! (see salutation at beginning of post)

So as you see I hope you find this blog entertaining, informative and insightful just like ME!

Until the next post my dears!

~I Come with Peace!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Let me start from the...early Middle(PC)

Here I am nearly four months from my departure date and as many would expect I'm nervous, buuuuuut not for the reasons you all might expect.

I'm sitting here on February, 27 2011, watching the Oscars, coming down from my latest bout with the monthly malaise, putting all the finishing touches on all of my pre-service paperwork and there is just so much on my mind. Almost most of which has nothing to do with the service I will soon be taking part in as a Peace Corps volunteer to....TBA.

**sidenote: So I know where I will be spending the next 27 months of my life, I just haven't told everyone yet. It's not that I don't want people to know it's just that I thought it'd be fun to have them guess. I don't know, I like fun and games but...others might not share my youthful sense of humor.*

Aaaanyhoo! So as I was saying. I'm sitting on my mom's bed watching people I don't really know accept awards in categories (like best soundtrack adapted from a foreign language film by an actress in a supporting role) that I don't really care about,  for movies I've never heard of, from an academy I will probably never be a member of, and I sit and am left alone with my own thoughts it becomes increasingly more difficult to find a moment's PEACE.

The more I sit and ponder what is to become of my life I just can't help but worry about how things might stay the same. (If that makes sense) Even as I write this, my mind is moving at a million miles per minute! Which as you all can imagine makes it that much more difficult to write a blog.

: : : : : : :So let me step back and collect my thoughts: : : : : : :

For starters, I'm worried about getting everything ready and settled before I leave. I'm trying so hard not to leave my mom with more assumed debt than is necessary, so in order to do that I have to continue to work at a job that I secretly despise even though I'm only given 15hrs a week at a measly $10 an hour! How they expect people to live I suppose my bosses really don't care. I also suppose that I could always just get another job, but then I remember that I have already put my application into 10 (count them TEN) job listings and have heard NOTHING back. Thankfully the  network that are my mother's friends came through (again) and I was able to pick up a little side job working with her previous employer. The only downside is that I have no idea how much I will be making, but at this point I really (however unfortunately) don't care. This late in the game it really doesn't even matter. Any dollar helps.
         Other than money, I also can't help but worry about my family. For as long as I can remember, my lot in life has been to watch after, take care of, lend money-time-energy-and-tears to those I have held closest to me. I am a worrier, it's only natural as a technical middle child I guess, but sometimes it gets annoying. I'm constantly worrying about whether my twin will get his life together and do right by not only his girlfriend and adopted child but by himself! I worry whether my older brother knows how much I truly admire and love him and if we'll really end up related to his perpetually grumpy girlfriend one day. I worry about my parents settling on an amicable separation and if they'll ever begin speaking to each other with kind words. I worry more specifically about my mother's health, wealth social and love life. I worry about my father's future. I'm even worried that my precious puppy "Boo" won't remember me when I return.  I'm afraid my friends will forget me. I'm afraid they'll go on with their lives and create all new inside jokes and memories. I'm worried I'll cry too much (as I'm tearing a little right now even as I write this) at the airport, on the plane, during my pre-service training. Or that no one will cry for me as I pack my bags, board the plane and fly far far away.

Silly things, I know and maybe it's just the nerves and feelings that usually accompany the day-to-day as one prepares to move thousands of miles away from everything they've ever known to spend over two years in a foreign country. Yet leaving isn't my most immediate concern...what I'm leaving behind is.

So here are my wishes for those persons, places, things I will be leaving behind:
*To my bills (school loan, car note, credit card, possibly my cell): I wish for you to be deferred, taken over by my mother (so be manageable!), paid off and possibly not exist at all. After all it's only money right? And so what if my credit is a little jacked up when I get back. I'll start all over again to rebuild it!
*To twin brother: I wish you all the luck in the world. I wish you god speed as you embark on the next journey in your life. May you become the man we all know you to be.
*To my older brother: I wish that you follow your dream and become the leader you've always been to me. I pray that you create your family and your empire and may it flourish. I also wish that you remember your old family in your new life.
*To my mother: My wish for you is simple, take care of yourself. Love yourself and LIVE for yourself. You have spent so much of your life taking care of others, now it's time for you to do you boo!
*To my father: My wish for you, much like our relationship, is a little more complex, but simply put I wish you the best. The best grades (because you WILL be getting that doctorate Mister!!), the best business deals, the best relationships with your sons, the best memories of your daughter and of the life we all shared together. I just want you to find your happy place and dwell in it. Make it yours and make it great.
*To my friends: Have fun. Live life and dance! Remember the good times we've shared, the hard times we've gotten over and the growing we've done together.

I love you all and even though I worry sometimes. I know GOD will see us all through.

Until next time my lovelies

~I come with PEACE~