first few pictures

so, i am exhausted and refuse to go out to the bar tonight, even though it may be my last chance for awhile. so, i have quiet time at the computer, when everyone else isnt trying to use it too. i am trying to upload photos to my flickr site, and it is slow, but i will get there - visit and enjoy.

another wonderful day in guinea!!

stomach still alright!! i am one of a few in our group who hasnt been sick yet!!

In Love

hey everyone! i made it here safely and we have begun training in mamou, a cool and dry city in the mountainous fouta region. i have already made great friends and i absolutely love it here. so far, my stomach is alright, but everyone else is getting super sick. i have been told to just wait - it will be my turn soon!

let me tell you a bit about my day - i wake up and bathe in coooooold water, use a flushing pit latrine and then head out for breakfast. we usually eat baguette and a hardboiled egg or peanut butter. then off to orientation. not too much fun, but at least we get to sit outside and listen to the sheep baaaaaa and the monkeys jump in the trees. it is super distracting to have monkeys around during class time!!!! for lunch, we have rice and sauce - same for dinner.

each day has been different, and i am truly having a wonderful time!! dont worry about me - i am in good hands with pc and i have made good friends already. i will try to post soon, but i cant promise anything!!! love to everyone and i will write soon.

Done

Heather said that I have been saying good-bye for too long. I think she is right. The last couple months have been exhausting. But it's over now. Well, almost. The only person left is my mom.

I don't want to cry at the airport again, but I have the feeling that I won't really have a choice.

But other than that, I really can't wait for tomorrow - the stress of packing and saying good-bye will be over, and I can just start this thing.

Philadelphia, here I come!!!

A Fellow MI

Today, two days before I leave for my Peace Corps service, I had lunch with a man who I know will make the best Peace Corps volunteer the world has ever seen. He is a fellow MI student, so we have struggled through the last year and a half together, and he has been there to keep me sane at school and to help me get pumped up for Guinea. He and I have discussed our hopes for Peace Corps service, our anxieties, our insecurities, and our future aspirations. He has been a good friend, and I wish him the best of luck with getting the perfect assignment.

Remember, you and I are made for this, and we are going to kick some butt over in South America and West Africa, respectively.

I feel lucky to have a such an inspirational friend going through the same thing right now. Thanks for always reminding me why we are doing this.

Saying Farewell

Pictures of My Going Away Party

At the Sushi Boat:

Anna, Issa, Pei, and Fritz:

Laura, Rae-Anne, Walter, and Anna:
Larissa, Pat, Brian, and Sarah:

Kate and Cate:

Our Last Sushi Bite Together for Awhile:

At The Lounge Later that Night:

Going Away Party Reservations

Approximate conversation when Heatherfeather called Sushi Boat to make reservations for my Going Away Party:


Sushi Boat: Good Afternoon, You have reached the Sushi Boat. How can I help you?
Heatherfeather: I would like to make a reservation for a large party for tomorrow night.
Sushi Boat: How many in the party?
Heatherfeather: 22.
Sushi Boat: This is the Sushi Boat on Hampden. Did you mean to call the Sushi Den?
Heatherfeather: No, I meant to call you.
Sushi Boat: The Sushi Boat?
Heatherfeather: Yes.
Sushi Boat: Oh. GREAT!

No, it's not the prettiest sushi place in Denver, nor is it the most popular. But they have superb sushi and I have always liked how unpretentious they are there. Can't wait for some good sushi with all of my friends!

The Mango Test

Most of you know that I claim to be allergic to mango. Yes, I claim. I havent had mango in years - the thought of it makes my stomach turn simply bc I know how it might make me feel. But I am not 100% sure if it was definitely mango that caused that itchy mouth years back. See, the thing is that I am leaving for a mango-rich country in a week and I would really like to find out if this mango-allergy is real or not.

My mom (the retired nurse practitioner) and I talked about it today, and we are running a test. Tonight, I had my first bite of mango for years. Just a small bite, followed by another small bite 5 minutes later. Oh, it tasted goooooooood.

I haven't died yet. Just to let you know. Plus my mouth isn't itchy or anything.

I will keep you posted on this Mango Test in the next couple days - keep your fingers crossed for me!

So, apparently, distractions are pretty distracting.

It's so sad that I really have nothing more to say than that.

Ok, there is more to say....I realized something tonight while spending time with my new distraction. And I pre-apologize to all of you out there that I love. But I realized that I don't want to see you one-on-one the next few days. My going-away party is fine. Thinking about Anna's birthday on Friday is alright. I can't be confronted with too many feelings if a bunch of people are around. But real one-on-one time is too much. In fact, I have been avoiding it subconsciously at all costs, which has given me a real commitment-phobic approach to making plans.

I don't mean to be all maybe-ish and last minute with you, the friends I love, but I just can't do it. I am no good at good-byes. So I prefer distraction. It's my coping mechanism of choice these days. Although it's not working like I had planned. It's not making the thoughts of you leave my mind.

Boy, do I suck at saying good-bye. I let it get to me waaaaaay too much. One time I was willing to risk hypothermia while frozen tears ran down my face because I "needed" to walk home in -11 degree Celsius weather. I "needed" to walk bc I needed to vent some emotions after saying goodbye to a good friend in Germany. Luckily another good friend wouldn't let me walk and forced me on the bus, where I cried some more. But those tears didn't freeze to my face. Saying good-bye sucks when you let it get to you.

Saying good-bye in DC this past month had me in a similar position, although it was not nearly as cold. I found myself outside Dupont-North metro station, standing at the top of the escalator under a friend's umbrella, crying. I just wasn't ready yet. So he agreed to have one more cup of coffee with me, waiting to say good-bye until I was ready. After a half-hour or so, we agreed to laugh about the moment I stood crying above the escalator at Dupont-North in two years when I get back. I was ready. I am sure I will laugh about it one day, but I will always remember how it felt to not be ready to leave, then to finally have to do it, and how it felt to walk home alone in the rain.

Remember, you are talking to the girl who flew back to DC two weeks later so she didn't feel like she had to say good-bye when she left the first time. Remember that, Sara, dear? Maybe I should learn a lesson from you. You are always the one to avoid these emotions, to just light up a cigarette and walk away. But no, I know that as you walk away, you still feel the same things that I feel, only in your own Marlboro-Red kinda way.

So, my current plan of attack for these last few good-byes? Go with it. Feel it. Be in the moment - whether the moment is spent with a distraction or with my loved ones. Moments like this I will remember forever, whether or not they involve tears freezing to my cheeks.

Yesterday, I spent the day at GSIS. Yes, apparently I am one of those nerds that can't leave school even when she is done with classes. You got a problem with that?

It was the first day of classes for everyone else, so it was quite the happening place to be. I had lunch, coffee, and dinner with old friends. I sat down with Professor DeMartino, Professor Levine, and PVA to say good-bye. But I know I will be in touch with them - I am going to have a TON of unanswered questions from those readings I have assigned to myself over the next two years. Wow, I am really that nerd who can't leave school, aren't I?

Yesterday was wonderful. Yesterday was exhausting. I came home and called Heatherfeather crying. Emotionally, this is all a bit too much. But everytime I think of how sad I am to leave, I realize how blessed I was to have it so good for this time. That doesn't make the sadness go away, but it does make me appreciate it more.

Ok, let me share my new address with all of you. I have been hesitant to do this, simply because the address is making it so real. But I sent myself over 20 lbs of books today. I sent myself books using an address with the word Guinea in it. It freaked me out beyond belief, and I havent been able to eat anything since - my stomach has been going in circles. My BOOKS are headed there. And those of you that know me well understand that means, in essence, a part of ME is already on its way. So here goes - my new address for all the world to see:

Amy Klein

Corps de la Paix Americain

BP 1927

Conakry, Guinea

West Africa

There it is. And part of me is already on its way.

Reminiscing This New Years Weekend

I have decided that I am definitely not running away this time. I am too sad about leaving Denver to be running away. And I was way too sad to leave DC to have been running away then. What do these two facts mean to me during this New Year's time of reflection?

I have concluded that I have been the luckiest girl since I graduated college. As an "adult," I have really set myself up well and enjoyed the two lives that I have created for myself. DC was wonderful - I reconnected with old friends, I made marvelous new friends, I had a not-too-bad job, and I found the spot that I felt was home. Oh, and I cooked a lot of meatloaf for Chris and friends. When I left, I remember just thinking to myself, "one more month" or even "one more year." In fact, after leaving DC in early August, I returned for a mini-break two weeks later just to see Sara, Chris, Kerry, and everyone else. It was wonderfully reassuring that even though I had moved away two weeks before, DC did not crumble and vanish. I could always go back and celebrate the past - my wonderful year there. And go back I did. In fact, I have returned to DC four times during my year and a half in Denver. And even though I sometimes spend over a week, I never feel like I have enough time with my friends and with my city.

Coming to Denver was difficult - I complained of the lack of public transportation, the lack of decent Italian food, and mostly, the lack of Pikes Peak or a major body of water. But when I set up shop in Denver, I fell in love with life all over again. I got to know the shape of Mt Morrison and I grew to love the always-brown Green Mountain. I was challenged in school, challenged in my relationships, challenged by the Colorado lifestyle once again. I look back at this past year and a half and think of Fritz's parties, class with Dr. DeMartino, skiing with MK, Kate, and Mara, study sessions at Capuvino, salsa nights, Santa Fe, PVA's energy even early in the morning, reunions with my CC girls... the list can go on and on. I have really lived the most blessed life here in Denver.

As 2006 begins, I am not just reminiscing because the calendar reminds me to. I am reminiscing because I am beginning a new phase of my life, and I must leave a place that I have grown to love. I cried as the fireworks went off on 16th St., not because I am scared of this new adventure, but because I am once again wishing for only one more month, or maybe even one more year. But I have to remember that even though I leave, Denver is not going to crumble and vanish while I am gone, just as DC had not. The happiness I have felt in both DC and Denver will stay with me forever, and I can come back to remind me of that happiness any time I need to. I am not losing Denver; I am not losing DC. I am just working towards finding similar challenge and happiness in Guinea. Nothing is going to change in these two years, and all of my friends, family, and favorite mountains will wait for me until I return.


_____________________________

ps - I can say this with confidence - mountains don't fall, family is always family, and I have made my friends verbally promise to still love me when I get back in two years.

New Years, Denver Style

It is 4:41 a.m right now. And I have finished uploading the pictures of New Years 2006. Now Simon can't complain to me that I never email him pictures, right? I will write more about it later - I have a lot to say, but now is not the time. I am ready for a good night's sleep. Sweet dreams and happy New Year everyone!

Dinner at Brix in Cherry Creek:

Out and about on 16th St:

Simon refusing to wear the reindeer antlers:

But we finally got him to put 'em on!

Midnight Celebrations:

The Toast Between Two Friends: