Okay! Since Laura and I are tag-teaming this blog-a-ma-bob, I guess I’m due for a post. It’d been more than a few hours of sitting here, perusing our blog and pictures and such, wondering just how to start... before it hit me. Why not start where I left off?! There may be quite a few of you out there that will be reading our posts after following my own spew of mass emails from my days in PC-Tanzania. To you, I apologize for the repetitiveness that is about to occur. Here’s my background story, in excerpts from an email I sent on July 11, 2010:
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I closed my contract with Peace Corps Tanzania on Friday 2 July under the terms of interrupted service. Here's the short story: There were a few issues that suddenly jumped out of nowhere in late May, ultimately jeopardizing my sense of security as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania. After sitting in my Mangio home away from sweet home for a few weeks, trying to psych myself out of my fears, I came to this conclusion: I had to come home for my lil sis Ashley Rae's wedding (no question about that!) but I couldn't foresee myself being 101% committed to go back to Mangio to teach just a few weeks before my kids’ exams in November and then sit on my butt through late December when my Peace Corps contract officially expired...
So, what's next in the life of Leiha?
Announcing (drum roll please)
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I closed my contract with Peace Corps Tanzania on Friday 2 July under the terms of interrupted service. Here's the short story: There were a few issues that suddenly jumped out of nowhere in late May, ultimately jeopardizing my sense of security as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania. After sitting in my Mangio home away from sweet home for a few weeks, trying to psych myself out of my fears, I came to this conclusion: I had to come home for my lil sis Ashley Rae's wedding (no question about that!) but I couldn't foresee myself being 101% committed to go back to Mangio to teach just a few weeks before my kids’ exams in November and then sit on my butt through late December when my Peace Corps contract officially expired...
So, what's next in the life of Leiha?
Announcing (drum roll please)
Leiha's Amazing Couch Cushion Crawl!
What is it all about? Well, I say - it’s about Leiha taking advantage of this limbo-like state of life. That's what it is! I want to hear AND SEE what you're up to! Finally meet your new significant other, finance, wife, husband, offspring, pet. Check out your newest apartment or house. Learn more about your line of work or masters or doctorate program. See the sunrise or sunset from your corner of the country. You know, learn about your life as YOU have been living it for the past 3 years. Let's catch up.
For an unlimited time only (maybe until my money runs out or opening day at Fenway) I will be available to crash on your couch and catch up on life...I'll be transporting myself around the continental United States using the various inexpensive modes of transportation available.
What is it all about? Well, I say - it’s about Leiha taking advantage of this limbo-like state of life. That's what it is! I want to hear AND SEE what you're up to! Finally meet your new significant other, finance, wife, husband, offspring, pet. Check out your newest apartment or house. Learn more about your line of work or masters or doctorate program. See the sunrise or sunset from your corner of the country. You know, learn about your life as YOU have been living it for the past 3 years. Let's catch up.
For an unlimited time only (maybe until my money runs out or opening day at Fenway) I will be available to crash on your couch and catch up on life...I'll be transporting myself around the continental United States using the various inexpensive modes of transportation available.
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So there you have it, an abbreviated version of the last mass email Leiha Update.
As I started collecting the names of people who would welcome a couch crawler, I googled and pinned each friend/family’s location for reference, creating a digital map of delight. Meanwhile, I was speed-dialing Ms. Laura Mueller’s ear off lamenting the cross-cultural-craziness that had become my life those first few months back in the land of milk and honey. When I mentioned to her that this couch crawl proposal was developing into more than a possibility, we both decided to take it a step further, of course. Nothing can be ordinary when the extraordinary is within reach. Combining my pre-pinned places of interest with her own potential destinations (or as Captain Planet would declare: With our powers combined!) we spawned Ze Great L&L Cross Country Couch Crawl & Car Cruise!
So, upon couch crawling myself through the residents of friends and family in 12 states, I am now stuck in a travelling limbo here in DC, awaiting my fearless travelling companion as she readies herself for the super adventure^2 that will consume 10 weeks of our mid-twenties.
3 days and counting!!!
Post Script
Here’s where I’ve been so far:
July 3, 2010: arrived back in Boston as an RPCV
Massachusetts
Connecticut
Vermont
Maine
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Vermont
December 4, 2010: Leiha’s InCredible Couch Crawl
Florida
Georgia
Washington, DC
(drive through Delaware)
New Jersey
New York
Maryland
Washington, DC
West Virginia
Washington, DC
So there you have it, an abbreviated version of the last mass email Leiha Update.
As I started collecting the names of people who would welcome a couch crawler, I googled and pinned each friend/family’s location for reference, creating a digital map of delight. Meanwhile, I was speed-dialing Ms. Laura Mueller’s ear off lamenting the cross-cultural-craziness that had become my life those first few months back in the land of milk and honey. When I mentioned to her that this couch crawl proposal was developing into more than a possibility, we both decided to take it a step further, of course. Nothing can be ordinary when the extraordinary is within reach. Combining my pre-pinned places of interest with her own potential destinations (or as Captain Planet would declare: With our powers combined!) we spawned Ze Great L&L Cross Country Couch Crawl & Car Cruise!
So, upon couch crawling myself through the residents of friends and family in 12 states, I am now stuck in a travelling limbo here in DC, awaiting my fearless travelling companion as she readies herself for the super adventure^2 that will consume 10 weeks of our mid-twenties.
3 days and counting!!!
Post Script
Here’s where I’ve been so far:
July 3, 2010: arrived back in Boston as an RPCV
Massachusetts
Connecticut
Vermont
Maine
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Vermont
December 4, 2010: Leiha’s InCredible Couch Crawl
Florida
Georgia
Washington, DC
(drive through Delaware)
New Jersey
New York
Maryland
Washington, DC
West Virginia
Washington, DC
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