Wednesday, July 28, 2010

14 Days and Counting

I just submitted all of my applications for funding from Dartmouth. Starting at midnight, I sat down and finished them all, and at 4:49 pm I just sent off my last email. Sleep would have been fairly non-existent, if not for the accidental 3.5 hrs I got when my carefully planned series of alarms for a 45 minute nap didn't go off. And later my scanner broke and the computer crashed simultaneously. I'm happy to say that I didn't cry like a little girl at that point.

Some of the funding is a long shot. For example, the Tucker Fellowship is only giving 2 people money. That's right, read it again. 2. So I'm not expecting anything from them. But the Dickey Center and another group is funding more people and their list of criteria fits my internship pretty closely. So, fingers crossed, hopefully they come through.

That was my last big preparation for the trip, besides packing. I am now vaccinated, visa-ed, researched, ticketed, and funded.

On a side note, don't get excited about what seems to be a post-a-day trend. For something to be a trend, it needs 3 occurrences. There can be no trends of two here. This was a special occasion to mark the passing of my applications. Otherwise, the likelihood of me posting daily is pretty small. There's really not much news to share before I go, especially since the blog is about the trip itself, and I won't be on the computer every day while I'm there.

I'm about to fall asleep on my keyboard, so I'll end this with a quick request to please follow my blog and comment. Then I know I'm not talking to space. Thanks!

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The Lowdown

In exactly 15 days, I will fly 3904 miles away from home and stay there for 17 weeks and 6 days. How's that for numbers? I even checked my math. Twice. The numbers just seemed so big I couldn't believe them.

I suppose an explanation is in order. Over the summer after freshman year, it's "expected" that students should get an internship. I decided to instead take off my fall term and combine that time with the last month and a half of my summer (August 9 to December 12, to be more specific). The result? An awesome internship.

I'm traveling to Peru to intern with a non-profit company. It's called the Light and Leadership Initiative, and it works in a struggling community on the outskirts of Lima called Huaycan. I'll be teaching English there, developing a math program for the school, and learning about the organization and helping it in any way I can.

Needless to say, I don't think Dartmouth will fund the exorbitant cost of phone calls from Peru. So I decided that a blog would be the best way to let people know how everything is going. In theory, I'll be able to update it a couple of times a week (hopefully with some photos, internet connection willing) to tell friends and family about my exploits.

I hope you'll follow my blog and check in to see what I'm up to! Profuse comments encouraged.
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For more info about the organization, check out its website. It also posted several great videos about their work on youtube, linked below for your viewing pleasure.

Huaycan, Peru - The Light and Leadership Initiative

Light in Zone Z: Part 1 and Part 2