Day 1 - Washington D.C.

So I have officially arrived safely in Washington D.C., the flight from Milwaukee was good, just cloudy and overcast. It was raining when I left Wisconsin, but upon arriving in Virginia it was just cloudy and humid...very humid. So I was going to say that my adventure was uneventful, but that would be a lie.

Everything went fine at the airport, I got all of my bags and then got onto a super shuttle which took me straight to my hotel and was less than a Taxi. Upon arrival at the hotel I needed to call my mom and when I went to search for my phone, I realized I had left it at the airport...crap! Well luckily there was already somehere from the PC Romania group who was kind enough to let me borrow his cell phone and everything was squared away with mom, I just wasn't able to call anyone else tonight...sorry all!

Staging went great, everyone is super nice and in the same boat that I am. I met a lot of great people tonight and I think I have developed some great friendships...or so I hope :)

After the staging event, which was basically just a lot of information and review of policies, a bunch of us went out for pizza. Even though we were exhausted several of us also went around the city. We went to the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, a place that had all the 50 states around a fountain, and the Vietnam Memorial. Needless to say I was exhausted, but as soon as I hit the hotel room, I got a bit of a second wind...so I decided to post for you all.

Tomorrow will also be an eventful day, we will be checking out of our hotel and then on our way to the airport. The flight will be long, but I think I have enough to entertain me and I can always chat with people on the way there as well as sleep!

Speaking of sleep I should really get some rest. I am unsure of what the next few days will bring, so I do not know when my next post will be made. I miss you all already!!!

Until Later
~Sarah B.

Breathe in Breathe out

So I am officially nervous, in less than 24 hours I will be on a plane headed to Washington D.C. for my staging event, I will be there for a little over 24 hours then I will be on my way to Bucharest for 27 months...as long as I make it through training. I am bound and determined to do so, only 33% of applicants receive an invitation and 90% of those who go through training make it through, so I have already made it through the toughest statistic, I am going to make it through the second!

Today I also signed myself up with Skype, it is a free Internet calling website, so if you have a microphone and/or a webcam you can sign up and chat for free through the Internet, it is pretty neat an easy to use! If you decide to download it you can search for Sarah Busse and if that doesn't work try sm.busse I have been trying to keep all of my user names simple and easy to remember...also I am not very creative so simple is the way to go!! Hopefully as I learn more in Romania though I will become more creative, that is what makes a good teacher right :)

I am officially packed and ready to go, I have two items for checked baggage and two items for carry-on (a backpack and my laptop). I hope I don't run into any problems with this but my laptop is not going underneath the plane and nothing else will fit into my checked baggage, but I have seen others take a laptop and a backpack so I am not too worried, I can always beg :)

I finished all of my last minute errands around town today as well, including getting my glasses adjusted. They just did not fit my face right anymore, but now they are good. It was good that I went though because one of the lenses was loose, and as we all know I cannot see anything without my glasses, but hopefully they will be good for the couple of years that I am gone as long as I take good care of them. Besides the only time they were in real danger here is when Blair was jumping on me and when I was holding Josee, seeing as I will be around older kids I think they will be alright.

So I am going to try to post tomorrow night when I am in D.C. or in the afternoon when I am waiting in between arrival and staging so I will post some goodbye's then. I am off to download Skype for my parents now...I don't know what they are going to do in terms of technology while I am gone...I have a feeling that Kim and D. Jay will be getting a lot of calls :)

Until Later
~Sarah B.

2 days- Crunch Time

So after a fun- filled weekend going out with my Fred and Laura and going to the Place for Kids with my cousins, nieces and mom I now have to get back to reality. I have officially cleaned out my car and will be going to cancel my insurance tomorrow so that we can get it ready to sell and maybe I can have a little extra money in my account in case something would come up...let's hope nothing does! While canceling my insurance I am going to try to get some personal property insurance that will not be null and void in a foreign country, especially since I have recently aquired so many fun new gadgets!

So I have started packing, I am just taking a brief break while I wait for some laundry to get done so it can go out on the line. I sure hope that everything fits in my suitcase. I actually have more clothes than I thought, I still don't have a lot because I have only been buying a few things at a time as I have been shrinking, but it did add up over time, granted it is not like having 4 closets full of clothes, which I know some people have, my mom has 2!!! Sorry mom :)

I sure hope I don't forget anything, but if I do I will have to buy it over there or learn to live without it. If I can't live without maybe my mom and dad will be kind enough to send it over to me :)

As the days get closer I am getting more and more nervous...I feel like I know nothing about Romania, but I know I will learn a ton when I get there. Unfortunately I do not yet have a
Romanian English dictionary...I ordered one on-line but did not look closely enough at the fine print and I don't think it will make it here before I leave...oh well. A friend of mine from Romania told me that there are plenty of Romanian English dictionaries in Romania so I should be able to find one when I get there...my first shopping experience!!! No time to start like the present right :) Thank goodness that English is the most widely spoken language in the world, if it was something else I might not be able to find it as easily.

Well I best be getting back to work and now Diane can't say that I am not keeping up with my blog. Don't worry all I am going to try really hard and the more I tell people about my blog the greater my responsiblity for keeping it up because as you all know I hate to let people down :)

Until Later
~Sarah B.

Start of the Last weekend

So I am officially at the start of my last weekend home, and I am going to make it a good one. Tonight I am going out with my brother and sister-in-law! We should have a good time :) Fred didn't want to come out with us, but I am pretty good at talking him into things...I am his favorite sister as we all know!

I also had lunch today with my mom and her friend Jean, it was nice and since I was babysitting for Josee we also had some free entertainment as Josee loves to show off and get attention...not like anyone else I know :)

Hopefully this weekend I will be spending time with my friend Sarah for one last lunch, going out to dinner with my parents, and making sure I have everything I need before I leave, so I am sure that I will be making some shopping trips!! I have not even started packing yet, it is not necessarily procrastination, it is more that I have very little in terms of clothing so I need them out as long as possible.

This week I invested in some good walking shoes, a DVD holder, an excercise band and an exercise video, I am bound and determined to continue losing weight and keep off what has already left. I lived to long with it now I want it gone forever, it was never good company! At least I have a limited weight requirement for luggage then I can purchase new clothing while in Romania :)

Well that is all for the updates today, on Wednesday at this time I will be in Washington D.C. hopefully I don't have any crazy stories about getting from the airport to the hotel, so if I get a chance to post that night after all of the staging events, I am praying that they are only pleasant...but then again trouble has a knack for finding me :)

Until later
~Sarah B.

T-One Week

So I am officially one week away from departure...yikes!!! The nerves are starting to set in as the timeline gets shorter. I am super excited to go, this experience is going to be unbelievable! I know that it is going to be difficult for a while, but I know that perseverance will pay off in the end as it always does :)

So today I had to say goodbye to my favorite student, I have been teaching him basically since he moved here. He came to the United States in June and started lessons in July. When he first moved here he did not know a bit of English, not even hello or goodbye...nothing. Needless to say the first few months were very difficult, but he continued to come to lessons and every week he learned more and more. By our last lesson he was able to have conversations in English, granted they were not extremely advanced as he has been studying for less than a year, but he has learned so much, it feels so good to know that I was able to teach him so much and have such an influence on his life. He will have a new teacher while I am away as well, so he will continue to learn and get better at English to make his new life in the United States easier so he is able to support his children who are still in Mexico.

While saying goodbye is never fun, there will be a lot of it in this final week, but I am determined to make it a good week. The tears have not yet come and as long as I don't see anyone else cry I should be okay, so that means keep the tears away! But my week has started off well, my sister-in-law Laura got me hooked on American Idol because of Danny Gokey, I mean you have to support your state and he is the only one from Wisconsin who has been on Idol thus far and he did Milwaukee proud. While he did not win he did come in 3rd which is amazing and he will have a fantastic career. Tonight however was the finale and my second favorite Kris was one of the top 2 and he won!!! Don't get me wrong Adam is also amazing, but I think he is more of a performer and while he did great the whole season, Kris grew into such an amazing artist and did such great songs every week with so much variability he truly became the American Idol and I was ecstatic that he won! I was also happy that I was able to watch the remainder of Idol before I left, and I am not hooked on anything else so I should be okay while I am away :)

Oh I did invest in a digital camera and I usually forget to use cameras, but while I am away I am going to try to take pictures of everything so I can get the most out of my experience and remember everything that I can throughout my journey!!!!

Until Later
~Sarah B.

Getting Closer

So it I can't believe that in 8 days I will be leaving for my new journey...I am starting to get a little nervous. When I knew it was far away it was easy to make light of the situation, because it was months away, but now with it only a week away the nerves are starting to set in and the goodbyes are getting real. I am still very excited to leave, but I have a bunch of nervous emotions to go along with the excitement.

It seems like my adventure which will take me away from the technologies of the United States has actually brought me closer to technology, maybe it is because I fear leaving it...I am unsure. Since I found out I was leaving I have recieved and iPod shuffle and a Kindle (basically an electronic device you can download books onto--but it can also do a ton of other cool stuff) and I have purchased a laptop and I will be purchasing a digital camera today. I don't know what is with the run on technology, but I like it because a lot of it will keep me close to home and help me to document my journey, I don't want to rely on my memory alone because this will be an amazing adventure that I will probably never be able to describe in enough detail to do it justice.

Well that is all for now, Laura and I are going to Best Buy to find a camera and maybe do something else along the way, I need to spend as much time with my family as I can in my final week at home!!

Until Later

~Sarah B.

Going Away Party

So they say that it takes 21 days to make a habit, well I am going to try to make a habit in 10 days...we will see what happens. Even though I am not gone yet, I still have a lot of preparations before I leave, so I figure if I write about those I will be in the habit of posting and I will be more likely to continue posting, let's see if it works...

So last night was my going away party, it was so nice to be able to see everyone one last time before I left, since I am pretty close to all of my family I am glad I was able to spend some time with them before leaving on my new adventure.

I have to admit I was a little surprised at how quickly the food disappeared, we couldn't keep the nescos full enough and people just ate it all up...literally, but I am glad that everyone enjoyed it and hopefully the company as well.

Overall I think the night went well, it just would have been nice if it would have been a little warmer out, we were blocked from the wind, but it was still a very chilly May day, but at least the sun was out, things never seem as bad as when the sun is out.

Well that is all for today, I will try to post something new tomorrow as well just to keep the habit going....oh and I wanted to thank everyone for coming out last night and for all the nice gifts that I recieved it was very thoughtful of you and I appreciated it greatly, thanks!!!

Introduction

So as my journey into the Peace Corps is about to begin shortly, I thought I would get a blog started so I can attempt to keep everyone as up-to-date as possible on my adventures. I am currently preparing for my going away party and it feels like everything is done, so I needed to find something else to do to keep my mind occupied :)

I am not good with journals and what not, but I am going to try to keep this up as there are a lot of important people that I want to know how I am doing, so I will try my best since communication will not be very easy while I am overseas, so I am going to work hard at this.

That is all for now, my adventure will begin May 27th at 7:30 AM as I leave Milwaukee for Washington D.C. for some predeparture information and then I will board a flight to Romania on May 28th :)