Time Flies When You’re Having Fun

Boy, it’s been a month since my last post! I kept procrastinating telling myself I needed to post, but I didn’t realize it’s been this long.

Well, as enjoyable as the past month has been, there’s not really much to write about. I spent the entire time not working, eating, drinking, and hanging with friends and family. After three weeks in Milwaukee filled with some of the best home cooking known to man, I came back to NYC 10 lbs heavier for two and a half weeks and restaurant hopped all over the Lower East Side.

Tidbits:

-I finished my ESL certification during my stay in Milwaukee. So I now officially hold a 100-hour TESL/TEFL/TESOL certification!

-I definitely over packed! As concise as I thought my packing was, in weighing and repacking our trunks, I realized The Mister determined I had way too many clothes and unnecessary belongings. After a great many vetoing sessions we he was able to get my wardrobe down to a reasonable amount and my other belongings down to the true bare necessities.

And now it’s go time! I’ll be leaving for Ghana in just a few hours! I don’t know how soon after arriving I’ll be able to get internet, but I can say for certain my next post will be from Ghanaian soil! I can’t wait to take in and share my first impressions with you all!

Done Done & Done

Whew, I’m back. I apologize for not writing in a while, but I’ve been busy accomplishing all the things I will tell you about in this post. 

First up was my trip to the DMV. Typical of a true New Yorker, I neither drive nor am I licensed to do so. I had a learner’s permit once, but it expired. Since then my only form of ID has been my passport. In order to travel to Ghana we need to apply for a visa. As a part of the process I had to submit my passport with the application. So that left me ID-less—hence my trip to the DMV. I had to get a non-driver’s ID card. Unlike my trip to Borough Hall, the DMV was quite uneventful. In true city agency style, there were way more windows than workers. But the genius in the DMV waiting system is its use of alpha-numeric call numbers that keeps you in the dark as to just how many people are in front of you.

DMV Call number LED board

 There’s no apparent order to which letter group is called next, so you’re basically forced to sit and wait. It really wasn’t too long of an ordeal from start to finish and $14 later I have an ID that’s good for 8 years—even if I am looking down in the picture. 

So if you’re keeping track, that’s DMV and visas—check. 

Last weekend was our last Oxford class in which as a final evaluation we taught a practicum. There’s really no way to fail, but I did well, received a great evaluation, and was even ranked in the top 25% of the class. So I currently hold a 60 hour certification and am technically certified to teach ESL, however, there is a 40 hour online grammar portion to complete that will grant me a 100 hour certification. I’ll be completing the extended certification over the next few weeks, but as far as I’m concerned: Oxford certification—check. 

I am most excited to report that Friday was my last day of work… Check! Having finished the project that I was working on Thursday, I spent the entire work day Friday reading expat blogs of their Ghanaian adventures. This is when the true excitement hit me. I realized that having officially finished work, everything that I do from here on out will be in preparation for my trip abroad. It also hit me that I have 3 weeks to pack! 

The Mister and I are spending Thanksgiving with his family in the Midwest. That is also where we will store our belongings that we aren’t taking with us to Ghana. So, do the math, even though we’re not leaving for Ghana until the end of December, we have to have our entire apartment packed up and vacated by Thanksgiving. Friday may have been my last day of work, but really the work has just begun!

Back to School

When I started this blog, I figured now would be a perfect time to do so, given that so much is happening in my life all at once. But for that very reason, this is also an insane time to take on the responsibility of maintaining a blog; but I will do my best.

So I’ve been MIA, because I’ve had a pretty hectic schedule lately. A lot of odds and ends to take care of and most worthy of mentioning: school’s in session! Triple time, at that!

For the past year I have been teaching an adult GED course, which is back in session for the fall semester. This semester, I have also signed up to teach an ESL class. (I figured it would help to have some classroom experience as I embark on my TESL/TEFL certification.) And finally, this weekend The Mister and I started our TESL/TEFL certification course. So between lesson planning, teaching, learning, homework, and oh yeah—working nine to five… busy doesn’t even begin to describe it.

But I’m not here to complain; there’s definitely a silver lining to all of these errands and responsibilities. As much time and energy it takes to be a teacher, I have never had a more fulfilling experience. As much as I wanted to be out enjoying the beautiful NYC weather this weekend, the skills and concepts I’m acquiring in my certification course will help me to be a better teacher here and abroad. And every errand that I run is another check on the preparations for Ghana checklist.

Speaking of errands, I’m super excited about an errand The Mister and I will be tackling tomorrow: Rings!

TAP TAP TAP... Is this thing on?

                                                                                                                                                          Source
Peace reader! Thanks for joining me.

My name is Rose.* I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.  I wouldn’t say Brooklyn is all I know, seeing as though I attended boarding schools for both high school and undergrad, and my passport has seen its share of ink stamps. But I will say Brooklyn is the only home I know.

I am 27 years old and engaged to the love of my life—let’s call him: The Mister. (His choice, not mine! I actually hate it.) For the past 5 years, I’ve been not so happily working a dead end position at a top NYC law firm. The Mister and I have been throwing around the idea of leaving NYC for quite some time, however the timing never really seemed right. And truth be told, my love for all things Brooklyn probably kept us grounded here far longer than necessary.

One night not too long ago, The Mister and I were talking about future plans and the prospect of teaching English abroad arose. It’s something we’ve both wanted to do and had talked about before, but that night we discovered the fire of desire was well alive. So we researched opportunities and avenues and decided to take an Oxford Seminars certification course. We had looked into Oxford Seminars when we considered teaching abroad in the past—we even attended the information session. But something was different this time. We had committed ourselves to going to abroad.  I’m a firm believer in the adage, “everything happens for a reason.”  In order to take advantage of discounts offered, The Mister and I attended an info session (even though we attended an info session in the past). At the end of the session, as we were filling out our registration forms, a batty old woman who had been interrupting the presenter’s spiel with nonsensical questions comes over to us. She was extremely chatty and invasive of personal space. So we’re both kinda mmhmm-ing her while concentrating on our applications, willing her to go away. Are you annoyed yet? We were. So I’ll save you the details, long story short: she dropped the name of a website that posts paid and volunteer opportunities available overseas. We jotted down the website, wished her luck and went on about our business.

The next evening, I came home from work to The Mister raving about an awesome opportunity he came across on the website the old batty woman had suggested to us. To make what could turn into a really long story short: we both applied, and here two weeks later, we’ve been accepted and offered positions.

Now, in the next 3 months, I’ll be leaving my job, giving up my apartment, getting married, saying goodbye to my friends, family and the only home I know, and boarding a plane headed to Ghana, Africa starting life anew as a wife, teacher, student of life and returned daughter of Africa. 

*Well sorta. Rose is actually my middle name. In the interest of anonymity, I’ll be using it as a nom de plume for this blog. The internet is a very dangerous place for a paranoid like me.