Here's the news we've all been waiting for.
As I was driving back to Dallas from my dentist appointment in Austin on Monday, I received a phone call from an unidentified number. Since I've been waiting for THE call to come, I answered politely, "Hannah Frank."
"Hi this is ---- from the Peace Corps Placement Office. How are you today?"
Mmmmmm, "Great" now that you've called.
After pulling over and having a thirty minute conversation with the nice lady from DC, I was informed that a letter of invitation was on its way to my door.
For some reason, they could not reveal the specific country to me over the phone, but I did learn my departure date and region - Africa, Sept. 20, 2008. That left me with 3-5 business days in which to pace back in forth in angst, wondering where I could be heading.
You can imagine my excitement when I went to take the trash out on Friday afternoon and saw the mail man at the mail station. Poor man - I probably scared him half to death.
"HEY! Did you bring me anything exciting today?! Possibly a large envelope from Washington?!"
Joy of joys, there it sat, at the bottom of his bin of mail. I could have hugged him, if he had looked more like the sort who would liked to be hugged by a stranger.
I couldn't wait until I got back to my apartment. Halfway between the mail box and my building I read the magical word - "GHANA."
That's right folks. I'm leaving on September 20th for the West Africa nation of Ghana. I haven't had a lot of time to research the country yet, as I had to leave for a retreat about 20 minutes after receiving the letter. I do know off the top of my head that it was the first country to which Peace Corps volunteers were assigned when the program began in 1961. Therefore, I feel like I'm joining quite a team.
I'll try and keep you posted as time toils on between now and then. If you're in the mood for a little reading on the Peace Corps in general between now and then, I've added a bunch of stuff to my website (http://web.mac.com/hannahefrank/iWeb/Site/Peace%20Corps.html).
Until later,
Hannah
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Sunday, February 03, 2008
The long awaited blog entry
Those of you who actually read my blog may have noticed a sizable gap between my last blog entry and this one. The explanation is both simple and complicated. Simple in that I simply don't want to talk about all the shit that's gone down in the past few weeks and complicated in that the shit that has gone down has not been of the sort that is easily explained in a blog entry. To sum things up - people are assholes.
Let's just leave it at that.
That being said, I'd like to think that I've had a good weekend. I finally convinced myself that three weeks of coughing is enough and went to the doctor. Thanks to some amazing antibiotics, I am now over the allergy-induced bronchitis and am able to go about business as usual. Though I had been planning a trip to Big Bend since October, in the past week all the friends who were to join me found a way to cancel on me. I'm not rich by any means; there's no way I can justify driving to Big Bend by myself for a long weekend. I should have been depressed by this development, and I was until I saw my email on Tuesday. As it turned out, my favorite singer-songwriter, Terri Hendrix, was coming through Dallas on Friday night. I bought myself a ticket and went to see her show at Bend Studio (if you haven't been to a show there, you should go - http://www.bendstudio.com). I finally had a chance to thank my rock star friend for the fabulous shirt she sent...
If any of you want to know what's been going on in the past few weeks, you know my number. I've had enough and am ready to move on. If things go as planned my next blog entry should have something to do with my peace corps placement....
Let's just leave it at that.
That being said, I'd like to think that I've had a good weekend. I finally convinced myself that three weeks of coughing is enough and went to the doctor. Thanks to some amazing antibiotics, I am now over the allergy-induced bronchitis and am able to go about business as usual. Though I had been planning a trip to Big Bend since October, in the past week all the friends who were to join me found a way to cancel on me. I'm not rich by any means; there's no way I can justify driving to Big Bend by myself for a long weekend. I should have been depressed by this development, and I was until I saw my email on Tuesday. As it turned out, my favorite singer-songwriter, Terri Hendrix, was coming through Dallas on Friday night. I bought myself a ticket and went to see her show at Bend Studio (if you haven't been to a show there, you should go - http://www.bendstudio.com). I finally had a chance to thank my rock star friend for the fabulous shirt she sent...
If any of you want to know what's been going on in the past few weeks, you know my number. I've had enough and am ready to move on. If things go as planned my next blog entry should have something to do with my peace corps placement....
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Next time I'll have to remember to order Mexico sin vomito.
I was having the most fabulous trip for the first two days. Yes, the bus ride was long, but not that bad. We had lots of good food and company, especially hanging out on the rooftop terrace in the hostel. The problems started on the third morning.
When I woke up, my first thought was that the "hangover" I had was not in proportion to the amount of alcohol consumed the previous evening. As it turned out, it was not a hangover at all. It was the very beginning of a major case of Montezuma's Revenge.
As the average reader of this blog may already know, I'm quite a well-travelled person. I've been to Mexico numerous times and never once suffered more that what Russell once described as "soft-serve poo." The rules I follow are rather simple - No ice. No water unless from a bottle, even when brushing teeth. Mouth closed in the shower. Nothing fresh that doesn't have a peel. Yet, somehow, by the end of the day on the 30th, I found myself cloistered in one of only two shared bathrooms of the hostel, much to the chagrin of the other residents. I've decided that the fault lies with the chile verde enchiladas I had the night before. But lets go back to the beginning.
After waking and dismissing my mild nausea as the result of our fiesta, I joined the others on a hike to the top of la Buffa, the mountain that over looks the city (which is already at almost 7000 feet). About halfway up the side, I was about to pass out, but still insisted that it was some combination of a hangover and altitude sickness. I made it just shy of the top before I finally relented and laid down in the shade. (On a cool little side note, while laying there, a woman passed with a Peace Corps patch on her bag. I talked to her for about 20 minutes and am still so excited, I can't wait to find out where I'm going).
After a round trip of about 10 miles, we finally made it back to the center of town. I tried to eat some soup but to no avail. I ended up going to bed and not getting up except to go to the bathroom until late the following afternoon.
I like to look at the bright side of things though. Mexican medicine is amazing stuff, though I really don't want to know what's in it. Blake went to the farmacia for me the next morning and broke back some magical pills that in a few short hour took me from unable to hold down water to eating saltines and pounding back the gatorade (I was probably severely dehydrated at this point, but as I had other problems, I wasn't too upset by it). By nighttime, I was ready to enjoy my New Year's Eve, even if the celebration wasn't exactly what I had in mind.
The three of us staying in the hostel (out of our group of seven), were invited to the house of Senora Magdalena, the other four's host. She made roast pork and insisted upon ringing in 2008 with cider and 12 grapes (each person must make a wish for each one - 12 because of the 12 months). I never thought that celebrating New Year's with an 82-year-old woman would be so much fun, but we had an amazing night. And it wasn't just because I was finally able to hold down something other than crackers, though that was certainly exciting.
Nonetheless, I'll have to remember next time to order Mexico sin vomito.
When I woke up, my first thought was that the "hangover" I had was not in proportion to the amount of alcohol consumed the previous evening. As it turned out, it was not a hangover at all. It was the very beginning of a major case of Montezuma's Revenge.
As the average reader of this blog may already know, I'm quite a well-travelled person. I've been to Mexico numerous times and never once suffered more that what Russell once described as "soft-serve poo." The rules I follow are rather simple - No ice. No water unless from a bottle, even when brushing teeth. Mouth closed in the shower. Nothing fresh that doesn't have a peel. Yet, somehow, by the end of the day on the 30th, I found myself cloistered in one of only two shared bathrooms of the hostel, much to the chagrin of the other residents. I've decided that the fault lies with the chile verde enchiladas I had the night before. But lets go back to the beginning.
After waking and dismissing my mild nausea as the result of our fiesta, I joined the others on a hike to the top of la Buffa, the mountain that over looks the city (which is already at almost 7000 feet). About halfway up the side, I was about to pass out, but still insisted that it was some combination of a hangover and altitude sickness. I made it just shy of the top before I finally relented and laid down in the shade. (On a cool little side note, while laying there, a woman passed with a Peace Corps patch on her bag. I talked to her for about 20 minutes and am still so excited, I can't wait to find out where I'm going).
After a round trip of about 10 miles, we finally made it back to the center of town. I tried to eat some soup but to no avail. I ended up going to bed and not getting up except to go to the bathroom until late the following afternoon.
I like to look at the bright side of things though. Mexican medicine is amazing stuff, though I really don't want to know what's in it. Blake went to the farmacia for me the next morning and broke back some magical pills that in a few short hour took me from unable to hold down water to eating saltines and pounding back the gatorade (I was probably severely dehydrated at this point, but as I had other problems, I wasn't too upset by it). By nighttime, I was ready to enjoy my New Year's Eve, even if the celebration wasn't exactly what I had in mind.
The three of us staying in the hostel (out of our group of seven), were invited to the house of Senora Magdalena, the other four's host. She made roast pork and insisted upon ringing in 2008 with cider and 12 grapes (each person must make a wish for each one - 12 because of the 12 months). I never thought that celebrating New Year's with an 82-year-old woman would be so much fun, but we had an amazing night. And it wasn't just because I was finally able to hold down something other than crackers, though that was certainly exciting.
Nonetheless, I'll have to remember next time to order Mexico sin vomito.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The road to Guanajuato
I love Guanajuato. I had forgotten how much until I stepped off the bus yesterday morning and on to its busy streets. After over 24 hours of bus riding madness, from Houston to McAllen to Leon, I finally made it back to my favorite Mexican city.
It´s a city unlike many others in this country. As a UNESCO World Heritage site, regular traffic is kept to a minimum and only cars and smaller buses can navigate its narrow, winding streets. Roaming about as a pedestrian is quite an adventure.
We arrived only yesterday morning and already it feels like we´ve been here a week. The food is sooo tasty and sooo cheap, as are the cervezas. After a relaxing first day, we hopped a bus this morning to Cristo Rey, a monument to (who else) Jesus at the top of a mountain. It was a long, very bumping and hair-raising bus ride but we got to see the giant statue. It was worth it, as the view from the top was amazing.
I´m not sure what the plan is for the next few days. We´re just sort of playing it by ear. But odds are they will include 1) good picture opportunities 2) tasty yet cheap meals and 3) siestas on the rooftop terrace of our hostel, with cervezas in hand. What more could a girl as for?
It´s a city unlike many others in this country. As a UNESCO World Heritage site, regular traffic is kept to a minimum and only cars and smaller buses can navigate its narrow, winding streets. Roaming about as a pedestrian is quite an adventure.
We arrived only yesterday morning and already it feels like we´ve been here a week. The food is sooo tasty and sooo cheap, as are the cervezas. After a relaxing first day, we hopped a bus this morning to Cristo Rey, a monument to (who else) Jesus at the top of a mountain. It was a long, very bumping and hair-raising bus ride but we got to see the giant statue. It was worth it, as the view from the top was amazing.
I´m not sure what the plan is for the next few days. We´re just sort of playing it by ear. But odds are they will include 1) good picture opportunities 2) tasty yet cheap meals and 3) siestas on the rooftop terrace of our hostel, with cervezas in hand. What more could a girl as for?
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Brrrrrrr.
I've had quite a bit of fun these past few days. After a couple of days with Grandma Glenna and Grandpa P.D. in Glen Rose, I finally made it to Austin on Thursday night, just in time for dollar night at the Library (yes, there is a bar called the Library - and here you were thinking I was a giant nerd). The plans I had made to meet up with some friends for said dollar night didn't pan out, but as luck would have it, I had a wonderful alternative. The day before I received an email out of the blue from a good friend of mine who I hadn't heard from in quite a while.
I hadn't seen my e-club buddy Chad in a couple of years at least (we tried and couldn't remember when the last time was). He's been down in the Caribbean for awhile helping the Bach's rebuild their sailboat (check out www.kaiohana.com if you want to know what I'm talking about). He's in town for a couple of months right now before he heads to Prague for at least 6 months and possibly 4 years if things go as planned. So of course I had to see him! I drove down to his neck of the woods as soon as I got into Austin.
A few rounds of pool and a couple of beers later, at about 1 in the morning on Friday, we came up with a brilliant plan (or at least what we thought was a brilliant plan at the time). Desiring to get away from the traffic that was sure to come from the hoards of holiday shoppers on the Saturday before Christmas, we decided that a roadtrip to Enchanted Rock was in order. And you can't just drive out there for the day. Well, I guess technically you could, but that would just be lame. By the end of the evening we had decided to head out early on Saturday and camp out at the base of the rock (since they won't let you camp on top of it :-D) until Sunday morning.
What we didn't realize at that time was the weather forecast for Saturday night wasn't quite ideal for camping. But Mavericks that we are, we couldn't be swayed. While Saturday would prove to be sunny and beautiful, the solstice sunset brought with it frigid temperatures, just as the weatherman predicted. Instead of the nice 65 we had seen during the day, we were subjected to a low of 28, according to the ranger lady I asked before we left. We had a good time though. The hiking in the daytime was fabulous, I had a chance to get a growler of ale from the Frederickburg Brewery as we passed through on the way to Enchanted Rock (even if it was too cold to drink any of it while we were there), and I had a wonderful time catching up with a good friend.
I would however like to take this moment to pause and say thank you to the powers that be for the wonderful gift we has a people have in woolly socks. In the words of Pablo Neruda,
"Beauty is twice beauty
and what is good is doubly good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool in winter." (From "Ode to My Socks")
And on that note, I'll say goodbye with some words once sung by Robert Earl Keen,
"Merry Christmas everybody. Happy Holidays, yall"
(You'll want to download and listen to "Merry Christmas from the Family" at this point, as it's the only Christmas song I can listen to over and over again and not go crazy).
I hadn't seen my e-club buddy Chad in a couple of years at least (we tried and couldn't remember when the last time was). He's been down in the Caribbean for awhile helping the Bach's rebuild their sailboat (check out www.kaiohana.com if you want to know what I'm talking about). He's in town for a couple of months right now before he heads to Prague for at least 6 months and possibly 4 years if things go as planned. So of course I had to see him! I drove down to his neck of the woods as soon as I got into Austin.
A few rounds of pool and a couple of beers later, at about 1 in the morning on Friday, we came up with a brilliant plan (or at least what we thought was a brilliant plan at the time). Desiring to get away from the traffic that was sure to come from the hoards of holiday shoppers on the Saturday before Christmas, we decided that a roadtrip to Enchanted Rock was in order. And you can't just drive out there for the day. Well, I guess technically you could, but that would just be lame. By the end of the evening we had decided to head out early on Saturday and camp out at the base of the rock (since they won't let you camp on top of it :-D) until Sunday morning.
What we didn't realize at that time was the weather forecast for Saturday night wasn't quite ideal for camping. But Mavericks that we are, we couldn't be swayed. While Saturday would prove to be sunny and beautiful, the solstice sunset brought with it frigid temperatures, just as the weatherman predicted. Instead of the nice 65 we had seen during the day, we were subjected to a low of 28, according to the ranger lady I asked before we left. We had a good time though. The hiking in the daytime was fabulous, I had a chance to get a growler of ale from the Frederickburg Brewery as we passed through on the way to Enchanted Rock (even if it was too cold to drink any of it while we were there), and I had a wonderful time catching up with a good friend.
I would however like to take this moment to pause and say thank you to the powers that be for the wonderful gift we has a people have in woolly socks. In the words of Pablo Neruda,
"Beauty is twice beauty
and what is good is doubly good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool in winter." (From "Ode to My Socks")
And on that note, I'll say goodbye with some words once sung by Robert Earl Keen,
"Merry Christmas everybody. Happy Holidays, yall"
(You'll want to download and listen to "Merry Christmas from the Family" at this point, as it's the only Christmas song I can listen to over and over again and not go crazy).
Saturday, December 08, 2007
It's official...
No, I haven't gotten the good news I've been waiting for (my Peace Corps assignment, that is). But I did get some good news this weekend that was almost as nice to hear. The semester grades are up and (drumroll...) I ended up with 4 A's and 2 A+'s. Woohoo! Much better than I thought was possible. I am definitely guilty of being a senior, and spent much of the semester playing catchup due to my spectacular ability to procrastinate. But I made it through alright, and it's all downhill from here. Next semester's classes will be difficult, but the graduate ones (which are the hardest of the ones I'm taking) don't count towards my GPA, which takes quite a bit of pressure off.
I'm still waiting for that dang letter to come from the Peace Corps. It'll be awhile yet, I'm sure. But I keep deluding myself into thinking that it could come any day now between now and May. I therefore check the mailbox religiously each day at 5 oclock. Even on Sundays, just in case Saturday's mail was late or something. I just want to know where I'm going. That's all I ask.
Whatever the case may be, I'm getting more and more excited each day.
Today was wonderful. A nice bike ride in even nicer weather (shoot, the temperature shot up into sandal range today), and a concert by my very favorite singer/songwriter. Terri - thanks for writing my theme songs. Some day, I might get around to writing one of my own. But first, I have to figure out this mandolin...
Right now though, there's a beer in the fridge with my name on it (quite literally - I didn't want Erica to drink it) and a book that I've been dying to read.
Hannah B., signin' off.
I'm still waiting for that dang letter to come from the Peace Corps. It'll be awhile yet, I'm sure. But I keep deluding myself into thinking that it could come any day now between now and May. I therefore check the mailbox religiously each day at 5 oclock. Even on Sundays, just in case Saturday's mail was late or something. I just want to know where I'm going. That's all I ask.
Whatever the case may be, I'm getting more and more excited each day.
Today was wonderful. A nice bike ride in even nicer weather (shoot, the temperature shot up into sandal range today), and a concert by my very favorite singer/songwriter. Terri - thanks for writing my theme songs. Some day, I might get around to writing one of my own. But first, I have to figure out this mandolin...
Right now though, there's a beer in the fridge with my name on it (quite literally - I didn't want Erica to drink it) and a book that I've been dying to read.
Hannah B., signin' off.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Fun times
I made it through finals week...finally. It was one of those horrible semesters where I had an actual exam in almost every class. Bleh. But I managed to get through them without going crazy, mostly because they were nicely spaced. I'm still waiting for grades to come out but I feel like I did alright, in most of the classes anyway.
So where does that leave me for the next month? It's turning into quite a busy winter for me. I'm flying to St. Louis tomorrow afternoon. After enjoying a wonderful evening of Chris' hospitality (which we all know is awesome), I'm stealing his car and driving to Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. SEMO is home to the Center for Faulkner Studies, which houses one of the best Faulkner archives in the country. They have a couple of items that I am interested in looking at, as they relate to my honors thesis. After spending all day in a sort of nerd euphoria, I'll head to Carbondale to hang with the Leonards (it's only an hour to Carbondale as opposed to the two hours it would take to get back to St. Louis). After that I'll loop back around to St. Louis and spend Thursday hanging out, doing something fun like going to the museum (which is free in St. Louis and quite good). Maybe a sandwich on The Hill (little Italy).
I'll be back in Dallas on Friday. Saturday I have tickets to see my hero, Terri Hendrix, at some little place up near Denton. (I'm sooooo very excited about this - my last chance to see her for quite a while). Then it's another week of getting by in Dallas, with most of my friends gone for the holidays.
On Thursday (the 13th), I'm going to head down to Austin for a long weekend. Uncle Todd and I are contemplating a whirlwind trip to Denver (now that there's nonstop service there from Austin), to see cousin Susan and maybe get some snowboarding in. Then once again it's back to Dallas to deal with more stuff.
Christmas. Bleh. We all know how that is. I wish I could just skip over it. Except for maybe the annual Christmas Eve mission to the Armadillo Xmas Bazaar with Uncle T to see the Texana Dames play and get some cds at Cheapos. I missed that last year because of the jerks in Russia, but not this year.
The most exciting thing about my break from school comes right after Christmas. Molly and I decided that sitting around in our respective hometowns for the week after Christmas (which happens to be her 21st birthday) would be just too boring. So we bought a couple of bus tickets. We're leaving on the Greyhound from Houston on the 27th, will arrive in McAllen (deep south Texas) later that day, and hop another bus which will take us across the border and all the way to Guanajuato. Woohoo! Some friends are meeting us in McAllen and traveling with us from there. More importantly, these friends speak Spanish (all I can do is order drinks and ask how much something costs). We found a great hostel for a great price. We're going to live it up in one of our favorite towns. Maybe even see some of our local friends. I'm so excited I can't sit still.
Unfortunately, I still have to pack and get up really early in the morning. So adieu for now.
So where does that leave me for the next month? It's turning into quite a busy winter for me. I'm flying to St. Louis tomorrow afternoon. After enjoying a wonderful evening of Chris' hospitality (which we all know is awesome), I'm stealing his car and driving to Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. SEMO is home to the Center for Faulkner Studies, which houses one of the best Faulkner archives in the country. They have a couple of items that I am interested in looking at, as they relate to my honors thesis. After spending all day in a sort of nerd euphoria, I'll head to Carbondale to hang with the Leonards (it's only an hour to Carbondale as opposed to the two hours it would take to get back to St. Louis). After that I'll loop back around to St. Louis and spend Thursday hanging out, doing something fun like going to the museum (which is free in St. Louis and quite good). Maybe a sandwich on The Hill (little Italy).
I'll be back in Dallas on Friday. Saturday I have tickets to see my hero, Terri Hendrix, at some little place up near Denton. (I'm sooooo very excited about this - my last chance to see her for quite a while). Then it's another week of getting by in Dallas, with most of my friends gone for the holidays.
On Thursday (the 13th), I'm going to head down to Austin for a long weekend. Uncle Todd and I are contemplating a whirlwind trip to Denver (now that there's nonstop service there from Austin), to see cousin Susan and maybe get some snowboarding in. Then once again it's back to Dallas to deal with more stuff.
Christmas. Bleh. We all know how that is. I wish I could just skip over it. Except for maybe the annual Christmas Eve mission to the Armadillo Xmas Bazaar with Uncle T to see the Texana Dames play and get some cds at Cheapos. I missed that last year because of the jerks in Russia, but not this year.
The most exciting thing about my break from school comes right after Christmas. Molly and I decided that sitting around in our respective hometowns for the week after Christmas (which happens to be her 21st birthday) would be just too boring. So we bought a couple of bus tickets. We're leaving on the Greyhound from Houston on the 27th, will arrive in McAllen (deep south Texas) later that day, and hop another bus which will take us across the border and all the way to Guanajuato. Woohoo! Some friends are meeting us in McAllen and traveling with us from there. More importantly, these friends speak Spanish (all I can do is order drinks and ask how much something costs). We found a great hostel for a great price. We're going to live it up in one of our favorite towns. Maybe even see some of our local friends. I'm so excited I can't sit still.
Unfortunately, I still have to pack and get up really early in the morning. So adieu for now.
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