An email I wrote to my family and close friends after my first week at Canyonlands (abbreviated, if you can believe it): Continue reading “Copy and Paste: Canyonlands Week 1”
Author: Mariana
I like to keep moving.
Well, Hello
It’s been a long time since my last post, and to be honest, I didn’t intend on writing again. A lot has happened in the past few months. And my life seemed to be heading in a direction that wasn’t exactly consistent with the mood and message of this blog. So I abandoned it. Continue reading “Well, Hello”
Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Why I Will Never Fly American Airlines Again
This post is long overdue, but the fact that I’m still angry enough to write about the incident a month and a half after it occurred definitely says something.
It took me three days, four airports, and two airlines to get home from spring break. This is my sad, sad story. Continue reading “Why I Will Never Fly American Airlines Again”
The Dominican Republic
For spring break this year my mom and I traveled to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic to visit our newly relocated family. This was the first time I had been to this part of the island for an extended period of time, as my family were previously all living in the capital, Santo Domingo. Punta Cana is located on the easternmost tip of the island, has one of the longest stretches of white sand beaches in the Caribbean, and might be one of the most beautiful places I have ever experienced. Continue reading “The Dominican Republic”
Paperwork Paperwork PAPERWORK
Just got back from a trip to visit the family in the Dominican Republic, I’ll write about that (as well as my hellish trip home) in a few days. But for now there’s lots of catching up to do, as I returned home to find these two lovely packages at my doorstep:
Along with happy little official acceptances and a few pages of information on the programs, both of these packages are chuck full of paperwork. The more daunting of the two is the Peace Corp packet, which is filled with medical papers that need to be filled out by 4 different type of doctors – my primary physician, dentist, gyno and a psychologist to verify that I’m either sane (or crazy) enough to go through with this.
Bahhhhhhh
Africa
Two pretty major things happened today.
First, I found out I didn’t make it through the second round of the Teach for America admissions process. Although I was disappointed, I wasn’t completely surprised (the surprise was really more that I got through the first round, seeing that TFA has a 9% acceptance rate), and to be honest, I was relieved. Training for TFA would have started in July, which meant I would have had to bail on my commitment to Canyonlands for the summer, as well as any potential travel plans for the next 2 years. I mostly applied because I didn’t want to close any doors, but I’ve had so many open doors to choose from lately, that I’m kind of glad one closed by itself.
Then, two hours later, Ally, my Peace Corp recruiter called.
They want me to go to Africa. Continue reading “Africa”
5 Months Later
I was accepted to the Peace Corp some time in November, and since then have heard almost nothing. Continue reading “5 Months Later”
You Must Be The Change You Wish To See In The World
I couldn’t think of a name for this very first post. But when I think about the things that brought me to this decision, this quote from Mahatma Gandhi always comes to the front of my mind. Maybe it’s corny. Maybe it’s idealistic and silly. It’s definitely a bit cliche. But it makes sense to me in this moment. It’s one of the first things that has really made sense to me in a long time. So I’ll start off my blog with that.
You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
I came to the decision to apply to the peace corps about a week ago. I sent in my completed application yesterday. It all happened very fast, though I know the rest of the application process will likely continue on agonizingly slow.
This blog will probably not be updated for several weeks, as I wait to hear if I have made it through the first round of the application process. I decided to create it now more as an outlet for my procrastination than anything else. Eventually I hope to use this page to keep in touch with family and friends during my adventures and experiences abroad. For now though, this little blog will probably sit here idly until the big day when I find out whether or not it has a future.
Until then,
Mariana
marianaonthemove.com 