Things I need to get for my trip!

It's funny to think how people change and develop over the years. As a teen and in my early 20's I LOVED to shop. I don't think I could ever have had too many clothes and shoes and as my mothers daughter I could never resist a bargain! Well, now at 27 years old I get my thrills in different ways. But I can't lie, there is one purchase that I am just dying to make.....books! My amazon shopping cart has reached well over 300$! I am going to be swimming in books! As I am only alloted 100 lbs of luggage to last me for the next 27 months, I think I might need to narrow this list down!

Here is what I have so far:

• From the center of the earth: Stories out of the Peace Corps, by Geraldine Kennedy
• Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver, by Scott Stossel
• The Bold Experiment: JFK's Peace Corps, by Gerard T. Rice
• All you need is love: The Peace Corps and the spirit on the 1960's, by Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman
• Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by Jack Weatherford
• We wait for you: Unheard voices from Post-Communist Romania, by Annabell Townson
• The new Russians, by Hedrick Smith
• Moldova: A Romanian province under Russian Rule: Diplomatic history from the archives of the great powers, by Marcel Mitrasca
• The Moldovans: Romania, Russia, and the politics of culture, by Charles King
• Balkan Ghosts: A journey through history, by Robert Kaplan
• The ugly American, by Eugene Burdick
• The village of waiting, by George Packer

Here are a few other things I have thought to purchase as of today

• A swiss army knife
• gortex rain coat
• Winter hiking boots
• hiking sandals
• games/crossword puzzles/sudoku/scrabble/chess/cards
• eletronics converter
• gifts for my host families, traditional "American" things
• A scrap book of all my family and friends
• Maps/posters/other things to spice up the classroom
• Grammar book
• Dictionary
• Thesaurus
• Anthology of modern American literature and short stories
• School supplies!

Looks like I've got some shopping to do! Hopefully I can channel the spirit of whatever part of me used to love to shop and get a kick out of buying all this stuff! Let me know if you know of any good deals!

The Invitation has arrived!

Well, it came. Finally! After a week and a half of running home everyday to check the mail, the package arrived at my doorstep and I came home to meet it late Thursday night March 19, 2009. My mom and my sister Shannon were in town spending the weekend with me, so it was nice to have them there to share in the excitement. I felt like I was in college again! I half expected to see “we regret to inform you…”. Anyway, as some of you may know I did some detective work and had a pretty good idea that Moldova was going to be my spot. I didn’t want to get too excited until I knew for sure, but my smile was ear to ear when I opened that letter. I have attached pictures of the official invitation, and also have a huge folder or forms to fill out and books to read about my placement. I have to write a statement of aspirations and update my resume to send directly to the peace corps staff in Moldova before I leave for my yoga retreat in the Bahamas tomorrow! Time to get to work!