Spanish Placement Test

We received an e-mail yesterday with a written Spanish placement test attached. The entire test was in Spanish, except for a single English instruction "do not use dictionaries, buddies, etc." I'm thankful that I took the class at Instituto Cervantes and have used Rosetta Stone, but it was pretty obvious that I should be in a novice group. I completed about a third of the test and suddenly didn't recognize any of the words. Plus, it looked like they wanted me to conjugate verbs in non-present tense...which, I don't know how to do. Overall, it took me over an hour to complete what I could. They will use this test (plus a phone interview, if needed) to put us into competency groups so that we all learn at the same pace. I don't think I'll be getting a callback for that oral interview.

Mexico 09

It's about a month from staging, and the Mexico 09 group (9th group in the Mexico program) has started exchanging e-mails. There are 18 of us, divided between CONACYT (the engineering focused organization) and SEMARNAT (the environmental focused organization). I think it will be really interesting to learn what everyone's background is, as Mexico traditionally brings in volunteers with years of work experience. We meet in Washington D.C. on March 2nd for staging, then take off for Mexico on March 4th, moving in with our host families on March 5th. It should be a busy several days, as it is a quick orientation and information dump. I will post more information as I get it. My understanding is that getting free time and computer access to post online during staging and training may be hard, but I will do my best, since someone has already requested at least one update a week!

Some of the local staff have been talking with us about host families and eating preferences (i.e. pets / no pets, vegetarian, food allergies, etc.), so it is nice to see that they will try to take personal preferences into consideration. I should be pretty open to what I eat, but we'll see what happens when I actually see something on my plate!

Packing Redux - My pile

Ok, so I was originally going to post a picture of my PC packing pile as it existed a week ago, but it was definitely too disorganized for public consumption. So here is a picture of my current, slightly neater, pile. Now that all of my stuff has arrived home, I have started packing in earnest.

Even though the pile has been cleaned up a bit, there are still a couple of things wrong with it:

- It's big, and I'm pretty sure I can't fit all of that stuff into my packs.
- I haven't even thrown any clothes into the pile yet.
- My laptop also has not made it into the pile yet.

I will definitely have to pick and choose stuff to be removed. I'm not quite sure how all this random stuff made it into the pile, but I have to keep reminding myself that I can buy all of this in country (especially in Mexico, where I've heard my city has Costco, etc.). In reality, I just need enough to tide me over for a short period of time until I can go shopping.

Packing!

My manager called me today with some great news--my leave of absence has been approved! Many thanks to him and my HR consultant for pushing that through. Right off the bat, it means that I don't have to fly back on Jan 6th to turn in my badge, etc., so saves me a day trip. Secondly, although it doesn't guarantee me a job when I return from PC in 2011, nor does it mean I have to return to work, it does make it easier to get rehired.

I have also started the packing process, one of those things that perplexes me (I'm easily perlexed, though). What kind of luggage do I use? What do I take? What can I buy in country? Do I need a two-year supply of everything?!?!!? PC provides a country-specific packing list, but they also warn you that you will not be able to fit everything on that list into your luggage. So, you have to whittle it down to whatever you think you absolutely need--and what you can carry! There are limits on luggage (two checked bags, total dimensions of 107 inches, and total weight of 80 lbs, with no more than 50 lbs in a single bag). If you go over the limits and an airline charges you extra money, you're paying out of your own pocket. Keep in mind, a lot of countries do not have infrastructure like the US, and you wind up carrying your luggage over a dirt road or through narrow cobblestone streets instead of wheeling it on a paved sidewalk. I bought an REI Mars 85L backpack, which may be a little bit on the large side. However, I'm hoping I don't fill it up completely, and I can use the extra space while in country. My other checked bag will probably be a medium-sized duffle bag, with a messenger bag as my carry-on.

My packing experience so far has involved throwing things into a giant pile on my bedroom floor. I have some pictures of my pile, but unfortunately my camera cradle to download pictures (no straight USB connection) is in a cardboard box somewhere on a FedEx truck, so I will upload pictures later this week. It's a good thing my parents do not regularly walk by my bedroom...

Change is in the Air

Well, my "last" day of work was today, and I'm in a rush to wrap everything up by tomorrow. My lease ends tomorrow, I have to sell my car, finish packing, give away the last remnants of my belongings, and take a couple more boxes to FedEx to ship home. I then fly home for two months, including a 2.5 week trip to Taiwan and Australia to visit family, which will be a blast! Also, living with my parents for the next 2 months will be good preparation for living with host families for 4-5 months, especially after years of living on my own!

I may or may not be back in town, depending on if work grants me a leave of absence (LOA). No LOA means I have to come back on Jan 6th to officially separate, while an LOA means I get to stay home. Not exactly sure why the rules differ--I've been trying for the last week to have someone explain why I had to be here on my last day if I separated, and I was told I had no choice but to be here. Talking to people who have left other companies, it seems like standard practice, so there must be some type of legal precedence. Now this other scenario pops up at the last minute, where I may not have to come back! I already have my plane tickets for Jan 6th, so I guess I'm just super-prepared.

Thank you everyone for all of the farewell parties and well wishes! I will definitely miss all of you--please keep in touch! Leave me a comment or send me an e-mail at the address to the right. It has been a fun several years at work and in town, and who knows what will happen in the next two years.

Rosetta Stone

So, I was lucky and received a 1 year subscription to Level 3, Latin American Spanish from Rosetta Stone, courtesy of PC. I've been playing around with it for a couple of weeks now, and I hope to get through at least Level 2 before I leave (ideally the whole thing!). Hopefully this will put me on par with the others who are in my PC volunteer class. I've heard one couple is already planning a 2-month homestay in Mexico before March so that they can get a jump start on the language...

My experience with Rosetta Stone so far has been positive. I have tried a different online learning program, and there are some things I like more about Rosetta Stone (maybe due to all the hype):

- I've gone through 1.5 units in Level 1 (4 units total in Level 1). I have not seen a single word of English since everything is presented in pictures and Spanish. So, I am not as reliant on a Spanish-English dictionary.
- However, the trade-off is that there aren't any real grammar explanations. While the pictures are pretty good at explaining grammatical concepts (singular vs plural, first person vs third person, some verb conjugations), there are a couple of things that I am just not understanding. I wish the program would provide some type of explanation for these, since they advertise it as "the same as how you learned your first language"--but I'm pretty sure they taught us grammar in school.
- They go back and force you to periodically review modules. This has been good for reinforcing vocabulary and concepts.

The thing I am still unsure about is if Rosetta Stone will get me thinking fast enough to hold a conversation in Spanish. Some of the answers are just coming out of my mouth (yay!), but I had a hard time with the end-of-unit "test", which was more of a conversation. I am hoping / wondering if the higher level units start getting into more conversational practice, so that may help. PC has also given me access to www.scola.org, which streams TV and radio from other countries. This has been a great way to hear Spanish in real-time and try to absorb it at real speeds.

Learning From Experience

Saturday the 8th was the final exam for my Outdoor Emergency Care class that I've spent the last 12 weeks teaching. This is a class that I was in charge of, where I was very lucky and had a solid core of about 20 other instructors to assist me, so I did not have to actually teach every class. The support I had was amazing. We taught basic first aid for the local Ski Patrol, with class Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 6-10 PM both nights. It was a huge time commitment for the students, and I am proud of every single one who survived. Though I will admit severe frustration at times, trying to get students motivated to learn and practice, I have also personally learned a lot from this experience. I really wish I could stay on and teach it all over again, but next time do it better--I already have some ideas of things I would like to try differently. Hopefully after PC, I will have the opportunity to do so. Working with my Ski Patrol over the last year or so has been a blast, and I will really miss the organization and the people.

The experience of being an instructor and nominally in charge of everything was interesting. The teaching and facilitating skills that I have been working on have already proven useful at work, and I am sure will be great PC skills as well (plus dealing with frustration). From what I have heard, PC service is a great learning experience, maybe one of the most profound learning experiences of your life. I can't wait!

Now that my marathon of teaching is over, and my students happily graduated on to bigger and better things, I have time to focus on my move home. I have been extremely lucky in that I received my invite ~6 months before staging, as opposed to the (rumored) minimum of 6 weeks. I can't even imagine trying to sell all of my furniture, leave my job, move home, etc., in 6 weeks time; I am very impressed with the people who pull it off! But, the downside to starting early is that I am now living mostly furniture-less. I have been using Craigslist for the first time ever, and it's amazing how fast things can sell if priced right (i.e. low). Oddly enough, my bed was the first thing that sold. So, for the last couple of weeks, I have actually been sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag and using a camping Thermarest pad. I guess it will be good practice for PC!