The start of many beautiful things!

My first two weeks at the IRC are complete. I am settled into my new home. This means it is time to job search, prepare for Kenya, and navigate numerous grad school websites for more information.
I am home sick today with food poisoning (I think?!) so I am taking the time to get a head start on my "To-Do" list. I registered my trip to Kakamega with the US Embassy. A few clicks of a button and I already feel like my trip is more secure :)I sent my visa application on Friday to Washington DC. I checked my FedEx tracking this morning and it has already arrived. Now I just have to wait for my passport to come back with my visa enclosed. I am excited.
That is the update for now. Off to write emails to my list of grad schools.

Oregonian Article

About a two months ago I received an email about a writer from the Oregonian that was interested in covering a piece on 2009 graduates that have had a hard time finding jobs. Immediately I knew I had to be a part of his story. I emailed him with a bit of information about myself. Soon after he scheduled an interview with me. He asked me all about the past year including how I felt about my current situation. I told him exactly how the year went down and how disappointed I was with it. He comforted me by saying that he had heard many stories just like mine which was his inspiration for writing the story. However, he seemed to be really impressed by my story in particular. He asked if he could send a photographer to my work to get a couple of shots for the article. I agreed. After a rough day last day of work with a man taking pictures of me the entire time (just about my least favorite thing in the world!), the article is finally out. Take a look: http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2010/06/oregon_college_graduates_strug.html

Settling

I made it across the country into Baltimore. I have spent the last few days getting to know the city. On Friday I had my orientation at the IRC. It was good to finally know a bit more about what I will be spending my summer doing. I am excited to jump right in on Monday morning. My Case Manager is 22 years old and did the exact same internship last summer. I think working with people from all different cultures will be good practice for Kenya, on top of being completely awesome! I will give you updates on the crazy things that happen throughout the summer because I am sure there will be many. It is definitely a classic nonprofit: disorganized, overworked, underpaid, making a beautiful change in many peoples lives :)