many of you have suggested a blog to keep everyone in the loop, which i was trying to avoid because i've always been so horrible at maintaining them... but we'll give it another try i guess.
it's hard to believe, but i'll be heading out in about 2.5 weeks... so a little FAQ for the first post since i've gotten so many questions from everyone :)
q: where are you going?! how long will you be gone for??
a: nigeria. i'll be in abuja, which is the capital city. i have a 2 year commitment, but breaks will allow me to come home for christmas and during the summers. everyone keeps telling me 2 years is so long, but college was 4 years and that flew by...
q: what are you going to be doing there?
a: i'll be teaching 3rd grade in an international school.
q: so do you have to learn nigerian... or whatever language they speak there?
a: they speak english so i am lucky in that aspect, but i will probably have to learn some of the different dialects the natives speak around the city.
q: where are you going to be staying? is there a compound or dorm? are you going to be in a hut?!
a: no huts... the school is providing me with an apartment with rent being taken care of. i am super excited to be moving out and have my first own place! i can't really splurge and buy all those new nice matchy matchy things for an apartment since i'll have to fly everything over, but still excited to get small things. i'll post pictures once i get there! :)
q: are you going with someone you know?
a: nope, by myself. there are several other new hires though and we'll be in the same apartment complex... so we'll adjust together. this is actually my second flight ever without my family or friends (the first was when i was interviewing for this job.. haha!).
q: what program is this through? how did you find this job? why are you doing this?
a: i've wanted to teach internationally since college, encouraged by some of my friends who had already done so. i've been in jersey my whole life and wanted to do something like this before it's too late. i figure once i settle down this goal will definitely not be fulfilled. i'm young so now is the time to go! also, education is not really the place to be in jersey right now (although many of my friends have been lucky!).. i really believe that God had a great hand in the timing of all that has happened.
i first started my search when my sister's friend, stephanie, gave me some info on how to start the search. she is currently teaching in guatemala so had a lot of great advice to give me. i ended up applying to become a candidate for the international schools services - a non-profit organization that has a database of open positions in participating international schools. they also hold several recruitment fairs in and out of the U.S. i attended one in boston - it was incredibly fast paced and stressfully exciting, but came out with my job! now that i have a job, i no longer have ties to ISS and there is no program.. i am simply hired by the international school, just as if i were directly hired by a school here in the U.S.
q: why nigeria?
a: when i first went into the whole process i was leaning towards somewhere in africa or central/south america. i wanted to be put out of my comfort zone during this process - to really challenge myself and help an area that maybe wasn't so well off. while i did interview with schools from all over (qatar, sudan, nigeria, venezuela, sri lanka, germany, japan, china, etc.) i really feel like if i were in a city of a well developed country i would still be relatively comfortable after getting through the culture shock. in the end it just came down to which schools i received offers from, taking a look at benefits/housing/salary, and where i thought i might be happy. this was one of the hardest parts b/c in the end there was no bell that rang and said 'great - you made the right decision!' we'll see how it goes i guess, but i'm happy with the decision i made and excited to get over there!
q: is it safe for you to be there?
a: when i told my students i was leaving, one of them offered to buy me cans of mace and a machete. i told him i wouldn't need them. when we first went to an orientation session for ISS, they told us to stay open minded about the places we would be interviewing with. so many places have the 'CNN' reputation - only the worst is publicized. while i understand that there are going to be many things that i need to take care with while in abuja, the same is true here. mom and dad are always reminding me to be careful at mall parking lots because all these people get mugged/scammed.
think about if you lived in a country overseas, and all you heard about in the news regarding the U.S. was about 9/11, poor airport security, and all the crime in our big cities. you might think twice about coming here too. i really think that a lot of it is perspective, being smart in your surroundings, and seeing that safety is an issue EVERYWHERE. either way, your prayers for my safety, health, well-being, etc. would be much appreciated!
ok this is pretty long. there have been more questions, but we'll leave it at those basics for now. leave me a comment or ask other questions i didn't answer or something so i know someone is reading this! :) more updates to come... yell at me if i don't!
