"It's all happening!"

Wow, it's the night before I'm about to embark on an incredible journey. I'm not sure where to begin. Lets flashback to Spring 2009 when I studied abroad in London, and I interned at Operation  Smile UK. I had an amazing experience being the Volunteer Coordinator where I scheduled medical volunteers on missions to operate on children all around the world. During this time I was able to truly understand the meaning of international development and working in the developing world, and I wanted more. 

During my senior year I began researching and applying to all different kinds of international fellowships to have the opportunity to work in places like Rwanda or India. I was determined to make a difference in the world. After going on second and even third interviews for some extremely competitive positions nothing seemed to come through. So it seemed I would be doomed to the cubical world or waitressing life until one night my roommate Michelle and her roommate from studying abroad, Melissa, found the opportunity to teach english in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia through Teach and Learn with Georgia and Greenheart Travel.

After being accepting into the program I debated back and forth if this was the right program for me. My heart was really set on Africa or South America, but after weighing the pros and cons I decided how could I past up the opportunity to help a country that has never received help like this before and in addition do it with two of my friends! I was elated to get started on my dream to help others in a developing country, and yet I was delayed due to some medical record issues. So as my friends left the country without me, I had two and half more weeks to enjoy the States, my family, and work on my Georgian (or try to at least). 

Now it is time for me to get started on my own journey, and I am feeling all different kinds of emotions. I'm so excited to meet the other teachers, and to explore different parts of Georgia during our orientation week. From the other blogs I've read of teachers that are already in Georgia our homestay placements are going to vary. Everything from living in a town with wifi and indoor plumbing to living on a farm, 30 mins from town, with not one English speaking family member. All I know is that I will be flying into Tblisi, and then attending orientation in Kutaisi. After that, I'll be living with a family in the Imereti region, and working in a school 5 days a week as a teacher's assistant till July 2011. This is going to be an adventure, but I'm ready to take it on!


So if you are wondering where my blog title comes from it's from Winston Churchill when he said, "We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." My whole life I have always been volunteering and giving back to the community. I started off as a Girl Scout cleaning up my local park, and now I'm off to educate Georgian children. Although, I do have a feeling they will end up teaching me much more than I will teach them. And like Kate Hudson's character, Penny Lane, so passionately said, and I believe this fits perfectly with my life right now, "It's all happening!"