Should I sell my car???

For the longest time I wasnt planning on selling it be fore I leave for Africa. I just paid it off last year and have never (knock on wood) had any problems with it. My Mom was going to out the title in her name and pay the insurance while i was gone. Now I am debating selling it for the cash money. It would be nice to have it for the some of the stuff I wanna take,  and to have a little extra in the bank.

The things I wonder are- when I come back will I be able to find a good enough job (quickly enough) to afford/get approved for a new car AND pay student loans again?
or what if I do keep it and it totally breaks down while I am away, then I sm sol.

Any suggestions??

How do people do this in 60 days??

OK, I have months until I leave (October) and feel overwhelmed already! How do people do it in 60 (or is it 90?) days? To everyone that has gotten ready to leave that quickly you are AWESOME. First was the paperwork -passport/visa/aspiration statement,then I started making lists for packing, financial stuff to work out be4 I leave, all the paperwork/money (if any), figuring out how much to take out of my monthly allotment to pay on my credit card and student loan,student loan deferment process and selling/donating most my furniture,clothes bedroom set etc, getting my car signed over to my mom etc etc. However, I defiantly still have plenty of free time to hang with friends and be leisurely, so it's not like I am spending all my time getting things organized. My eye has been twitching fro about a week now, lol. I need to just relax, get organized and handle the process with grace. I am moving in with my brother and sister in law for Aug & Sept to save money, so that's when I'll be able to purchase everything that I need.
On another note backcountry.com is amazing with getting back to you about their discount! I  had a couple of questions and he responds within minutes. I am still waiting to hear back from a couple other websites, mostly ones for shoes. I just made my first big purchase-large pack, day pack, solar charger, fleece, headlamp, sleeping pad, raincoat, money belt and a couple other things. When I get paid next I need to get skirts, shirts, camera, and couple dresses. Well, that is all the yammering I have for now. I have been slacking hardcore with updating my timeline on here, and I could probably "Tanzania"up my blog a bit!

Tanzania!!

I received my invite packet today! I am going to Tanzania as a Health Education Ext Worker, staging Oct 10-11. I am so so so excited! Anybody out there in the same group??

Waiting on the invite.

Oh the anticipation! Where am I going? Nothing is posted for the first week of Oct yet. I looked at previous years and the only country I saw was Ethiopia. I am down with that, actually I am down with just about any country. I know I probably wont get it until the end of the week or the beginning of next. After 8 months of patience this should be an easy wait...haha....or not.

Invite in the mail!!

AHHHHHHHH!! That is how I feel right now! My placement specialist e-mailed me yesterday and set up a 10:30am phone interview for today. At 10:30, as I nervously paced around my apartment making sure my phone had service, all I could think was budget cuts....budget cuts..no wait, think positively! Well, I got the call around 10:45, she mentioned how a lot of youth and development programs are getting cut but with all my HIV volunteering experience that I qualify for a Health extension program in Sub-Saharan Africa. Wait! Sorry, my brain is scattered- first she asked me things like what will the biggest obstacle to overcome , about covering my tattoos, dying my hair a normal color (I have bright red highlights now) and what I have been doing to prepare...THEN she went on to what I am qualified for. Anyways, I am leaving the first week of October for Africa!!! Nothing is on PC wiki timeline for the first week of October yet, so I have no idea where I am going! More to come!!! AHHHHHH

Placement (assistant) Contact.

With my nomination departure date of  early June quickly approaching  I decided to e-mail placement, and let me tell you I am SO GLAD I did. I e-mailed them on April 28th and I received a quick response stating they e-mailed (the wrong address) on April 19th asking for an updated resume, skill addendum and volunteer supervisor reference, and were waiting to here back from me. I have no idea how they got the wrong e-mail , it wasn’t one that I had in the past, so it was strange. The very nice placement assistant said something along the lines of "As you probably have guessed you will not be considered for you original nomination due to timing and open slots. This is not unusual and there is no need to worry." She also stated that flexibility in geog preference and leave date is a great thing and my leave date will be July-Sept 2011 at the earliest.

Honestly Sept is the month I want to leave in,so I am feeling good about this....for the most part. I really hope my original monination to Sub Saharan Africa sticks, but I am trying to be ready for anything. I did have a short bittersweet moment when I read the e-mail thinking " If I would have gotten this  in my correct e-mail on April 19th maybe I would have my invite now." However, I need to not think like that. I do believe that everything happens for a reason. I will have extra months to become more financially stable and enjoy the summer.

missed 202 area code call! boooo

I sent my updated resume Friday evening and really had no idea when they would contact me next.My leave date at nomination was early May/June but I know that can change, a lot. At work I ATTEMPT ;) to keep my cell phone off my desk so I can't partake in my facebook addiction...I mean I try to actually work while at work....most of the time. On my first break I pull out my phone and had a missed call with a 202 area code, my heart skipped a beat or 2. There was no voicemail and when I called the number back it was blocked. Maybe it wasn't the PC , maybe it was a sales call?  If it was the PC I think they would have left a voicemail, or hopefully they will call back soon. I know it's very silly to think "oh I missed the call so I missed my chance to go" I am not sure why that crossed my mind. I am going to keep my phone on my desk now...lol. I am done rambling....I'll post more if/when I hear backl!