NSF Fellowship News!!! and the ensuing madness...

I have finally been able to stop and digest what has happened in the last few days. The big news is that I conquered the pita bread! Yeah for getting my dough to finally rise :)

Just kidding that isn’t the big news… The big news is that I was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. This is huge for me. This means I can go to the graduate school of my choice and will not have to worry about where my funding is coming from for the next three years. I worked so hard on that application, and I am so so pleased to have received the award. This really changes everything for me in that now all the doors to the schools where I have been accepted are open. But how is one to chose?! I really struggled with this and was pretty incapable of doing anything since I heard learned about the scholarship because of how hard it will make my decision.

In celebration of finding out about the fellowship on Tuesday night I went back to my house and had an hour long dance party with me, myself, and I :) I also treated myself to a strawberry smoothie and chocolates my German friend Maggie gave me for my Birthday. I had been saving them for this occassion! I then watched Casino Royale and enjoyed some excellent stove top popcorn. I didn't get to sleep until really late I was so wound up!

In the morning, I had a great conversation with Caroline, my dear friend. I was super stressed beacuse I didn't know what to do about making a decision given this news and without visitng the campuses. Since I couldn’t think straight so I went to the gym and ran a 7:30 mile on the treadmill because I felt like if didn’t release the stress I was under I would just about explode. The awesome run was followed by a dip in the pool where I swam some laps. This really helped me calm down and collect my thoughts. It is amazing how awesome news can put you in as much of a tizzy as bad news…

The next thing I did was call Leanna and get the name of a travel agent. I had to call Nancy Burg after that to get the number. I called and asked about getting a flight to the states. I really felt like I needed to start thinking about going to visit these schools. I surmised if the schools were still willing to help me pay for some of the travel costs, it would be worth it for me to invest a little of my own time and money in making sure I end up at the right school for the next 3-5 years! I also had a revelation in relation to work in that I figured out I could take the time off. I thought it would be bad for my experiments and work to leave for two weeks, but right now I can’t work straight anyway because my mind is a million places other than Burkina Faso. Before I was also afraid I wouldn’t want to come back and the culture shock back and forth would be too much. This was cleared up in my mind because I realized I do want to come back. I genuinely like Burkina Faso, my job, my friends and my life here. I also came to the conclusion that the break from all this will hopefully refresh me and help me come back ready to take on the last 2.5 months I will have left when I get back. As far as the culture shock thing, yeah, that is just a lame excuse. I can deal with anything. Bring it on!

Okay, so I contacted the travel agent who told me I needed to email him. Great. Except I was supposed to be leading a bible study starting at in 12 minutes and I had to get there… I was going to go send the email and just arrive late, but something said NO. So I listened and went and lead bible study. Surprisingly I felt so light, focused, and calm. I finished up with the girls and headed back to my office to send the email. I figured if it was too late, it was too late and it wasn’t meant to be. I also figured if God wanted me to go it would work out. I was able to write the travel agent who responded in 20 minutes! I could go for a little over $2000. This seemed like a ton, but if I can get the travel support from all three schools it will be manageable. So I wrote the emails to schools I needed to write and then talked to my Mom.

I went and practiced for the worship service I was helping lead and play my guitar for tomorrow evening. Well, this lasted until like 9:15… at which point I came back and had one positive response from MIT about the travel funds. At that I had a strong feeling of hope that this might work out. I went home and went to bed right away. I was so tired. But I couldn’t really fall asleep, but in my half dream half awake state I felt God saying he was opening the doors for me to go. So I got up and had such a clarity in my thoughts it was astonishing. Hence, why I can write this… I wrote up a to do list, a to email list, and did some packing. I also wrote like 8 emails to tie up loose ends and to contact people I was hoping to see. This took a surprisingly long time... about 2 hours and I stopped writing at about 3:00am. However, things just feel right and I am starting to really look forward to this two week adventure I am about to embark upon.

You will receive an update from the last week and the monthly update hopefully soon. I just wanted to post this in the mean time.

In other random things I wanted to add to my blog…

I learned the hard way after eating M&Ms at Leanna’s that it not a good thing to eat a bunch of M&Ms and then ride your bike. Just don’t do it, it’s not pleasant…

On Monday I saw an African wearing a Princeton T-shirt. I was smiling from ear to ear as he road past on his bike…

I hadn’t done dishes for like a week. Why? because I didn’t feel like. And that’s okay, because my housemates moved out and I don’t have to worry about not bothering them anymore. It was my small form of rebellion I feel.

On a more serious note, it has come to my attention that there are so many crippled people here. People who walk with a severe limp or have to use a crutch. People who are paraplegic and have special hand/arm powered bikes/carts. You can not go out on errand without seeing someone with a disability. It is really just amazing and makes me realize how lucky we are in the United States to be able to treat illnesses and provide treatment for full recovery from accidents. I ride past these people on my bike and look down at my legs as I pedal and think, wow that could be me just as easy as them. Sobering thought.