100 Things to Do During the Last 100 Days in America
June 1st, 2014 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | No Comments »
When I first received my invitation on April 2nd to serve in Peace Corps and work in Cameroon, the opportunity still didn’t seem real. Even when I got the final medical clearance a month later, I still couldn’t believe that I was actually really going to be in Peace Corps. As I count down the days, the more the opportunity seems real to me. Tomorrow marks 100 days until I depart America for the hardest job of my life in a foreign land. I made a list of 100 things I need to do before I depart. Because I will have to give up many wonderful treasures my homeland has to offer, I want to enjoy them every minute before heading across the ocean.
No particular order.
- Pack
- Store everything that is not coming with me to Africa in my parents’ home
- Research the best solar panels and buy them
- Buy a MacBook Air
- Eat at Cheesecake Factory
- Bake and eat brownies
- Eat ice cream
- Spend time with my parents
- Spend time with my grandparents
- Spend time with my siblings
- Enjoy straight hair
- Take a road trip to northern Maine
- Spend time with friends
- Buy medicine
- Get spare equipment for my cochlear implants
- Drink smoothies
- Enjoy salads
- Eat at Zaftigs
- Enjoy air condition
- Take hot showers for granted
- Appreciate people being on time and even only a few minutes late for meetings
- Download hundreds of movies and books to my external hard drive.
- Continue to read blogs and books about Peace Corps in Cameroon
- Turn in a resignation to my work
- Watch Switched at Birth
- Finish some paperwork for Peace Corps
- Turn in my last rent checks
- Buy a sleeping bag
- Buy a few new outdoorsy clothes
- Buy a hammock
- Enjoy having personal space on public transportation
- Enjoy using flushing toilets
- Polish up my French
- Enjoy drinking cold milk
- Eat Mexican food
- Take drinking tap water for granted
- Finish my art project
- Find a pool and relax
- Stroll on Newbury St. on a beautiful day
- Buy a sketchbook and color pencils
- Continue to chat with Peace Corps Trainees (We’re not called volunteers until we’re sworn in at the end of training) who are heading to Cameroon with me
- Continue to ask current Peace Corps Volunteers questions on Facebook
- Find my mom’s old Kindle
- Sign up for an absentee ballot for 2014 mid-term election
- Get loss and theft insurance for my electronics
- Buy more sunglasses
- Contact my bank to tell them that I’ll be out of country for two years
- Buy sunscreen
- Learn not to be squeamish over rats and big bugs
- Take high speed internet for granted
- Appreciate using the washer and dryer
- Print photos to take with me
- Set up remote MAPping for my cochlear implants
- Buy gifts for the host family
- Get a haircut
- Purge items in my room that I no longer need
- Inform credit card companies I’ll be out of country for two years
- See fireworks on 4th of July
- Continue to volunteer at a community health clinic
- Read books about public health
- Contact Verizon to suspend my phone service
- Cancel my homeowner’s insurance
- Buy external hard drives
- Enjoy a Momofuku cake
- Eat a good Mac and Cheese dish
- Bake snickerdoodle cookies
- Make a list of things my family and friends should send me in a care package
- Take day trips in New England region
- Snuggle with my family’s cats
- Find the best head flashlight and buy it
- Eat sushi
- Eat cupcakes
- Continue to work and don’t become a lame duck
- Go to my sister’s high school graduation
- Travel to Chicago for my brother’s college graduation
- Sell my furniture
- Make an appointment for MAPping to make sure my hearing will be in its best quality
- Get my new sound processors, Nucleus 6, hooked up
- Renew my driver’s license/ID card
- Help fundraise for my family’s foundation
- Clean my apartment
- Buy a traveler’s backpack
- Buy a second suitcase
- Stock up on batteries
- Check with a bank about my retirement funds account
- Check with my accountant to make sure my mother has the power of attorney for filing taxes
- Buy a good surge protector
- Enjoy using the dishwasher
- Buy an extra pair of glasses
- Pack a small first aid kit
- Renew credit cards that are expiring while I’m out of country
- Call dentist and make an appointment for cleaning
- Redo my portfolio website
- Create a list of books to read while in Peace Corps
- Read “Surviving the Unthinkable” by Tim Larkin
- Eat a lobster
- Unsubscribe most of of my junk e-mails
- Buy Deets
- Read news about Cameroon
- Just enjoy living in the United States!
