May Update--GRADUATING! and other life changes...

The second week of May was the last week of my online class that accompanied my project at the hospital.  I also had an online “independent study” class, making me a part-time student during UW’s spring semester (remaining a student—instead of graduating in December—was logistically a better route for conducting the diabetes project).  I was busy working on my final project—an online professional portfolio.  For this portfolio, I decided to create a couple videos to show my experience here in Pedro Vicente Maldonado, as well the previous service-learning project that took place in June 2011 in northern Ecuador.  Please check out my portfolio here.  I was also required to submit a final report of my experiences for the “independent study” class.  The classes ended and on May 18^th, I officially graduated from UW-Madison!  Oh yeah, no longer an undergrad…!!!  It was sad to miss the many festivities and excitement that accompany May graduation in Madison, but that only meant it was my turn to live vicariously to friends that were graduating back home!

During breaks in working on my final project, I was also figuring out plans for the arrival of my mom, who had been planning on visiting for over a month.  My aunt Karen also decided this week that she was able to join my mom, so I was getting very excited for them to visit and for our vacation!  Read more about our adventures in the following post!

I had been thinking more about deferring graduate school and on May 9^th, I officially emailed the admissions officers at Tulane University.  Although I was nervous about this for some reason, the admissions people simply replied: “You have two years to defer.  Let us know when you’d like to matriculate.”  It was that easy!  I thought I’d have to fill out paperwork or something.  But it was definitely a relief off my chest, finally making this decision and acting on it.  And I think it’s a good decision for me right now—even though I’ve learned an incredible amount about myself and my career goals while doing my project in Pedro, I felt it wasn’t quite enough.  My Spanish has come a long ways, but I wanted to improve it more.  I’ve learned a lot about diet and how people traditionally treat diabetes, but I wanted to learn more about other social determinants of health.  I’ve learned to really enjoy the tranquility and easy-going way of life in Pedro, but I wanted to live in a city while abroad, too.  So I contacted CENIT, the organization in Quito that I mentioned in an earlier post, and began to apply to become a volunteer with them.  Since I only want to defer for one year, I decided to volunteer with CENIT for 10-11 months—starting in September 2012.  I may have to start another blog for this life adventure!!!

Javy's mom cutting the tasty cake, and his dad watching

Lastly, although this doesn’t really fit into my “life changes” title, I enjoyed Mothers’ Day with Javy’s family.  We went to a restaurant for a parillada, which just means a ton of meat—chicken, beef, pork, and sausages.  The restaurant was so busy with families celebrating Mothers’ Day.  We ended the meal with cake!  It was nice being with a family on this day, knowing that my family was also getting together in the States, too.

Javy's younger sister and niece (who is the daughter of his older sister)