other summer possibility

I was just surfing and somehow ran into internship application for summer with USAID in Liberia.

Hm. Interesting.

I know that right now I have absolutely no desire to get up off my couch and go ANYWHERE. That the idea of getting back on an airplane for 28 hours of travel makes my hips hurt. (Ever since Amy had babies, my hips have hurt like hers - sympathy pains I guess. But I get to sleep through the night, so it's not all bad.) That the idea of all the frustrations of West Africa for a whole summer would make me crazy. Especially war-destroyed Liberia. Especially since I have friends and "family" there who expect things of me.

Worst of all, it's an internship. Internships SUCK.

This one would provide my housing and "small monthly stipend" (probably enough to hire somebody to cook my greens for me). Not bad. I'd have to pay for plane fare there - but since I'll probably go to Africa in the summer anyway, that's not actually more money for me. If I put everything in storage, I wouldn't be $$ behind after the summer. And I could do The Hague summer school course.

And while I have no desire to go anywhere now, that won't last long if my neural net hasn't been substantially altered.

Hm. I certainly wouldn't get ahead, but I wouldn't be behind financially like I would be if I have to pay rent and all that somewhere in the States without making any money. Things like TVs are way expensive in Liberia, but food and transport are cheaper than Ghana (which is way cheaper than Senegal).

One of my profs worked for USAID and I'll go talk to him.

Of course I *DO* want to make it to Gail & Shelton's wedding ... but I may have to plan a visit at another point for more quality time. I just gotta go where the jobs are.

The thing is, I don't know if I can get a job in international development with my mediocre grades - maybe I can. And the way it was explained to me, you save MAJOR bank when doing these jobs because it's tax-free and housing, etc. is provided. Of course that could have major problems (would there be good schools for the girls? What would Dayton do - would there be on-line college courses he could take or any kind of job?). But maybe a summer in Liberia would be exactly what I need to disabuse me of the notion that this is anything that I want to do for a living. Especially since I wouldn't probably be able to live with Dayton (I'll probably be housed with other people so he couldn't live with me, and housing is SO hard to find there now, so he'll probably be living far away from where I have to work). Living with him would make everything so easy, but if I have to do it all for myself, I may be less thrilled. But - hey - we could ACTUALLY DATE!! That would be cool! Not that there are any date places to go in Liberia - but we could like hang out and such. Hm. And then I could be there to go with him to the embassy for the appointment to get the visa - I hear my presence can make a significant difference. Probably especially if I work for them! (That was how I found the internship info actually - something I clicked took me to Monrovia US Embassy site, and it was linked there.)

Hm.

Of course, I won't get my hopes up. Applications don't even get posted for another month, and I've had lousy application luck the past year or two. My semi-charmed kind of life has lost its gleam. I guess I complained too many times about having too many options, so now the universe limits them for me.

Hm.