humanitarian and development aid

i've done a pretty good amount of research on my new career path.  read a lot.  found a lot of useful information.  just like any other career, it is going to be hard to get my foot in the door.  everybody in the field has stressed the importance of getting field experience via volunteering or interning.  only problem is these field experiences need to be done in developing countries.  i can't exactly just pick a country and take off.

i have looked into different programs by different organization that claim to give you just that but each program is a couple thousand dollars.  then i came across an article that says that not all programs do as much or help the host country as much as you'd think.  makes this whole process a lot harder.  how am i supposed to know which programs aren't actually a waste of my time and money and ends up hurting the local economy?  if finding a good program isn't enough, most humanitarian organizations require around 5 years of experience.  its an experience that is not easy to just do...however, some people have gotten a job in the field after doing 2 years in the peace corps.  unfortunately for me, i am not ready to leave for two years nor am i ready to take on the whole peace corps selection process which i've heard takes awhile.  i am up for taking off for a year.  it's one of those investments in your future you have to take.  instead of spending $30,000-60,000 on a graduate degree that may take up to 2 years, i will need to spend 3-5 years in a developing country.  the only program that sounds serious right now will cost about $10,000 for one year (incl. personal expenses, $350/month.  though i could probably survive on less.), not including round trip airfare.  if i do 2 years, that's $20,000.  this is going to be like doing a 2-part grad program.  first part is gaining field experience, and the second part is grad school.  total costs would be $50,000 - $80,000.  woe is me.

however,  there is one way i can gain the field experience without that hefty price tag.  instead of going to africa for two years, i can go to thailand.  i have relatives there.  a few of them having been doing humanitarian work in the villages off and on for many years now.  mostly with material donations.  i can still do this somewhat on my own.  though i've always felt unsafe to walk around by myself over there.  this will be interesting.  i have a lot more thinking to do...

today.

bad news:  i'm growing tired of this blog's layout and design.  i may have to go the paid route to come up with something i like.

good news:  i was about to give up becoming a seller on ebay.  today i received an email from the ebay entrepreneur telling me to take one step everyday, no matter how small it may be.  so now i'm reading up on what i need to know.

tarot & astrology

i don't normally write posts about this topic although i have to say, i have always been interested in it.  a few days ago i came across this website, freomob.mobi, that gives you a one-card tarot reading for that day.  i clicked on it and looked up the card i got.  it was quite accurate.  today, i went back and did another card.  yet, another accurate reading.  the card i got was the three of wands. (you can read it's description and meaning here.)  the site i went to is actually meant to be used as a phone application but you can still go on to get a card reading.  my cousin would say i'm making this up.  that i'm trying to make my life fit the reading.  i can say that i'm not.  i should give this account of what i have been thinking and planning so far regarding my career:


1.  realized over the summer that my true calling is in the nonprofit sector.  specifically international development/humanitarian aid;
2.  realized i needed a master's degree.  otherwise, not sure how to get into field and develop career.  first looked into schools in u.s. alas, they are too expensive and all programs here are two years of study.  then looked into europe.  found more affordable schools.  figured grad school will be a few years from now.  need to work and save up money, again;
3.  last week, found myself in a meeting with a school district personnel and the director from my club.  we were there to talk about doing a report completely unrelated to my career plans when all of a sudden the school district personnel mentions to my director that one of his kids, in his 20s, is in the middle east volunteering with these nonprofit organizations and how he raised money to go on these trips(!); and
4.  recently, looked for ways to gain some experience without a graduate degree.  found a few programs, though they are a few thousand dollars and the program is from a couple of weeks to a few months. from this program, i also decided i want to do some work in africa.

see how my card reading and my life sync up?

aol.

my mom asked me to cancel the paid aol account at her apartment since they don't use the computer anymore.  i looked at the bill which is paid via her phone bill.  my mom pays about $30/month.  when i talked to the representative he was trying to keep us on (of course) by offering lower and lower pricing plans.  I believe before he cancelled the paid service, he offered one that was $4.99 (or was it $6.99?) for basic service which i think came with mcafee virus protection.  i remember not being aware of all these different pricing plans when i set up the paid account many years ago.  it must have changed.   in the course of cancelling, the rep mentioned that we would not be getting x, y, and z services anymore.  apparently, these were all services my mom never used and/or needed.  yeah, i totally feel stupid for making my mom pay the extra $25 when she could have just paid $5 every month.

free unlimited music.

just received an email from pandora radio.  they now have unlimited free music.  yippee!  before you could only listen to 40 hours free every month. (there was only one month where i maxed out my free limit).

cooking.

photo from blogger, cake student.

i have always wanted to learn how to cook.  i can cook simple dishes.  though those dishes don't number that many.  i definitely get deterred by all the ingredients that i need to buy or find.  i would really like to learn how to cook the main dishes, side dishes, and soups.  most of the time, i find myself baking.  maybe it's because the ingredients are few and simple:  butter, flour, eggs, sugar.  the one cookie recipe that i've mastered is the snickerdoodle.  the first few times i made it, i altered the amount of each ingredient until it finally turned out nice, chewy and a little puffy.  i was basically trying to get it like the cookies at diddy riese, a cookie shop in l.a.'s westwood neighborhood.  i actually think mine are better.  yes, i believe they are :) 
my next cookie recipe i want to try is the chocolate chip cookie and i've found an awesome recipe online here.  that recipe i may not have to alter.  it looks perfect in the photo.  after that i may try the soft pretzel.  soft pretzels are one of my favorite snacks.  this recipe is from alton brown's book, good eats 3.

research for ebay.

i went on ebay to see how much the things i want to sell are selling for or rather, have sold for.  there were a few things that didn't sell from other sellers, but a lot of the books i want to sell, have sold.  not including the fees you will have to pay ebay, my items together come out to about $50.

what to do with stuff.

for the past couple of months i've had this urge to clean out my stuff.  my room is small. unfortunately i have a ton of stuff.

i'm a person that has lots of papers and books.  stationary, too.  i don't have a lot of clothes though.  anyhow, i've been donating things to salvation army and the goodwill since college.  somehow, i still have a lot of stuff.  recently i got all my stuff back from my mom's place and all of that stuff is now donated or put away somewhere in my room.  right now, i have some books i want to get rid of.  not having a job right now, i really want to sell them and other things on ebay.  problem is how long will it take to sell, if it sells at all? don't know if i have the patience for that.  i've already donated several books to the library.  even after all the books are taken care of, i still have all that paper stuff to deal with.  i will definitely need a file box to organize my bills, bank statements and other important documents.

i would love to be clutter-free.  it would be nice to have a select few things.  there is one rule that i came up with in regards to personal items but i'm having a hard time implementing, and that is:  decide what you really can't part with, and then part with the rest. it may be too drastic for myself.  then again, it might not be a good rule.

why i'm still unemployed.

as much as relatives of mine would like me to take any job because they think the important thing for me is to be employed, i can not agree with them.  i am stubborn.  i've worked in retail for nearly four years and i hated it.  i don't know anyone that likes working there, though.  i know there is something better out there.  it's just been taking a long time to manifest.  i know where i am volunteering now is where i want to work and if nothing opens up for me there, something else connected to the club will.  things take time. 

just now, i saw an article on msn, "5 reasons accepting a job offer out of fear will backfire."  every single reason they listed describes what i see and have known will happen if i do just that.  the last reason, #5 you may have stopped three feet before gold, particularly struck a chord with me.  i've already spent 3.75 years working in retail.  it was probably 2.9 years too many.  i know i am getting closer to what i want.  i can't give up now.

welcome weather

right now, the temperature in l.a. is warm.  last week was hot but it is cooling down a little bit now.  i can not wait until november comes when the weather will be cooler.  yup, i love winter--though not the european or midwest kind.  i lived through one winter in europe and it was no fun.  i just like it when it's cold and i get to wear my winter jacket, scarf, and gloves.  it is also one of my favorite times to be browsing through store websites or catalogs to see what their winter collection looks like.  this look is from j.crew.

old work.

 once in awhile, i still like to make some drawings.  these i did several months ago.  they are pretty small and were done on blank index cards.  they are what is left of what i learned in art school.  now i have a bunch of art and photo supplies i need to get rid of :P

more money saving ideas.

being unemployed has come with some hidden gifts.  i've learned a few more ways how to stretch the dollar.  i learned a few ways already while living in france but in america i think there are more ways to do that.  lots of things that are just out there for the taking like coupons.  even though the savings aren't big, i've enjoyed clipping coupons and using them.  here are some other ways that i've thought of:

1.  shopping at the farmer's market.
2.  buying public transport passes instead of paying for each boarding, month after month.
3.  making your own frozen foods
4.  water - buying a brita filter or pitcher instead of buying cases of bottled water.
5.  however, for soda, many stores have sales on cases (2 or 3 cases for $10), or on the 2 liter size.  buying a can of soda at work a few days a week adds up.
6.  getting fruit from your friends and/or relatives fruit trees :)

that's all for now.  hopefully i'll figure out some more.

a bit of good news.

on thursday, i got to work and the director came up to me.  she said there is a data entry project that needs to be done and no one at the district office has the time to do it.  she would take me to meet the superintendent on wednesday afternoon where he would explain what needs to be done.  oh, and my director said she would pay me for my time.  it seems to be a short-term project but it's still great news.  yippee!

paris to london

6 years ago, i came back from france and all i could do was think about how to go back.  i did internet research on this for nearly 4 years before i returned to france.  i found myself at a forum for english language assistants in france.  i read each post on just about every topic and became well-versed in every aspect of life in france.

tonight, i find myself doing the same for the u.k.  as impossible as french bureaucracy seems, you eventually get what you came for:  a visa, an o.f.i.i. stamp, something.  they may send you back twice to provide another document you weren't aware about but in the end, there's victory.  with the uk, it seems they are just as tough and impossible-sounding as their french counterpart.  except, people have been denied visas.  the british are super strict (though not as strict as the u.s.)  yep, i'm a little bit worried.  the uk authorities, have very strict guidelines and they are on top of things.

talking about border control, i remember the first time i crossed their borders.  i was going to edinburgh for four days.  i was travelling alone.  i arrived into the city during the evening.  i got to the front of the line and the personnel asked me how many days i was spending in the city.  she then asked what my business in france is and i told her i was studying french.  she then asked me if i came with the other visitors who were in front of me. (nope).  she stamped my passport and that was that.

i don't know why i'm so worried.  this is still not anytime soon and i should feel more confident than anything having all this international traveling experience under my hat.

saving money

 

a few days ago, extreme couponing was on tv.  seeing how much those women saved at the supermarket wanted me to sort through coupons, too.  though i don't plan on going to the extreme, i, too, want to save money and haven't really thought about coupons.  the next day i sorted through all the advertisements and junk mail.  i cut out all the relevant coupons from papers and then proceeded to organize it in excel.  yesterday i checked to see if all the stores in the area have their weekly ads on their website and they did.  it just made bargain shopping a lot easier.  today i decided to go to walmart with a small list of things i wanted to buy.  turns out walmart is the low price leader in a lot of things.  i did find one thing that they were selling a bit higher than one of their competitors so i ended up getting a price match for it at the register.  (walmart and target do price matching).  other things i had coupons for but wal mart did not have the selection i wanted.

after i got home, i decided it would be nice to see my savings in a graphic way so i created the above display on my daytum page.  the numbers in the parentheses indicate the amount of money that was saved.  i can't explain what daytum is that well but a visit to their site will.  daytum is quite addicting :)  i can't wait to see what it will look like after a couple of months.