I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer in Timor-leste (East Timor) and this is a collection of stories from my time here. Above that I also have English resources for anyone who would like them in the Short Story Section. If you have anything you think would help future Volunteers or anyone really with becoming closer to Timor make sure to leave a comment!

Monday, June 17, 2019

The Sky

Hello everyone,

So this has been a pretty chill week overall, but there were a few cool points. First off from the too do last week I've mostly just been working on the Server project which has been coming along pretty well. It's been fairly hard coming since I have to learn how to code in Javascript, JQuery, PHP and MySQL. Due to this the creating of the forms will take a lot less time once I understand better how to send a multidimensional array into MySQL. This week hasn't all been nerd-core though, there have also been a few exciting things to happen!

First off the three photos at the beginning of the  gallery at the bottom are some of the sites I see most days before and after work. That along with the photo a few weeks ago of Foho Matebean, you can really start to see the beauty of this country side. It's fairly obvious, but I edited the first photo to really bring out the colors of the sunset here. There are also the gorgeous star lit sky's each night which is something that's very rare to find back in the states without heading out into the country. It's these small beauties that really help to counteract the loneliness and occasional frustration that comes from working in a foreign country. I am however also lucky to have my friends and family to remind me of my mission here and to deter the feelings that come along with not speaking your native language for bouts of time.

I've been thinking about a few things that might add the the resourcefulness of this blog and have decided to add/change a couple of things. One of the first is to change out the Podcasts on the Short Stories page with Educational Youtube videos in English that can be gain contextual information about the English language. This change was inspired by a video I watched recently talking about a language acquisition method that will hopefully work better for any future English classes I decide to teach. Another thing I'm adding is a "Days since" counter which will hopefully map out how I've changed as the days have passed since arriving in Timor. It'll also just be cool to see how long it's been! Lastly I'll be going back and editing to the picture format of the first posts I made to match the current format because I believe it looks a lot better.

Beyond all that this project with the server has been eating up my time, but I'm sure by the end of it I'll have an amazing feeling looking back at all the hurdles I needed to jump in order to get this thing working. Let me know if there are any other changes you guy's would appreciate on my blog. This honestly is as much for all of you as it is a good way for me to articulate this experience. I'll let you all decide what would be a good idea! Send any of those idea's or idea's for future posts in the comments and I'll try to make something of them. Unfortunately I have to get back to the server... she calls me.




... ummm anyways, I'll just leave you all with this.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.
Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
~Helen Keller

Much Love,

~BW


Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Busy Beauty

Hey Everyone!

So the past few weeks have been fairly busy for a change which has been nice! So busy in fact that I apologize if this post turns into more of a digest than an update, but here we go. To begin let me try and list off what I have on my TDL right now;

  1. Write a Blog Post (just about done!)
  2. Create a Website for CDB
  3. Create a Brochure for CDB
  4. Write the Grant application for Karitas Korea
  5. Start monitoring spending for Living Allowance Survey
  6. Type up VRF
  7. Create and Test CDB Server project
  8. Build a case for my Guitar
  9. Continue Timorese Game planning (back burner)
  10. Finalize Standard Weekly Schedule

Woof, that's a lot different than even just a month ago! I am glad to have more on my plate though, it makes me feel useful and pushes me to accomplish things. The project I'm the most excited for is the server project which is what I am currently working on (besides the blog post of course). The plan is to get the server up and running in the next two weeks and to have a final version up and operational in a month. Now anyone who has either made a server or tried to plan a project will know that most likely this timeline will change. It's important to have the deadlines though because if holds me accountable to my Org. and to myself. I also plan on posting the whole thing on GitHub or passing it off to the PeaceCorp to see if they can put it in the library. Regardless I'm hoping future volunteers can use it to help their Org's as well!

Apart from that the the other projects are pretty straight forward and just need to be done. Some of them are currently being hung up which is why I'm focusing on the server project because it should cut a lot of busy work out of most peoples days giving everyone time to work on other projects. If you guys have any questions on the other projects sound off in the comments and I'll get back to you all.

On other news I noticed that a picture I posted on FB was very well received and was wondering if you would all like me to post more pictures on there and of what, so comment that as well! As for now I have to get back to working on this server, but I'll have a new post sooner than later. Until then, I'll leave you with this.

In times of great stress or adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive. 
~Lee Iacocca

Much Love,

~BW


*The content of this website is mine alone and does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or the East Timor Government.*