Onward and upward.

It's 2:08 am and I'm enjoying some last-minute browsing on the 'ol compy. I will miss her while I'm gone! I have been emailing some people in Richmond so I assume there is internet there. Otherwise, I will be checking emails and adding picture-less posts whenever I can (all the photos will get downloaded when I get home).

At this point, I'm only worried about the flight. Being confined to one seat for 17 hours doesn't exactly turn me on. Better be good movies!

Before we depart for the airport in an hour, here's a last minute photo of some stuff we are taking with us! Thank goodness checking bags internationally is free (for now at least!).


Although it looks like garbage, it's actually tons of clothes, soccer gear, books, and medicine for the people of Richmond.

Wish us luck!

Onward and upward,

Shub :)

New adventures, little through big.

So I am home in Maryland for a few days!

On a little adventure to College Park today, numerous people asked me if I had gotten snowed in, and didn't make it back to California. I WISH. I did make it back, much to Miramar College's excitement, and worked for just one month before returning back to the snowmageddon. The snowpocalypse. The end of the world as we snow it. SNOW my god.

Snow has always been one of my favorite things, and I truly miss it when I am in southern California, which lacks all mention of seasons. So as much as everyone hates the school cancelings and the double-parking and the back-breaking from shoveling, flying into the wintery wonderland was definitely a feel-good thing for me.

Back in California, however, things are going well. I am busier than I have ever been at a job, am finally working full-time, and I have a position at work that has evolved into about 8 other positions as well. Aside the from being the clerical work in the new Medical Lab Technician Training Program at Miramar College, I am also the lab tech for both classes in the MLTT program (Hematology/Immunology and Chemistry/Urinalysis), and have sort of become the TA for both classes and for the 17 students in the program. Though the clinical lab does not particularly thrill me, it's certainly good experience and is keeping me busy. I'd call it a medium-sized adventure.

If anyone has ever thought for one second that the construction that goes on around campus in College Park is a little too much, please entertain yourself with these photos below. This is my current place of employment:

The gorgeous view from the super-clean bathroom!
(Note: BOTH of those are sarcasm)

Oh look! More dirt!:

The view from the science building:

And behold the tin-roof bungalow thing I work in:

Anywho, I shouldn't complain, I have a job that likes me and I live in the most beautiful place in southern California. I just miss the beauty of the Maryland Mall, and the ODK fountain and CSPAC and the stadium and everything about lovely CP. Hooray community college! So if nothing else, it is at least an adventure navigating the ever-changing fence-maze through campus.

So why am I home, you ask? I'm about to embark on a really big adventure! Not necessarily the longest one, but certainly the farthest from home, and from America. On Wednesday morning at 6am my mom and I will be catching a flight to JFK, after which we will catch another flight to Johannesburg, South Africa! If you've forgotten from the last post, here's a quick summary of the trip:

After flying into Jo'burg, we will spend another couple of days traveling to Richmond, a very small town in the Karoo desert of South Africa, pretty much about mid-country. If you google it, a different, more urbanized Richmond, SA pops up. That's not the one we're going to. My mom has been working closely with a program called Hope in Richmond, run out of an Episcopal church in Poolesville called St. Peter's. We are essentially going to be working on improving the quality of life for the residents of Richmond. Of a population of about 9,000, approximately 35% are HIV positive, and around 75% are unemployed. Things I will probably be working on: the soup kitchen, the children's library, the HIV/AIDS clinic, the employment training center, and more. I will also be working with an intern for Grassroot Soccer (Anna), a VERY cool program focused on HIV/AIDS prevention education. To learn more about Grassroot Soccer, or donate to her cause, check out her awesome blog HERE. Or if you would like to donate to Hope in Richmond, or to the Hubbard's travel expenses (which are quite large, I assure you) please feel free to contact me :) I will take SO many pictures you people will spend days reading my post-Africa posts. It will be an experience unlike any other, and hopefully a taste of what the Peace Corps might be like! (if I'm so lucky)

Which leads me to my next thought. The biggest adventure of all.

After much stalling and re-editing of my already edited essays, I finally submitted my application for the Peace Corps last month! Hooray! And with the help of the greatest recommendation-writers in the whole wide world, my part was complete. Or so I thought. The application process normally takes around 9-12 months. Here's why:

1. After you submit all the substance-y stuff, you then fill out a lengthy medical evaluation form.
2. Once this is done, you are sent a legal kit, where fingerprints and a background check form must be returned.
3. If these check out, and they like you enough, you get an interview.
4. If this goes well, you get a nomination, which means you move to step 5.
5. An extensive round of medical, legal, suitability, and competitive reviews (this is apparently where the most people are kicked out).
6. IF these check out, you get an invitation! You say yes or no. And you pack your bags!

Unfortunately, I'm stuck somewhere between steps 1 and 2, because I have connections with government intelligence agencies (thanks A LOT dad and brother :) and can't move on until they decide I'm not a danger to myself abroad or a liability or something. If nothing else right now, this whole process is certainly going to be a true test of patience! Keep your fingers crossed!

Anne-Marie and her incredible blogs inspire me to write more, and write better for that matter, so as always I will try to not be so lazy :)

But speaking of lazy! I will leave you with some snippets of the excitement that goes on in the Hubbard Household these days.



Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Keep adventuring! Miss you!

<3 Shub :)

Back in the CA (and Christmas at home)

I figured out the longer I take to write another post, the more pictures I acquire, and so the longer the posts end up being. Not a good thing. I will try to be more frequent.

I had just gotten back to MD in my last post, so everything that follows will be updates since then. Before the giant snowstorm of 2009 (best homecoming present EVER, btw), I made it down to College Park to visit! It was such a great day and I got to see so many wonderful people that I miss so much! I also went to CP with my one and only LaceFace. It was amazing to be reunited with my travel buddy again. Here's us visiting our PI ladies in the OUA:

Here's some cool cats:

And here's the thing I crave the most when I'm in California:

Then we got 2 feet of my favorite thing in the world: SNOW. Some of the guys I work with in San Diego (which never gets below 50 degrees) don't believe that I have shoveled snow before. So here's proof of that, and more fun snow pics:

Dad with the leaf-blower

And then Christmas came! And MAN was it great. Since my parents just bought that big boat thing, a whole new world of possibilities was opened up for Christmas presents. So I bought LOTS of things for the boat. To the right is one of them! We had a very pretty Christmas tree, and it was the best feeling in the world to see all my family again. I like my Christmas pictures so much that I absolutely must post them. So please enjoy the next few photos from Xmastime.

Holiday puppies (Lakota and Nikki)

This is a pillow my momma made for me. She traced a very profound and intelligent writing sample I had done when I was 6. Very deep, informative, and quite phonetic, if you ask me.

I got lots of other little things for presents, since my big present is the trip to Africa next month. All I really wanted for Christmas was to be home, and I got a LOT of that, so I needn't ask for much else. We went to Frederick for Christmas dinner, to the cousins' house, and I stuffed my face with ham, homemade mac and cheese, homemade stuffing, salad, and more. Best Christmas anyone could ask for, as far as I'm concerned.

Then it was New Year's! Ahh! So much going on. Since New Year's has never been that exciting of a holiday for me, I just wanted to spend it with friends. So that's what I did. Yay! I met up with some great band friends at Doug's house in Germantown and spent the night playing Rock Band and eating mexican dip and homemade fudge. Again, couldn't ask for more. Here are some of my favorite people in the whole wide world:

After New Year's I visited College Park one last time, since I miss it so much, and had the distinct pleasure of visiting some very rare places on campus. As a late (albeit amazing) graduation present Captain Brandt took me to the roof and catwalks of Comcast, the roof of McKeldin, and the bell tower of the Chapel, where we saw an awesome sunset. Enjoy the view!

Looking down the mall

Looking to the left at Jiminez
Looking at the upper deck of Byrd
Hooray!
Inside the clock in the chapel. This is only the 3rd of the 5 levels we climbed.
Sunset from the chapel

All in all, it was an incredible holiday break. I will be home again in about a month right before my mom and I leave for our mission trip to South Africa. We will be going with a few other people from Poolesville to help with a project called Hope in Richmond. My mom, since she is medically inclined, will be working with the HIV/AIDS community and hospice workers, while I, along with helping her, will be working with a program called Grassroot Soccer. We'll also continue to help develop the children's soup kitchen, the women's sewing coop, the employment traning center, the children's library, and MORE. As you might imagine, I'm VERY excited about this trip and can't WAIT to post on the blog when we get back. If anyone wants to know more about it, or donate to the project (South Africa is ALWAYS in need of funds) please let me know. Or donate to the Haiti relief funds first, then let me know.

For other boring updates without pictures, work is very busy, and only going to get busier. Not only am I the clerical work on the new Medical Lab Technician Training Program at Miramar, but I'm also going to be the lab tech for all the classes, and apparently going to be doing even more if I can. Wish me luck! I'm going to try to keep tutoring (if they let me work over 40-hour weeks) and I'm still volunteering with the cats when I can. San Diego is supposed to get a year's worth of rain in the next week, too. Good thing I brought my rainboots home to MD. Oh well!

As always, I miss everyone like crazy, but am doing alright :) Hope you all had a great holiday season! Keep on readin'!

I will leave you with a picture of the best pet mouse in the whole world. Behold sleeping Ferdinand:

<3 Shub :)