January 9, 2009: This is my first attempt at creating a blog of my own, but I thought it might be a good way to stay in touch as my life unfolds over the next two years. So please bear with me as I learn the finer points of this new-for-me medium.
This story begins about 18-months ago when I saw an article in the Kansas City Star announcing a Peace Corps recruitment meeting at UMKC's Linda Hall Library that evening. The article went on to say that the Peace Corps was actively recruiting senior level people (which I decided I was) as volunteers because they had a wealth of experience, were mature and reliable, and people with a few years on them are held in esteem in most countries around the world. At this point I really hadn't made a decision to give up my job at the ATTC and "transition" into something new, but there was something that attracted me to this meeting.
As I listened that night, I could visualize myself as a Peace Corps Volunteer somewhere in the world doing the work that JFK called young Americans to do when he first instituted the PC in the early 60's. Peace Corps work was intriguing to me then, and it still is today.
So, that was step one in a process that has taken over a year, reams of paperwork, doctors' appointments, recommendation letters, and finally retirement from the University and the ATTC. I heard on Wednesday that I will be leaving on Feb. 13th--that's FRIDAY the 13th--for my two years of volunteer service in Uganda!
Stay tuned! The fun is about to begin...
8:05:00 PM
by Mary Beth Johnson
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OK...I know we all know my mom pretty well. And while she can be pretty crafty, I think, or rather hope, this was just a true mistake. Maybe malaria, hopefully not some type of skin boring parasite. But this just feels like deliberate mis-direction.
ReplyDeleteSo, to take the time to write and direct us to an updated blog entry and then give the wrong URL. Kinda makes me think... See many of you may not know this but a couple weeks before she left on her adventure she called me, very proudly I might add, to say she finally found the "blog" she had lost. My first question, of course, was how do you lose a blog? Where's it gonna go? It has an address and it's not like it can just pick up and move, or run away like Mikey (her cat, not the other one).
I say that because as we all know, MBJ is probably one of the most tech savvy of retirees. Her dreams of bringing the marvels of the modern world to others was really a motivating factor for her when joinging the Peace Corps. Oh, you didn't know that? Yeah, she truly shines being surrounded by people that are fascinated by her incredible grasp of the moderrn world and this whole Internet magic.
She has soo much to offer the people of Uganda when it comes to social services. Technology, not so much...
My hope is that she sticks to social work and leaves the technology to 2 year old Jethro, who I'm sure has his own blog and by now probably an online store catering to desperate PVC volunteers looking to get a granola bar and a Diet Coke. MBJ might not find be able to find it online, but I'm sure he'll be generous, when she finally gives up because, "This Inter-web thing is broken."
So for those of you still reading, and if want to visit MBJ's real "lost" blog on her adventures in the "Lost Continent" go to http://mbjafricanadventures.blogspot.com/ not the one she probably gave you before she left. I told you, she's crafty, but I caught her this time.
Leave a comment. Let her know that her trick didn't work on us.
Helllllooo MBJ......was fascinated by the update from your end - sounds pretty-much like your life was around here - oh, except for that part where it's ALLLLL completely different. Your news makes the piddly happenings around here seem a little pale - not MY stuff, of course, but surely any/all of the stuff that these OTHER people might type. As usual, MY life is fascinating in every way....complicated, DEEP, intellectual - you know how I am. That much hasn't changed.....and of course the kids are STILL teenagers, and (to my dismay) are still alive, so enough said about THEM. UGH. We are heading to AZ for Royals' spring training tomorrow - be there 5 days and if we're lucky we'll ALL come home on Monday. Heading down the stretch at school - and the BVHS calendar really is all that dictates our lives until summer vacation. Walter/I going to Europe while James heads to Viet Nam/Laos.....Connie's broken ankle is fixed and she's back in the saddle - life here is good - but there's a missing part in the community that seems to be where YOU belong. Be careful, have fun and keep in touch. Mike and Steve seem to be PROSPERING since they're not hindered by a hovering Nebraska mom who has been their problem all these years but who will go unnamed. Take care my dear.....Jim
ReplyDeleteMy dear MBJ, what an education YOUR experience is providing for those of us left behind. I just read your latest bloog (in addition to your e-mails, of course) and I am astounded at the things you are going through, learning, writing about---living! Your journalistic background is serving you well; I love "listening" to your stories. And I can hear your voice telling them to me. I miss hearing that voice in person...and I will soon be able to do that, too, as soon as I get this Skype thing put together. And when I do? Katie, bar the door, we'll be talking 24/7.
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