Want to come with?

Today as I was perusing TYO’s blog I noticed this.

It looks like TYO has begun recruiting for my companion interns for the fall! Do you have what it takes? Do you have it in you? Just do it? (Are any of these slogans copyrighted?) I would seriously advise that you apply simply for the reason that you think you will miss me just too darn much.

The application is due in a couple of weeks (August 12) which makes me wonder whether they will receive a lot of submissions in that time, especially for such a big commitment to, you know, move to Palestine for a few months. But from what I’ve heard, their Summer internship was a success so hopefully the Fall internship will be too. Anyways, I’ll be there! And how!

In a bit of news that’s much more exciting and much more pertinent to myself (humble creator of this blog) I gleaned from the application that they have set the arrival dates!!! (Hyper-punctuation absolutely necessary.)

So… to all of you who have been wondering when the heck I am actually leaving my answer is this…

Drumroll…

September 27-30!

All right so giving a range of dates rather than a specific date detracts significantly from the impact of this announcement, but I no longer have to fumble with some answer like “mid-to-late September?”

So now I have two more months in this country to do a few things:

1. Find health insurance

2. Get ready

3. Apply to law school

4. NOT PANIC

#4 is kind of key.

It is possible for me to still take the LSAT at the end of September in the US and then immediately run off to Nablus, but I doubt that would make for good mental stability. I’m pretty much set on taking it in Tel Aviv in December.

Before I go, a quick thank you to all who have donated thus far. You are amazing. I received some donations from some unexpected places that I was very touched by. You will all receive individualized thank you’s shortly and postcards from Nablus.

The Three Goals

1. Take the LSAT.
2. Run a marathon.
3. Find a job abroad.

I had one year in DC and I had to use it wisely. So I came up with the three goals you see above.

In May I completed my one and only marathon. In June I took the LSAT. And in September I will move to Nablus, a city in the West Bank of Palestine. (For this to work, we will have to use the term ‘job’ somewhat loosely. If you define a job in terms of something you are paid for, then I failed at #3. If you define it as something to keep you occupied then I succeeded. And in the off chance you define it as something you love and that makes you excited to wake up every morning, then, well, I pretty much won.)

For the next year I will be an unpaid intern with Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, an apolitical, nonreligious nonprofit that provides academic and recreational programming to youth in Nablus. While it seems that everything related to that area these days is imbued with a strong political message or bias, TYO seeks to do one pure thing very simply—restore a bit of childhood to those who largely must miss out on one.

As an intern at a fledgling organization, I will be able to design and conduct my own programming with the youth and I will do so around two areas that were key aspects of my own childhood—dance and theater.

Over this past year I have managed to save the majority of the money I believe I will need on this journey. Now, with just a few weeks before I leave the country, I am looking to raise my last $2000. I am of course well aware of the global financial situation at this time, and that everybody is doing their best to be wise with their budget, but I assure you that a donation of just ten or twenty dollars would be an immense help to me.

Whether or not you decide to donate, I hope that you will keep up with me during my journey. I have no illusions about this; I know that this will probably be one of the most trying (and most rewarding) experiences I will ever undertake, and your spiritual support even from far away will be most appreciated. I hope that you will take the time to check in on my blog www.bietainpalestine.blogspot.com from time to time, where I will be posting updates, pictures and videos to chronicle my experience. And please also take a peek at TYO’s website (www.tomorrowsyouth.org) and blog (http://tomorrowsyouth.wordpress.com).

Thank you,
Bieta