Veganism is looking quite nice

 It has been progressing toward this for the past year or so. I’ve been in the company of more and more vegans/vegetarians since moving to Seattle, thus learning more about it… the incredible nastiness that is the meat process in this country, the USDA, EPA and the FDA all with their hands in each others’ pockets, the horrifying chemicals and disgusting lethal shit that is found in all non-organic meat and dairy in this country… then I watched Food Inc. And then Skinny Bitch and Goveg.com pushed me over the edge. I have a feeling it will be difficult to make the complete transition to vegan while living with a host family in a country which I don’t speak the language, but as soon as training is over and I’m cooking my own food I can completely say peace out to the dairy as well. Holy. Effing. Nasty. Check out my previously mentioned resources and see how you feel afterwards. And please believe, my stopping the consumption of cheese will be a task. But I will prevail, damnit.


On the Peace Corps preparation front, I’m expecting my staging email in the coming week, as I am now less than a month away from departure. I get more excited and more nervous all the time… not nervous about going there, but more so about leaving every single human I love for 27 months, my grandparents in particular. It is an obvious possibility that the day I leave could be the last day I’ll ever see them again. The amount of nights I have spent this summer crying myself to sleep over the thought of this I cannot count. They are both aware of this too, and we have talked about it, though it is a nauseating conversation to have. I remind myself that something could happen and I may not make it there in time even if I’m in the same town. And anything could happen at anytime to any one of my loved ones even if they aren’t of the grandparent status. It’s a wretched thing to think about, and the one thing on the list that caused me to hesitate when navigating the application process for PC. I’m going to miss 27 months of Kasen and Saraya’s lives, her learning to talk, him starting Kindergarten, her blue eyes, him calling me the latest nickname (currently he is Bumblebee and I am Optimus Prime:)  Thank God for Skype, or I’m sure the amount of crying nights would skyrocket. This is going to be my first Christmas ever away from my friends and family. The first Christmas eve in I don’t know how many years not spent in Ashley’s kitchen slinging turkey and potatoes and cheese balls for hours. My first Christmas with James, without even being able to sit next to him. My first birthday without friends, though I’m sure I’ll be spending it with new ones. Its incredible the amount of sadness and happiness that one soul can facilitate at the same time.

I spend today figuring out which pictures to take with me to share with my host family, picking out which of my Gram’s recipes I wanted to take with me, and jamming all of my winter clothes into Spacebags (these are amazing by the way) so it will all fit in my suitcases. It has been really fun packing things away that I won’t be taking with me and knowing how fun its going to be to unpack it in 27 months. Packing boxes for Danielle to send to me later is exciting too lol, I can only imagine how pumped I’m going to be to get my Chicago Cutlery, art supplies and wine opener in the mail. Eff yes.

So don’t forget to watch Food Inc. and/or read Skinny Bitch. Its straight up madness people, madness.

Much love,

Emily Jo