Thursday, June 17, 2010

Guest: How Our Parents Feel

A lot of people have asked Joye and me: "What do your parents feel about you leaving for the Peace Corps?" which I thought that would make for an enjoyable blog post. So, I asked them to think about their ideal answer when people ask them that question and here is how they responded.

Cindy Kallgren (Joye’s mother):
I have mixed emotions. First I think, Wow! what an opportunity for a young couple to experience the adventure of a lifetime, and make memories they will refer back to for years. I was thinking this morning that at this time in my married life (compared to Joye and Jim's), I was already 1 month along with Scottie and really unable to travel to anyplace very rough. So I am glad you are enjoying this time when the traveling is easier. Who me nervous? Desert Heat, no AC, no electricity or running water, no communication? What could a mother possibly be nervous about? Well, all I can say is when you two want to get away from it ALL...you really DO!

Scott Kallgren (Joye’s father):
How awesome it will be one day for Jim and Joye to tell the next generation about their years in Africa as they began their journey together! I truly admire their determination to make a difference in this world and to give back for all the blessings they have received. I’ll probably blubber a bit the moment I realize that visiting them is not as easy as driving up I-96 in a couple hours. (Skype doesn’t substitute for a good hug.) God willing, we will make our first visit to Africa sometime in the next 27 months, and let them culture us as Joye did when we visited France a couple years ago.

Jim & Debra Allen (my parents):
As the parents of Jim (& Joye), we have been asked “How do you feel about Jim and Joye going to Mali, Africa for the next two plus years with the Peace Corps?” We both deeply feel that Jim and Joye are as prepared for this adventure of a lifetime as any couple can be. We will miss them tremendously but hope to have some communication through email, blog and/or skype. We send them with our love and prayers for God’s blessings and grace. We will await their return to us safe and healthy!

Thank you for reading. Next time, look forward to seeing us post the “winners” of our Peace Corps Book List event on Facebook. Until then, God bless.

-Jim

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Reflection: Past, Present, and Future

In addition to warm summer sunshine and a day to honor our fallen troops, this Memorial Day weekend highlighted three significant events in our lives: 1) the one-year anniversary of our engagement, 2) my 23rd birthday, and 3) the realization that we only have one month before our Peace Corps service begins. It was a weekend of reflecting on our past, present, and future, which seemed appropriate to share here.

1) The Past: Joye and I met in our very first class at our undergraduate institution Alma College, became good friends due to our shared faith and beliefs, and soon became mawkishly inseparable. Our formal courtship began in January and then, in May of that freshmen year, we traveled together on a three-week service trip to the Philippines. Having only been dating for four months at that point, we suddenly saw a different side of each other; illness, severe indigestion, rashes, bug infestations and acne breakouts kept us out of our prime, and yet, we came out of that experience closer then ever.

However, our junior year proved to be more straining on our relationship as a series of poorly-timed abroad opportunities kept us apart for a year, give or take a few weeks. I went from summer non-profit internship in Rwanda to an autumn government internship in Rome, only to have Joye study abroad in France for the winter semester when I finally came home. While our experiences abroad helped us to grow as individuals, we preferred to go on adventures together instead of merely sharing them via correspondence. We also learned the lesson of a wise African proverb: "If you want to go fast, then go alone. If you want to go farther, go with someone." Therefore, as our senior year flashed before us, we frequently discussed our options after graduation and increasingly used the m-word: marriage.

Joye and I were engaged on Sunday afternoon of Memorial Day Weekend in 2009, two days after our last week at Alma College. Through patches of cloud, the sun illuminated a small brick-laden fire pit that overlooked a shimmering Gull Lake. Joye was escorted to the location by her parents shortly after flying down a zip line, while I waited nervously with my parents, whom I had secretly invited for the occasion. After a sappy spiel, I attempted to propose in French; my pronunciation was disgraceful, but after flashing her my grandmother’s ring, she got the idea and said “yes.” It was the best 22nd birthday gift I could have received.

2) The Present: Fast-forward to today, and we have been blissfully married for nearly nine months, having gotten hitched last Labor Day weekend. We held our ceremony in the Alma College chapel and processed out to the sound of bagpipes into the bright September sun. Since then, I have been a graduate student, Joye has worked full-time, and I think we agree that this has been the best year of our lives. Between our honeymoon, visiting multiple families over the holidays, relaxing with friends over spring break, and finally seeing the epic finale of LOST, what was not to like? More than ever, we have made time to have fun and enjoy friends, family, and the beauty of Michigan.

For example, this last weekend, to celebrate my 23rd birthday and the anniversary of our engagement, we visited Kensington Metro Park in Detroit after visiting my extended family for a cousin’s wedding. After kayaking to one of lake’s few natural beaches, we laid down in the shallow warm water, floating so that only our heads and toes stuck out. Little blue gills sparkled in the sunlight and darted all around us. We tried to soak in the moment like a sponge, fully aware that moments like this in Mali will be very few and very far between.

3) The Future: In one month, we will be in Mali, and there is much to do before then: finish classes, complete experiments, sell furniture, purge unwanted junk, store valuable household items, bid farewell to friends and family, and pack our lives up in a few suitcases. It’s alarmingly overwhelming when we look at the big picture, but we try to manage it one day at a time. At this point, we believe we have obtained almost everything that we were advised to buy in the US (ie. hiking boots, bug tents, raincoats), and now it is a matter of just packing and moving out.

If all goes accordingly, we plan on leaving our cozy Lansing apartment around June 20th to spend ten days in fellowship with our families. Next, we will depart for Philadelphia, our Peace Corps staging area, to get our vaccinations and be briefed with some general information. While it would be nice to spend Independence Day in Philly, it is likely that on July 3rd we will be on a plane over the Atlantic. From there, it is two to three months of training in Mali before we finally are assigned and then given our site location, where we will work tirelessly for two years. While these next couple weeks will certainly be a very busy time for us, we will do our best to update this blog with more information as the departure date approaches.

Also, look forward to our upcoming blog post announcing the so-called “winners” of our Book List competition on Facebook. If you have any questions or comments for us, please leave them below. Thanks for reading!

-James