Gratitude: Fulbright News & More!

The night we arrived home from Costa Rica (Monday p.m.) a manila envelope greeted me in my mailbox which, which by the way was very thin (thin enough to be a rejection letter). This thin letter held the key to my future, as sappy as that sounds...it's true. I waited a few minutes before the letter was screaming, "OPEN ME!" Good or bad at least I will no longer be in limbo, just waiting. Despite it's thinness, it was thick with goodness, "You have been selected!" Woohoo. So, instead of screaming from the mountaintop (or shall I say the hills of Athens) I did a little celebratory dance with Charlie and then simply sat in the news for a few days. I guess I needed my own time and space to think through what this meant in relation to my life in Athens, with Charlie, and my dissertation. Plus, we were just coming off an amazing high in Costa Rica and I just needed to breathe and take it all in. My mom called Tuesday and we talked a lot about Costa Rica, but Fulbright was never mentioned. The news was still settling in. Over the years I have noticed that there is magic in being reflective rather than reactive (yoga has certainly helped me with this). I slowly began to tell people, my mom and dad were the first to know...albeit, six hours after I got off the phone with my mother on Tuesday.

Four days (Friday) after ripping open the skinny manila envelope I received more news that I was also selected for a Scandinavian-American Fellowship grant. Woohoo! After (finally) telling my major professor in person, I officially let the cat out of the bag.

All of this news is amazing and I am feeling super grateful right now. Now, comes the fun part...figuring out all of the moving parts. But, one thing is for sure I will be in Finland August 2011 to May 2012.