I Just Gotta Have Patience

...'cause patience is a wonderful thing.
Hurry up, hurry up, gotta have it now,
I want it more than anything!

When my younger sister Mandee was little, her level of patience was, to put it lightly, basically nonexistent.  Somebody taught her this rhyme to repeat when she felt like she couldn't wait any longer... imagine it said at top speed, over and over, by a front-toothless little girl who didn't pronounce her Rs.  So cute!

Anyway, so that's how I feel now.  I started my application last June, so it's been almost a year since I first sent my name to the Peace Corps.  An interview, eight doctor's appointments, several follow-up emails, and two states later, I'm still waiting.  But exciting news!  A guy emailed me a couple of days to ask if I could possibly leave in mid-July to go to West Africa, which means (drumroll please)... I won't be spending the summer in New York, but I should find out my assignment within the next week!  And also, that I'll probably be learning French.

This is particularly funny because my current repertoire of French phrases includes only the following:
Bonjour, bonsoir, au revoir, enchantee -- basic greetings gleaned mostly from Disney's Beauty and the Beast
Je suis la soupe du jour. -- I am the soup of the day.
Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir? -- A line from Moulin Rouge that I will not translate here and promise to never use in everyday conversation
Luke, je suis ton pere. -- Luke, I am your father.

Basically, I'm screwed.  My friend Lauren has Rosetta Stone for French on her computer, so now that I've graduated from college and have more time, I'm going to have to buckle down and start studying.   Soon, I'll be astonishing everyone with my complex and thought-provoking sentences, such as "Please pass the mustard." and "Where is the restroom?" Survival in a foreign-language-speaking country?  Don't even worry about it.

So that's my basic strategy.  While I wait for my assignment, I will learn French, search for sturdy (read: ugly) hiking sandals, shop online for various outdoorsy things I may need, and recite the rhyme: I just gotta have patience, 'cause patience is a wonderful thing...

PS.  Hilarious example of kids trying to be patient: The Marshmallow Test