Departure and Staging

Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen, this is my first actual post. I now know that I can say that I am a Peace Corps volunteer, I am just obligated to say that none of the opinions or experiences written here are considered official Peace Corps publications or official Peace Corps opinions. They are my own as a volunteer. I also cannot say the exact community where I will be posted(convenient because I don;t know).

So yesterday, I left Oakland. That was sad. It was hard to say good-bye, and I will be honest and say that I am scared as well. What if this isn;t what I imagined or planned on? So...when I was dropped off, I checked two big bags, and got no flack. Then, I tried to go through security and was rejected because my carry-on was too big. In honesty, it is too big. The bag is fine, but it was stuffed to the max. This lady said that it was unsafe to bring on to the plane. I don't usually cry to get my way, but this seemed like a good time to try. "I'm going to Africa for two years and I need ALL of it!!" No dice. So, I unloaded and put on another shirt, folded up a dress and put it in my pocket, put all my underwear in my pockets and filled my water bottle with t-shirts. It worked, and I repacked as soon as I got through security. So there. I win.

I arrived at 12:30 am in Philly and went straight to the hotel. I must say I was grumpy and that the all Christmas music station we listened to in the shuttle didn;t help.

However, upon awakening and meeting my roommate, I found her to be very nice and upbeat. In fact all the people I have met have been very nice people. There are about 20 volunteers in our program in all. Today we finished paperwork, discussed safety issues(don't flash your money, don;t walk alone at night....duh), and discussed what will happen when we arrive in Banjul. Most volunteers are my age, or a little younger. There is one married couple, and two people who are in their late 40's or early 50's. All seem very nice, and I'm eager to see how people turn out.

Tomorrow, we will start by going to the clinic at 7:30 am(ouch!) then checking out of the hotel and going by bus to Newark. We will fly out around 1 pm, layover in Brussels, then arrive Thursday evening in Banjul.

Thats it. I'm overwhelmed. Two years? for reals, what was I thinking?