New Beginnings and Travels
29 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
Bi the weigh, (if you haven’t already noticed) I like parentheses (a lot).
So I’m going to be starting off anew somewhere (in a galaxy) far, far away. I’m awefully excited, nervous, scared and can’t-wait-to-leave-but-not-ready-to-go! Basically, a run down of my Peace Corps (PC) service…. We start off at staging.. which I’m not sure is either in Philly or Washington D.C. I will depart from my parents house the day of, and I will fly/drive to whichever city and check in at a hotel of the PC’s choice. Here is where all of the people in my Ugandan group are going to be meeting up to say hello and get to know each other, for the first night. The second day, we will meet with PC people and we will have a little orientation thing (you know, like when you throw a ball at someone and say their name type deal), some crash course on Uganda-related stuff, travel logistics, and of course, vaccinations, shots , etc. Then, we will depart to Ugandizzle.
Once there.. I’m not exactly sure how this will go (well, the detailed version), but we train for three months.. doing projects, learning the language(s), business/health training and culture training. During this time, we will be living with a host family whom I will get to know and (hopefully) love. And also, I will visit my site, which is the place I will be living for 2 years! After the 3 months of training, we will be sworn in as volunteers and then move along to get dropped off at my site.
A site is the place where your service is made real. You are away from other volunteers and Americans, in your own village community, and they will treat you as their own and part of their village family. For all those worried about me (if any, certainly not Smashley and Mished), this will offer me my protection and security in the village. And for more personal and political safety.. the PC’s got that covered. This is where I will be paired up with another NGO, aid group, or business and I will help them to develop and flourish, as well as picking up any secondary projects that I can around the village. Both of these are equally as important. I accrue 2 vacation days a month beginning after the first 3 months of training.. and I can’t take leave the for the first 6 months (including training) or the last 3 months of service.
If anyone’s wondering, “WTF, why is this idiot going to Africa?” Well, one night I was just wondering what the Peace Corps was.. I knew people travelled and that’s it. But that’s really what I had in mind, I wanted to travel. [ I envisioned an, oversized, line of Catholic government missionaries walking in a long line around the top of Venezuela and South America, sort of like this: (without shadows, but walking same direction and the rest of their bodies)
Moving along, I looked it up and decided to apply.. not realizing how long it actually takes (7 month minimum, me = minumum – ha!) or what exactly I was getting into. But, when I read about it and what the PC stood for.. helping others, learning other cultures, and sharing American culture so it is not stereotyped, in short. Also, during the time of my application, I had a mini-obsession with the Pacific Islands/tropical islands and I was looking for a cheap-ish way to get there. I ended up getting nominated for Africa, but now I am attached after reading so much about it and couldn’t be happier. Polynesian history is really interesting anyways.
I have filled out my Kenyan and Ugandan visas (for the second/third time) and are now correct. I also have finished my DS-11 passport form, which will be getting signed this week and sent off to the PC! I’m working on my resume and my aspiration statement to send in this week. I have pretty much finished all of my other papers, with the exception of a few lines here and there. Now, I have to finish paying off my bills (good grief!). I sent my acceptance email yesterday and got a response today with some info. And I’m on my way to Uganda in a few weeks!!!!!!
And I’m off to go home and play Peggle and watch Sleeper Cell, until I am summoned by Stephanie when she gets off work!
-OuagadouDan
