Wow I can not believe that I will be in Africa one week from today and not coming back for two years. Well it is countdown to staging, which begins in Philly on 4/16/07. So many last things to do. Two papers, One presentation, One comp exam away from finishing my requirements to my MSW degree-My God I can't wait until that is over! I have to make my last trip to Wal-Mart and finish packing my things.
Here is how the next couple of months will go. Monday April 16, 2007 is our staging event in Philadelphia. There we get to meet the group that we will be working with for the next two years. From my understanding it will be a group of 20-30 people from all over the United States. So Monday morning I will be on the train to Philly for the beggining of the journey. The staging consist of an intense briefing on Botswana and the Peace Corps. Wednesday we will actually fly to Johannesburg, South Africa-a 17 hour flight. We get to rest there in a plush hotel to recover from jet lag. The next morning we will take a motor coach to Botswana-a 6 hour ride. Once in Gaborne the capital of Botswana we will stay in an economy hotel-they specified economy (LOL) for three days. From there we will have a luncheon and meet our host family that we will live with for three months.
We are allowed to carry two 50 pound checked bags and one carry on. Once we meet our host family the Peace Corps will take and hold one of our 50 pound bags until we get out of the three month training. So I am trying really hard to decide what to put in the bag that I do not get to have for three months-what a dilemma right. During training we will learn about the culture, learn some of the language which is Setswana, and learn about our actual job function.
Well here I go about to pull a late nighter trying to finish a paper. I can not wait until next week but I must honor the process!
Peace-Martha
