Kipilefti

So…wow. Today.

Woke up early; my parents made popovers and fruit salad and we had a family (minus Sister Dear) breakfast. I said goodbye to the kittycats and we drove to Union Station, where we wound up buying a new train ticket since the paper ticket never arrived. So I didn’t get to ride the Acela after all, sadly.

Goodbye to my family; quiet tears on the train; arrival in Philadelphia. Took a taxi to the hotel where staging is taking place (right in Old City!) and lugged my bags up to my room. My roommate was just getting ready to go to lunch with a bunch of Peace Corps folks, so I tagged along.

Most of them were from Minnesota, which was unexpected! Lunch was fun, although all day I’ve been feeling the awkwardness, like I can’t interact well with people I don’t know. If people know me they know that when I’m distant it’s just that I don’t have anything to say, but I always worry that strangers will take it amiss.

Anyway, after lunch we filled out paperwork and were told a lot of information. A few hours of learning (and the dispensation of money from the government so we can eat and enjoy ourselves!) and then we went for dinner, wandering in circles in various groups. At one point three other people and I split off from one group, only to run into another group that had split off earlier. Then the whole reunited group went for Mexican food.

…And then to a laid-back bar.

I think I know the names of maybe a third of the thirty-odd volunteers in the group by now, which is pretty decent for me. (Interestingly, out of thirty-some volunteers, there are only three of us who will be teaching computer skills; the others are teaching math or science or possibly both.)

My head hurts from smiling too much while wearing my glasses. And I’m exhausted.

Tomorrow: learning all day. We have assigned reading.

Tuesday: shots, bus, planes until forever.

At least there’s an “us” now, and we’re in it together.

The rough draft of packing happened tonight. My father aided me and I amassed a pretty sizeable pile of things that I guess I don’t need right away and he can bring when he visits in late September/early October. The large suitcase still weighed about 45 pounds, and my hiking backpack around 30. (We are limited to a total of 80 pounds of checked baggage, no more than 50 pounds in a single bag.) Plus mandolin! Toting all of that stuff around will be interesting.

In terms of the amount of stuff I’m bringing, I am at a disadvantage because my mandolin has to be the large-sized carry-on item, so I’m stuck with a small backpack as my “personal item.” The backpack can, at most, fit my laptop, some toiletries, and a change of clothes or two. Looking at the stuff I have laid out on the bed to fit into that backpack, I can tell that it won’t all fit. Tomorrow I’ll unpack the bags we packed tonight and go through the clothes and other items, culling things I can do without for a while. I’m very lucky that my father will be able to bring things over for me.

Other things to do tomorrow: either clean the top of the enamel-topped table that I’m refinishing, or repaint it; waterproof my leather jacket; replace the fan in my laptop; play bridge. I’ve actually set an alarm for tomorrow morning, which hasn’t happened often this summer! Hopefully it will be a productive day, because after tomorrow I just have Saturday. I head up to Philly on a 10 A.M. Acela on Sunday.

I finally finished my Peace Corps application last February or so, had an interview in March, and was accepted shortly thereafter. Upon acceptance I was told that there was a program departing in October that I would probably be placed in.

I heard nothing all summer (besides that I had to get my wisdom teeth out for dental clearance, which I did) until a call in early August informing me that I wasn’t eligible for the October departure but that there was one in mid-September if I wanted it. I accepted the assignment.

So this Sunday I’m going to Philadelphia for a day and a half of staging (filling out paperwork, meeting the other volunteers, saying goodbye to Philly) and then on Tuesday morning we bus up to New York and head for Tanzania. I’ll be teaching computer skills at a secondary or college level.

Upon arrival in Dar es Salaam, there will be ten weeks of training, during which I’ll live with a local family. After training I’ll get my assignment, and then I’ll know where I’ll be living for the next two years.

So there’s that.